Pakistan ships first batch of rare earths to US, sparks outrage over secret deals The simple truth about rare earths is that they're anything but rare. During the war in Afghanistan the US was careful to do a geological survey for such minerals, but Afghanistan is the most out-of-the-way-spot on earth to start shipping thing from. Donald Duck is exposing the truth, that China's only lock on rare earths is the fact they have the largest and easiest to mine deposits. Quite frequently, the government encourages the mass media to make a big stink over issues that are actually only a question of money and technology. The one I never get over is the "Energy Crisis!" Which only became an issue greedy capitalists were upset when oil countries raised their prices on them, and they had to pump more oil themselves. Even now, the only energy crisis we have is global warming.
More deposits are being found yearly. The Salton Sea has huge surface deposits easily accessible. Only problem is it will make the air pollution which is already bad, worse in the region.
