03-31-2025, 10:08 PM
(03-30-2025, 10:12 AM)Goose Wrote: Right now, that isn't really necessary because Mountain Pass mine can provide enough ore to meet domestic demand. It contains most (not all) the "rare earth" elements we need. This has been true for many, many years. The main problem is that it is impossible to refine these materials in the US using any process that meets both EPA standards and is economically competitive. For may years the output of Mountain Pass was shipped overseas to be refined. Some of the resulting products (much, much physically smaller volume after refining) were shipped back to the US. Much more of it was incorporated into "finished goods" in China for export back to the US. We were (are) effectively shipping our pollution issues elsewhere.
Just spent a windy weekend camping in the Mojave Preserve maybe 20 miles from there. We explored several abandoned mines in nearby mountains. I was struck by the variety of things mined- within a quarter mile there was a tin mine, titanium mine, and a zinc mine. And copper mines nearby as well. The sense I got from reading about them was that they mostly closed from the economics of it, not running out of ore.