Why doesn’t the US have a lot of rare earth mining and processing? Can’t we mine and process our own elements?

Question

Like why’d we ever allow ourselves to get to this point?

Why don’t we have a sufficient supply of our own stuff if its something we depend so much on?

Doesn’t the US have a lot of rare earth elements buried in the soil of our country?

Why aren’t we using it, or investing in it?

contentious · Accepted Answer

We have the minerals and the technology to process and refine them, but the Chinese have used currency manipulation and subsidize their rare earth mining industry in order to control the world market by driving prices into the floor. As a result, the cost to extract said minerals in the USA is more expensive than just buying them from China. That's the entire point, China wants to control the market, so they are willing to do so at a net loss. They know other nations need rare earths for national defense, so they are willing to lose money in order to keep other nations dependent on China for their own national security. They figure so long as nations are dependent on China, China can get away with a lot more bullshit without being attacked, because they can shut off the supply if anyone questions their actions. It's in the interest of all nations to mine their own rare earths, not to be influenced by China's pricing.

Jackblue · Accepted Answer

We can but it will take time to build mines and processing facilities, meanwhile China will be doing everything it can to take advantage of its near monopoly. We really should never have allowed this in the first place.

Chazmatazz269 · Answer

The people who run the companies that specialize in certain types of work are driven exclusively by greed. Since the US has somewhat higher standards for workplace safety and health, as well as higher wages, those people found it more profitable to conduct their business in third world countries where there are little to no government regulations or unions. Even outsourcing to European countries and Canada benefits them because those nations’ healthcare systems don’t cost employers or employees anything. Lower overhead means more profit, and everything is always about profit.
Not for nothing, prior to Drumpf rebalancing tariffs, there were only two plans for making the US “competitive” in the global labor market. One plan was to build up labor regulations in other countries so that it isn’t so lucrative to outsource. (That’s also the direct effect of tariffs.) The other was to drive US wages and compensation packages down to compete with third world countries.
Dig around all you like. You won’t find a shred of evidence that any meaningful effort was put into boosting labor laws in other countries. Meanwhile stateside, every labor law in the US is constantly under attack, along with the unions. The fat cats actually have people who live in or near poverty in this country arguing against living wages.
The whole reason those companies stay in the US is no other country lets them get away with the over the top movie villain sh*t that they literally do. One of the many benefits of the deliberate degradation of the public education system. When all US citizens know about other countries is exactly what their oppressors tell them, there’s no risk of revolution.

lightbulb27 · Answer

cost differential. why mine it here under all these costs, minimum wage, power, environ, ental, blah blah blah. why don't you go open up a mine and find out. they can't compete as well.

that said, there are mines here...

I wonder more about recycling such materials...

Syntosi · Answer

Simply put, its the fault of capitalism. A private corporation could never compete with foreign suppliers, most notably China, simply because the process of mining and refining rare earth minerals is generally not worth the effort on a profit basis. If you want USA to supply itself then that extraction company would pretty much be operating at a loss to compete with China.

slatyb · Answer

We could but it was cheaper to buy them from China. That's changing.

Dargil · Answer

We are heading in that direction. Obamaden blocked it.

exitseven · Answer

In most cases, mining minerals out of the earth creates environmental problems and spoils our other natural resources. It would be better if we got them someplace else.

Anonymous · Answer

Because the Democrats for a long time have been pushing for mining to stop in the us.

Ariesman81 · Answer

EPA regulations made it impossible for domestic production to be competitive

jahaims · Answer

The pollution and slave labor involved gets exported so we can have a degree of separation

Anonymous · Answer

It damages the environment... did you look it up?

In_Trance · Answer

If you could, you would

Why doesn’t the US have a lot of rare earth mining and processing? Can’t we mine and process our own elements?

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