Rare earth minerals are an important part of the electronic manufacturing. Satellites, TV's, phones, microchips, tablets etc etc. Basically anything that needs a chip and circuit board. China has had a monopoly on the minerals for FAR too long. I think we would be better suited looking south ( central and south America ) for any minerals we can't get here.
But good on Australia for being cool about it and ready to sell us some MIN-ER-ALS!
So, question.... I don't know much about geology/science. Does the US land just not have the needed minerals? Or is the need for mineral due to some sort of climate/mining ban?
I believe we do have some rare earth minerals, not a shitload, but enough. Unfortunately, I believe they reside In some of the most lefty states in the union and have SEVERE regulations against mining them. Other countries have an abundant amount so we buy theirs instead of depleting ours. Africa being one of the richest in gems/minerals. Unfortunately (again) their selling out to China and leasing the mineral rights to them instead of us. So we look elsewhere, places like Australia who are friendlier and more business centered and WILL sell us what we need.
My theory is that central and south America have an abundance of these and would likely be willing to deal with Uncle Sam for some lucrative contracts for those minerals. And it would also provide stability and jobs for those people. Kinda a win win. We get minerals, they get jobs.
Thanks for the explanation! Yea I can see how Central and South America would be a great option for something like this if possible. This is very interesting
I'm no expert or anything and some pede with better knowledge on the subject could probably do better than I did, lol.
I just know that the red tape on mining those minerals here is ridiculous. And that's pretty much why we buy from others instead. Takes to long to get things through that red tape, so it's just easier to buy em
There are rare earth minerals dispersed throughout nearly every part of the planet, the issue isn't if a region has them or not, its whether the amount of rare earth minerals are in a "dense" enough quantity to make the extraction viable. Its not practical to mine in areas where you may only get a few grams of minerals from a cubic mile of earth.
I do believe North Korea has a major rare earth mineral deposit in one of their mountain ranges. Also, I read a while back that Japan has a massive deposit off their coast deep within the sea bed. I don't remember exactly how much was there but it was something like 'enough to feed the planets demand for 700 years'.
Or up. SpaceX and Nasa could be poised to check out some asteroids in the next decade. One good asteroid would provide enough Rare Earths to last this nation a lifetime.
This also. There is potentially TRILLIONS in minerals just floating around out there. And this could also appease both sides. Climate freaks would be happy because we wouldn't be mining the earth anymore and business people would be happy because of the sheer abundance of minerals that can be mined. Win win, baby!
Rare earth minerals are an important part of the electronic manufacturing. Satellites, TV's, phones, microchips, tablets etc etc. Basically anything that needs a chip and circuit board. China has had a monopoly on the minerals for FAR too long. I think we would be better suited looking south ( central and south America ) for any minerals we can't get here.
But good on Australia for being cool about it and ready to sell us some MIN-ER-ALS!
So, question.... I don't know much about geology/science. Does the US land just not have the needed minerals? Or is the need for mineral due to some sort of climate/mining ban?
Great. This should have been done decades ago.
I believe we do have some rare earth minerals, not a shitload, but enough. Unfortunately, I believe they reside In some of the most lefty states in the union and have SEVERE regulations against mining them. Other countries have an abundant amount so we buy theirs instead of depleting ours. Africa being one of the richest in gems/minerals. Unfortunately (again) their selling out to China and leasing the mineral rights to them instead of us. So we look elsewhere, places like Australia who are friendlier and more business centered and WILL sell us what we need.
My theory is that central and south America have an abundance of these and would likely be willing to deal with Uncle Sam for some lucrative contracts for those minerals. And it would also provide stability and jobs for those people. Kinda a win win. We get minerals, they get jobs.
Thanks for the explanation! Yea I can see how Central and South America would be a great option for something like this if possible. This is very interesting
I'm no expert or anything and some pede with better knowledge on the subject could probably do better than I did, lol.
I just know that the red tape on mining those minerals here is ridiculous. And that's pretty much why we buy from others instead. Takes to long to get things through that red tape, so it's just easier to buy em
There are rare earth minerals dispersed throughout nearly every part of the planet, the issue isn't if a region has them or not, its whether the amount of rare earth minerals are in a "dense" enough quantity to make the extraction viable. Its not practical to mine in areas where you may only get a few grams of minerals from a cubic mile of earth.
I do believe North Korea has a major rare earth mineral deposit in one of their mountain ranges. Also, I read a while back that Japan has a massive deposit off their coast deep within the sea bed. I don't remember exactly how much was there but it was something like 'enough to feed the planets demand for 700 years'.
Or up. SpaceX and Nasa could be poised to check out some asteroids in the next decade. One good asteroid would provide enough Rare Earths to last this nation a lifetime.
This also. There is potentially TRILLIONS in minerals just floating around out there. And this could also appease both sides. Climate freaks would be happy because we wouldn't be mining the earth anymore and business people would be happy because of the sheer abundance of minerals that can be mined. Win win, baby!
Probably the worst job i ever had was working at a rare-earth mineral pilot plant. Anyway, thanks Trump from australia.
i thought Japan has a treasure trove of rare earth minerals on the sea floor but has harvesting issues. What happened to that?