Exports of rare earths now require special licenses, but Beijing has yet to fully establish a system for issuing them, the New York Times reported.
    • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      They have the most known reserves. China has subsidized the rare earth market for decades, so capitalism hasn’t really bothered with their exploration elsewhere; there has been little incentive beyond “national security”.

      There will definitely be considerable reserves in Canada, US, Australia, Africa, probably Russia. The problem is infrastructure, expertise, and the volume of highly-toxic pollution that mining and refining them entail.

      Everything electronic, and dependent on electronics (everything), is about to see a lot of inflation. Yay!