SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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.
...
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, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday June 06 2019, @12:54PM (1 child)
When the fun was winding down in Afghanistan, I recall a "biggest rare earths deposits in the world" story going around about Afghanistan sounding like a possible justification for "stabilizing the region" some more, but it didn't play as well in the New York Times as WMD did...
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Thursday June 06 2019, @03:20PM
Somebody mentioned recently Japan had found a rich REE deposit on the seabed. Here's an older story [nature.com] on it.
Dunno if it's easier to mine than the American deposits are, but at least it's not under the control of the Chinese.
Washington DC delenda est.