[9YearLurker]

That’s only part of the solution. Rare earth minerals are rare indeed.

[hawkaw]

No they are not. The problem is it is expensive to mine and Mill then here Condor to other countries.

[roadcat]

That’s only part of the solution. Rare earth minerals are rare indeed.

No, they're not rare at all. Rare earth minerals are known as lanthanides ad actinides, and they are abundant materials on Earth. For example lanthanum, the first of these minerals, is more than three times as abundant in the earth's crust as lead. Cerium is twice as abundant as lanthanum. Most of the rare earth minerals are similar and interchangeable and are found in the same ores.

We have rare earth mines in the U.S.A., and unfortunately environmentalist groups were active in shutting them down. We have them, we just need to reopen them.

[miniTAX]

“Rare earth minerals are rare indeed.”

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“Rare earth” is a historical term and is in fact a misnomer. Check it out, rare earths are everywhere and not rare at all!
The US was one of the biggest producer of rare earths, before the whole industry was killed by environmental regulations, like many other ressource industries (eg lumber, coal). It’s a capital and technology intensive industry, not labor intensive, so even without strategic and military consideration, it still makes perfect sense to revive it.