Do the folks who keep reading these alarming news articles ever do some research into what it takes to mine this stuff and why there are "difficulties"?
I'm just guessing it's the Chicoms involved part that interests them, not the rare earth business at all.
For the uninitiated rare earths are mostly the residue left behind when radio active thorium breaks down.
There can be, and often is, radioactive residue in the vicinity of mineable rare earths.
You have to DO STUFF to make mining rare earths safe for the miners ~ and the managers too. No crispy critters for them ~ oh no sir ee ~ no crispy critters.
--can you name one example of where this is the case?
Do the people who point to "technical problems" ever do some research to see why they are overblown? Could it be that there are VERY well connected American "investors" in Chinese rare earth mines?
From the article:
"The truth appears to be just the opposite. The scattered railroad lands that could never be developed are to be consolidated into a single block of 226,000 acres so they can be developed.
JMB Realty stands to make a huge profit on this development. In the name of "rewilding" millions of acres of desert, grave financial and environmental damage will occur once the land is closed to the public.
Ninety-seven the U.S. rare earth mineral production comes from the California desert. These minerals are used in high technology and are essential to the production of lasers, high-power magnets, super conductivity and pollution free cars. The United States will now be forced to obtain these minerals from foreign mineral cartels.
Which mine are your referring to, any in the US?
“The first mine on stream is likely to be Mount Wells in Australia that is operated by Lynas Corporation and it should be on stream later in 2011, following that, Molycorp in the United States which was the only producing mine in the US for a lot of years before it was shut down somewhere around the year 2000, should be on stream likely in 2012. Great Western Minerals - my company - will have a small deposit coming on stream late 2012-early 2013 and Arafura operating Nolan’s Bore in Australia is likely to come on stream in 2013 as well. Those are the main projects that in all likelihood will be on in the next three or four years.”
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page96985?oid=112632&sn=2010+Detail&pid=102055
Point is that if we are to have a technological world, we need to develop the technologies to both accomplish the great feats and mitigate the negative side effects. The studies show that wealthy countries are the best equipped to solve the issues that arise from our actions. Crippling our economy won`t help our ability to solve problems, it`ll only serve the interests of the tyrants wannabes.
We shouldn`t have to remind a Conservative of that.