We bought Alaska from Russia. Rare-earths and all.
"While Alaska possesses significant rare earth element (REE) deposits, including those at Bokan Mountain and other areas, no large-scale REE mining is currently happening in Alaska. There are active exploration efforts and potential for future mining, but regulatory hurdles and environmental concerns have hindered development."
The USA bought Alaska from Tsarist Russia.
The USSR explicitly said that it was NOT a successor state to the Tsarist Russian empire.
The Russian federation, formed in 1991, was a successor state to the Russian Soviet Socialist republic. Ukraine is a successor state to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist republic had its own seat in the UN and was portrayed as a distinct political entity.
Yep. We bought it in 1867 for $7.2M which is about $157M in 2025 dollars. Hard to believe.
And the Tsarist Russians were in a continuous state of war with the Alaskan Natives.