Rare earth minerals?

Rare Element Resources, a Canadian company, has been studying an area about five miles north of Sundance and is now applying for permits to open a rare earth element mine in the area.

The editorial is quoted as saying:

A 1983 USGS report states that the Bear Lodge area deposits have one of the largest resources of rare earths in the United States, and although the grade is lower than some other deposits, its large size and relative inexpensive mining make it an important future resource.

Despite the USGS findings, there were not a lot of uses for rare earth elements at the time. Once uses were found, China already was flooding the market with rare earth elements, making it uneconomical to mine in America.

That’s changing, and Rare Element Resources wants to be one of the first domestic mines in production.

George Byers, vice president of government and community relations for the company, said Rare Element Resources has just finished some significant financing in December and now has $68 million in the bank to get the $87 million mine started. A couple of significant things are going to happen now that the financing is complete, he said.

“We are going to jump into what is called a pre-feasibility study and, simultaneously, we are going to really commit to the permitting process for the mine,” Byers said.

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