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The US' other major known deposits are in California. This discovery might actually be consequential, because Wyoming's an unregulated mining state (coal and st

The US' other major known deposits are in California. This discovery might actually be consequential, because Wyoming's an unregulated mining state (coal and stuff), while California's... the opposite of that. For historical background: California formerly extracted the majority of the world's rare earth elements, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_mine#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_mine#History

beambot 3y ago
Those regulations seem well-founded: California has a population density of 258.21 per mi² compared to 5.9 per mi² in Wyoming. And that doesn't even start to account for agricultural production for human consumption (versus livestock). Those limitations are reasonably founded if human wellbeing is the metric. Thus: This is good, despite any feelings about regulatory burdens.
- perihelions 3y ago
  Sure, but this is in the Mojave desert.
  - gotoeleven 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - defrost 3y ago
      Oak Flat is another sacred site .. but with an estimated 64 billion US of copper lying below. https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/rio-bhp-s-seek-resolution-of-us-copper-mine-stand-off-20211129-p59cyc https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/rio-bhp-s-seek-resol... I've got my fingers crossed for the discovery of a squintillion dollers worth of unobtanium beneath the Vatican and the White House to see how this plays out elsewhere. For social science!
    - sgentle 3y ago
      I'm not sure exactly where the appropriate place is to mock the victims of genocide while they try to preserve what remains of their culture and land, but it's definitely not here.
      - gotoeleven 3y ago
        [flagged]
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- rgarrett88 3y ago
  You know that population isn't uniformly distributed across the states right?
  - beambot 3y ago
    I had no idea! But I do know that water sheds in California frequently transit through heavily populated areas and/or feed into key reservoirs. To be clear: this is a generic comment about regulation in proportion to number of lives impacted, not the details of this find. Also to note: I essentially live surrounded by Superfund sites that brought about the entire silicon revolution. I'm acutely aware of the actual generational impacts.
- jandrewrogers 3y ago
  This is a non sequitur. The mines were very far from populated or agricultural areas. They were situated in some of the least habitable parts of the US. It has nothing to do with the actual well-being of people. The US is blessed with incredible mineral wealth that is rarely exploited anymore because so many people harbor these kinds of naive assumptions, which manifests as regulations. Consequently, we depend on countries like China to supply these minerals since they are not held hostage by these misconceptions. Wyoming’s advantage over California is that they have a reality-based perspective on mineral resource extraction, instead of outsourcing it to China so that they can pretend to be environmentally virtuous.
  - Retric 3y ago
    Regulations cover the general case not just each individual case separately . It’s reasonable to offer exceptions for mines in the Mojave, but baking that into the regulations requires even more complexity.
  - ajross 3y ago
    > This is a non sequitur. The mines were very far from populated or agricultural areas. The Mountain Pass mine in the link above is just off I15, maybe a 45 minute drive from Las Vegas. That's not right on top of a housing development, but it's hardly "remote".
    - lazide 3y ago
      You’re kidding right? That is very much the definition of ‘middle of nowhere’. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/wV1K9HSgnbBN6Ye58?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/wV1K9HSgnbBN6Ye58?g_st=ic] Groom Lake and the National Test Site (where the US set off literally hundreds of nuclear bombs) is roughly the same distance from Las Vegas, just in a slightly different direction. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/oKc83mrnptUSPVJ2A?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/oKc83mrnptUSPVJ2A?g_st=ic] That area is about as remote and in hospitable to human life as anyone can find in the lower 48 once you get off the highway. The only way it would get more remote is if someone kept driving and took a turn somewhere along there. I’ve spent plenty of time out in those deserts. It’s very easy to not show up on someone’s radar ever again [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans].
tastyfreeze 3y ago
Alaska has a sizeable rare earth and uranium deposit that has been at some level of development since 2007 by UCORE.
jeffbee 3y ago
I used to assume that California is generally anti-mining, but I can't explain that an open-pit gold mine was established in Napa County in the 1980s, well into the CEQA era. Maybe it's not so anti in practice. https://www.google.com/maps/place/McLaughlin+Mine/@38.8379553,-122.3649774,3597m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x808462a5738e9657:0x8cfe8ef20040ef5f!8m2!3d38.8379558!4d-122.3649774!16s%2Fg%2F1z264ln_b?hl=en&entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/place/McLaughlin+Mine/@38.837955...
- thebradbain 3y ago
  The cynic in me, just based on how many active drilling sites exist in the middle of Los Angeles (particularly the county but also the actual city), says that getting CEQA approval for a mine/dig/drill site is… probably easier than building anything more than a 10plex in California
  - zbrozek 3y ago
    It's plenty hard to build a SFH in California. Getting a 10-plex permitted is like getting an Olympic medal.
    - jeffbee 3y ago
      Yeah I would have thrown a party if my duplex proposal in Berkeley had been approved.

beambot 3y ago

Those regulations seem well-founded: California has a population density of 258.21 per mi² compared to 5.9 per mi² in Wyoming. And that doesn't even start to account for agricultural production for human consumption (versus livestock). Those limitations are reasonably founded if human wellbeing is the metric. Thus: This is good, despite any feelings about regulatory burdens.

perihelions 3y ago
Sure, but this is in the Mojave desert.
- gotoeleven 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - defrost 3y ago
    Oak Flat is another sacred site .. but with an estimated 64 billion US of copper lying below. https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/rio-bhp-s-seek-resolution-of-us-copper-mine-stand-off-20211129-p59cyc https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/rio-bhp-s-seek-resol... I've got my fingers crossed for the discovery of a squintillion dollers worth of unobtanium beneath the Vatican and the White House to see how this plays out elsewhere. For social science!
  - sgentle 3y ago
    I'm not sure exactly where the appropriate place is to mock the victims of genocide while they try to preserve what remains of their culture and land, but it's definitely not here.
    - gotoeleven 3y ago
      [flagged]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
rgarrett88 3y ago
You know that population isn't uniformly distributed across the states right?
- beambot 3y ago
  I had no idea! But I do know that water sheds in California frequently transit through heavily populated areas and/or feed into key reservoirs. To be clear: this is a generic comment about regulation in proportion to number of lives impacted, not the details of this find. Also to note: I essentially live surrounded by Superfund sites that brought about the entire silicon revolution. I'm acutely aware of the actual generational impacts.
jandrewrogers 3y ago
This is a non sequitur. The mines were very far from populated or agricultural areas. They were situated in some of the least habitable parts of the US. It has nothing to do with the actual well-being of people. The US is blessed with incredible mineral wealth that is rarely exploited anymore because so many people harbor these kinds of naive assumptions, which manifests as regulations. Consequently, we depend on countries like China to supply these minerals since they are not held hostage by these misconceptions. Wyoming’s advantage over California is that they have a reality-based perspective on mineral resource extraction, instead of outsourcing it to China so that they can pretend to be environmentally virtuous.
- Retric 3y ago
  Regulations cover the general case not just each individual case separately . It’s reasonable to offer exceptions for mines in the Mojave, but baking that into the regulations requires even more complexity.
- ajross 3y ago
  > This is a non sequitur. The mines were very far from populated or agricultural areas. The Mountain Pass mine in the link above is just off I15, maybe a 45 minute drive from Las Vegas. That's not right on top of a housing development, but it's hardly "remote".
  - lazide 3y ago
    You’re kidding right? That is very much the definition of ‘middle of nowhere’. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/wV1K9HSgnbBN6Ye58?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/wV1K9HSgnbBN6Ye58?g_st=ic] Groom Lake and the National Test Site (where the US set off literally hundreds of nuclear bombs) is roughly the same distance from Las Vegas, just in a slightly different direction. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/oKc83mrnptUSPVJ2A?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/oKc83mrnptUSPVJ2A?g_st=ic] That area is about as remote and in hospitable to human life as anyone can find in the lower 48 once you get off the highway. The only way it would get more remote is if someone kept driving and took a turn somewhere along there. I’ve spent plenty of time out in those deserts. It’s very easy to not show up on someone’s radar ever again [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans].

tastyfreeze 3y ago

Alaska has a sizeable rare earth and uranium deposit that has been at some level of development since 2007 by UCORE.

jeffbee 3y ago

I used to assume that California is generally anti-mining, but I can't explain that an open-pit gold mine was established in Napa County in the 1980s, well into the CEQA era. Maybe it's not so anti in practice. https://www.google.com/maps/place/McLaughlin+Mine/@38.8379553,-122.3649774,3597m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x808462a5738e9657:0x8cfe8ef20040ef5f!8m2!3d38.8379558!4d-122.3649774!16s%2Fg%2F1z264ln_b?hl=en&entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/place/McLaughlin+Mine/@38.837955...

thebradbain 3y ago
The cynic in me, just based on how many active drilling sites exist in the middle of Los Angeles (particularly the county but also the actual city), says that getting CEQA approval for a mine/dig/drill site is… probably easier than building anything more than a 10plex in California
- zbrozek 3y ago
  It's plenty hard to build a SFH in California. Getting a 10-plex permitted is like getting an Olympic medal.
  - jeffbee 3y ago
    Yeah I would have thrown a party if my duplex proposal in Berkeley had been approved.