[Goose]

 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.

Great to have the experience I am sure. Wind is almost ubiquitous when one goes up the hill there. It is a slow rise but a significant one. The "town" of Mountain Pass is at an elevation of 4,730 ft, the highest point on I-15 between California and Nevada. I share you understanding that there is still plenty of ore in the ground there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_P...Earth_Mine is IMO worth the read. It immediately becomes clear that many of the challenges are environmental. Froth flotation is a water intensive process. Not good in the desert. The end of the flotation process produces waste water that has to be stored in "tailings ponds".  The stuff is gnarly. I am real familiar with tailings ponds from the Combined Metals Caselton plant. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Caselt...FQAw%3D%3D All that "black dirt" is very high in lead and manganese content from evaporated tailings ponds. Mountain Pass is even more challenging because its flotation tailings are radioactive. Couple all this with the economic challenges of competing with China (which doesn't care much about the environmental issues) and it is indeed a "hard sell".

It must also be noted that Mountain Pass does not contain exploitable concentrations of ALL "rare earths". Other mines are needed to supply them. Identified deposits of virtually every needed rare earth materials exist inside the US and Canada. Making money supplying them is the issue.

[Goose]

 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.

Great to have the experience I am sure. Wind is almost ubiquitous when one goes up the hill there. It is a slow rise but a significant one. The "town" of Mountain Pass is at an elevation of 4,730 ft, the highest point on I-15 between California and Nevada. I share you understanding that there is still plenty of ore in the ground there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_P...Earth_Mine is IMO worth the read. It immediately becomes clear that many of the challenges are environmental. Froth flotation is a water intensive process. Not good in the desert. The end of the flotation process produces waste water that has to be stored in "tailings ponds".  The stuff is gnarly. I am real familiar with tailings ponds from the Combined Metals Caselton plant. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Caselt...FQAw%3D%3D All that "black dirt" is very high in lead and manganese content from evaporated tailings ponds. Mountain Pass is even more challenging because its flotation tailings are radioactive. Couple all this with the economic challenges of competing with China (which doesn't care much about the environmental issues) and it is indeed a "hard sell".

It must also be noted that Mountain Pass does not contain exploitable concentrations of ALL "rare earths". Other mines are needed to supply them. Identified deposits of virtually every needed rare earth materials exist inside the US and Canada. Making money supplying them is the issue.