Rare Earth are not really that rare!
We, in the US, have more of them, that we can process!
That is the problem! We got rid of mining them and even worse, processing them!
All smelters are in China! So they can charge any price.
We need to do more mining, but even more, more processing, build some smelters and refineries!
Unfortunately, in current legal, regulatory, NIMBY, and “green” environment, nothing new can be build!
We need to cut the red tape!
I’m actually on board with not mining our own rare earth minerals until we’ve exhausted mining everyone else’s. It’s not like they’re putting more in the ground.