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The United States says it will take "unprecedented actions" to ensure the supply of strategic elements and rare earths, as China mulls possible export controls for materials that are critical to modern technology.
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In December 2017, Trump called on the Department of Commerce and other US agencies to develop new sources of critical materials to reduce vulnerabilities to supply disruptions, especially from foreign sources.The US report calls for improving supplies "through investment and trade with America's allies," while streamlining the issuance of permits for mining in the United States, including on federal lands.
It also lists a plan to improve mapping and data collection to promote domestic exploration.
And to think only a few short decades ago we were going to war for oil...
(Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Thursday June 06 2019, @08:28AM (1 child)
1) you fucked up mining historically so bad that a lot of the old deposits can no longer be mined, mostly a whole host of safety concerns (it's often impossible to reopen a closed mine, as we Brits know to our chagrin, thanks Thatcher! (And ultimately, thanks the Chicago school, who brainwashed her into her wrongthink without her even knowing it.))
2) you passed some laws pertaining to radioactive materials that make mining many rare earth deposits effectively illegal (this radioactivity is part of (1) - the radioactive pollution was one of the safety concerns) as rare earths are found in the same kinds of places where you find rich Thorium (etc.) deposits.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday June 06 2019, @12:58PM
Old mines may be more expensive to reopen than virgin territory, but anything is possible with sufficient technology and money.
I recall during the tantalum shortage something about a car dealership somewhere that was built on an old mine that had used tantalum as a processing agent (back when tantalum was worth far less than whatever was being mined at the time...) seems like the ground around those old mines was "severely contaminated" with tantalum, which was its own problem, but when the value of tantalum spiked up it became another kind of problem as bandits were digging out the "contaminated" earth from underneath the buildings at night causing their foundations to collapse.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/