[9422WMR]

Well if everyone had it then it would not be called RARE,
maybe just normal earth magnets.
Does not have the same allure to it, does it?/S

[muawiyah]

"Rare earths" were so named at the time because they had been "rarely found". Today we know the stuff is all over the place, but a good deal of the problem involves radioactivity or the need to use very expensive magnetic extraction and ore separation processes.

The Chinese are not throwing in the towel on this but they are pulling back. I suspect it's the radioactivity part. They didn't pay any attention to it anywhere ~ which is one of the reasons you get radioactive plasterboard in American homes!