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Plzbanmebrony t1_ixulb0n wrote

Reply to comment by DukkyDrake in The West is slowly rebuilding its rare earths supply chain. by BalticsFox

I misunderstood. I thought you were saying that had easiest access and lowest production cost.

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DukkyDrake t1_ixus2bo wrote

They were simply willing to cut the most corners, the way American industry operated before dumping toxic waste in the nearest stream was frowned upon.

The problem is the global value of rare earth imports was only $1.15 billion back in 2019. It's not a huge market, but it involves a lot of cost on the processing end. It's not just about mining.

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