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SUNDANCE, Wyo. – A Canadian company hoping to compete with China's near-monopoly of rare earth elements — metals critical for everything from U.S. military weaponry to wind turbines — wants to open a strip mine inside a national forest in northeast Wyoming.

Processing raw ore into rare earths is an intensive operation that has been associated with radioactive water spills. But with China slashing exports of rare earths and Washington concerned the U.S. military could face a shortage of materials for lasers, smart bombs, guided missiles, night-vision goggles and jet engines, Don Ranta is optimistic about his Black Hills National Forest mine proposal.

"Everything we've seen so far looks very, very bullish for it to be a commercial project," said Ranta, CEO of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Rare Element Resources. If approved and if it goes into production, the mine would be located about 15 miles from Devils Tower National Monument, the nation's first national monument.

For its particular combination of rare earths, Wyoming's Bear Lodge Mountains rank close behind a mine at Mountain Pass in southeastern California as North America's best verified source of the minerals, said John Kaiser, editor of the Kaiser Bottom Fish website, which tracks global metals markets and mining companies.
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Thanks to the mining act of 1872 we can let these foreigners come take our resources for next to nothing.

houndawg wrote:Thanks to the mining act of 1872 we can let these foreigners come take our resources for next to nothing.

Not like we don't do it to other countries in return...

Yeah, lets just keep unemployment right where its at.

Who needs jobs anyway when you get money for free from the government.

Canadians mining precious minerals and paying almost zero in royalities which they can then sell to China to produce the computer systems for U.S. laser guided missiles.

We don't care who, just drill baby drill

Got no problem with mining in a National Forest...wouldn't want it in my backyard & would be upset if it was Trace Ridge area off Pisgah National Forest. But if it's spectacular land or a fragile ecosystem needing protection, it should be deemed a Wilderness. But since it's not, it's a resource.

My problem is with the Mining Act that allows a foreign company to come in and mine with hardly any royalties. If the resource is in a national forest, it is a natioanlized resource to be used for the advancement of people and companies within this country. Am I being too simplistc here? I don't knpw alot about Mining Act....what's allowed in this situation?

Appaholic wrote:Got no problem with mining in a National Forest...wouldn't want it in my backyard & would be upset if it was Trace Ridge area off Pisgah National Forest. But if it's spectacular land or a fragile ecosystem needing protection, it should be deemed a Wilderness. But since it's not, it's a resource.

My problem is with the Mining Act that allows a foreign company to come in and mine with hardly any royalties. If the resource is in a national forest, it is a natioanlized resource to be used for the advancement of people and companies within this country. Am I being too simplistc here? I don't knpw alot about Mining Act....what's allowed in this situation?

Agreed - the Mining Act is outdated, and needs to be redone to give a better cut to the US.

I don't have a problem in general with mining, as long as there are sufficient safeguards to protect the long-term health of the area.

Rare Earths are a matter of national security, and am willing to give up a little more for US production of them, as long as the materials STAY in the country.

dbackjon wrote:

Appaholic wrote:Got no problem with mining in a National Forest...wouldn't want it in my backyard & would be upset if it was Trace Ridge area off Pisgah National Forest. But if it's spectacular land or a fragile ecosystem needing protection, it should be deemed a Wilderness. But since it's not, it's a resource.

My problem is with the Mining Act that allows a foreign company to come in and mine with hardly any royalties. If the resource is in a national forest, it is a natioanlized resource to be used for the advancement of people and companies within this country. Am I being too simplistc here? I don't knpw alot about Mining Act....what's allowed in this situation?

Agreed - the Mining Act is outdated, and needs to be redone to give a better cut to the US.

I don't have a problem in general with mining, as long as there are sufficient safeguards to protect the long-term health of the area.

Rare Earths are a matter of national security, and am willing to give up a little more for US production of them, as long as the materials STAY in the country.

That's the problem: if a Canadian company comes in and extracts them, you can bet your life they'll end up in TVs and cell phones made in Korea. And (channeling kalm here) those TVs and cell phones will end up here with no kind of tariff or quota thanks to the free trade agreement we recently signed with them.

dbackjon wrote:

Appaholic wrote:Got no problem with mining in a National Forest...wouldn't want it in my backyard & would be upset if it was Trace Ridge area off Pisgah National Forest. But if it's spectacular land or a fragile ecosystem needing protection, it should be deemed a Wilderness. But since it's not, it's a resource.

My problem is with the Mining Act that allows a foreign company to come in and mine with hardly any royalties. If the resource is in a national forest, it is a natioanlized resource to be used for the advancement of people and companies within this country. Am I being too simplistc here? I don't knpw alot about Mining Act....what's allowed in this situation?

Agreed - the Mining Act is outdated, and needs to be redone to give a better cut to the US.

I don't have a problem in general with mining, as long as there are sufficient safeguards to protect the long-term health of the area.

Rare Earths are a matter of national security, and am willing to give up a little more for US production of them, as long as the materials STAY in the country.

Agree (I'd say the same thing about petroleum refinement within this country, but that would make me a socialist)