Rare earths are essential for the manufacture of modern technology products. They're not common or abundantly found on earth. When you put together those two factors, essential and uncommon, it means that manufacturers will pay a high price to get them.
China is the main source of rare earths. That means China makes a lot of money from supplying them to manufacturers, and it means that they can manipulate this advantage for political goals.
But all of this may change because the "mother lode" of rare earths, the largest deposit ever found, has been discovered--and it's not in China. It's in the US, in the state of Wyoming.
"If wisely exploited, this find—estimated to be the richest in the world—will give the U.S. an unparalleled economic and geopolitical edge against China and Russia for the foreseeable future."
from WSJ, "Wyoming Hits the Rare-Earth Mother Lode"
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