Alaska's Bokan Mountain: Key to winning the rare earths warfare?

Image source: upenn.edu

At present, the United States obtains most of its REEs (rare earth elements) from China. Economically speaking, import dependence on a single country can raise serious supply disruptions, creating the need to develop domestic sources of rare earths to counter the fragility of the global supply and demand of rare earths, if not to break China’s commanding monopoly on the supply of rare earths.

A recent research on unique mineral deposit on Alaska’s Bokan Mountain may define the domestic supply of REEs in the United States. The rare earths deposit in this region can provide a greater understanding of the geologic setting in which rare earths form. The knowledge on the geologic setting may help mining companies to accurately determine which rocks contain mineable concentrations of critical minerals – a critical step in the processing and manufacturing of rare earths.


Image source: americanresources.org

Alaska is dubbed as an excellent location to explore and develop domestic mineral projects. Alaska's Bokan Mountain is found to contain vast amounts of yttrium and heavy rare-earth elements (HREE) which are critical in producing high-grade magnets used for smart phones, engines and transmissions, and defense and green technologies.

Perhaps the next thing America has to improve on is how to incorporate rare earths metals in mobile phones, and computers, among others in a cost-effective and environmentally benign way. Read more about mining and metals on this Richard Fifer blog.


Image source: mining.com