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Posted on 12/21/2017 6:13:19 PM PST by ak267
"The only operating rare earth mine in the United States sends all of their valuable resources to China for processing. Congress does not know this. They think this [mining] company is supplying the U.S. value chain, [and] is supplying the military. It is in-fact, the opposite. They are part of the Chinese monopoly. They're taking powder and shipping it to China, and it comes back as a magnet, or an alloy, or a bolt-on component." - Jim Kennedy
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
The biggest crime is that we ship metallurgical grade coal to China by the freighterload and then buy the steel back from China. Except for regulatory compliance, surely it would be cheaper to use the coal here, and produce the steel hear saving two trans-pacific shipping costs.
But that would dry up the glut of shipping containers.
“...surely it would be cheaper to use the coal here, and produce the steel hear saving two trans-pacific shipping costs....”
Nope...highly unlikely when one considers the cost of meeting all the EPA, OSHA and all the other govt regulations and red tape. FWIW, Odongo closed down our last lead mine before he left office. IF we ever get in a real “shooting war”, we’ll have to buy lead from the Chinese to make more bullets.
It depends on how much it would cost to ship iron ore and scrap steel from China to here vs. shipping coal from here to China then finished steel from China back here.
And don't call me Shirley.
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What was the country a few years ago that was trying to corner the ‘rare earth’ elements?
The Rare-Earth Crisis
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/423730/the-rare-earth-crisis/
The issue about “rare earths”? Extraction and refining.
They are largely common, but in very small concentrations. There are hazards to mining and extracting some types.
The demand is driven by growing production of wind turbine motors and electric cars.
China has the manufacturing edge right now.
China has it locked up at this moment but about a decade ago an Australian mining firm tried to open up Indonesia. That country has sizable rare earth deposits and the Ozzie firm spent a billion dollars developing the site and necessary infrastructure.
Once the enviros got wind of it they staged major protests and intimidated the Indonesian government to back down and rescind the permits. The company had to write off the entire project.
we’ll have to buy lead from the Chinese to make more bullets.
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We get titanium from Russia which is also used to make rounds ... Back when, Clinton closed (or made it a park or some such) our largest deposit of rare earths.
Cheaper to import potatoes from China than Idaho ...
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