Note it corroborates the Molycorp rare-earth mine (in Mountain Pass, California ) closure story, which someone had labeled an urban myth. This closed mine had proven reserves of the rare earths which greatly eclipsed those in China.
I am beginning to see patterns in the issue symptomatic of an 'spin-control' disinformation effort to attempt to trivialize the seriousness of this situation...when in fact it is even more serious than we suspected.
"GOT ROPE?"
In 1992 Molycorp made the decision to expand the mine based upon the determination that there were 30 years of reserves based on existing production. Without this expansion there would be little mineral left to mine.
Realizing the difficulties they would have in the permitting process, Molycorp did a land swap with BLM which put their operations totally on private property. With the operation on private land, the feds and the state would not have jurisdiction and the lead agency would be San Bernardino County, who's planning commission does have jurisdiction.
SB County published the Draft Environmental Impact Report(note that is a report and not a statement) last April and the comment period ended in May. The final report will be issued when the consultants work is done and another comment period will follow. The county will then issue a permit with the chosen alternatives. Click here for the report.
If the 150 page report is too much, this EPA document from 1998 is accurate in spite of its brevity
Everything you ever wanted to know about rare earth minerals and their production, consumption, tariffs, stocks, prices, foreign trade, World Review, and Outlook can be found in this USGS report