Free Republic

In a groundbreaking development, the United States has initiated the opening of a new rare earths mine for the first time in over seven decades. This historic project, situated in Wyoming, has the potential to transform the U.S. economy and bolster its national defense. The discovery was documented in a recent economic viability study published by an independent source, which estimates that the Brook Mine holds up to 1.7 million tons of rare earths and critical minerals, with a vast untapped area still to be explored. The mine is poised to significantly reduce America’s reliance on foreign sources of these...

USA Rare Earth, the funding and development partner of the Round Top heavy rare earth project and Texas Mineral Resources announced Thursday that its rare earths pilot plant processing facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado has received the required permits and officially opened. Once fully commissioned, the plant will be focused on group separation of rare earths into heavy (dysprosium, terbium), middle, and light (neodymium, praseodymium) rare earths (REE’s) and will be the first facility to separate the full range of rare earth elements in the US since 1999. USA Rare Earth’s pilot plant is the second link in a 100%...

A simple visit to an obscure factory by Chinese President Xi on Monday is all it took to raise the specter that China could be contemplating cutting off supply of critical materials to the U.S. and potentially crippling large swathes of its industries. Also, fueled by political innuendo in Xi’s recent call for a new “Long March” in reference to a key founding tenet of the Chinese Communist Party, speculators are growing increasingly wary of Chinese export restrictions to the U.S., including rare earth minerals. As the world’s largest producer, the Middle Kingdom has a vice-like grip on rare earths...