Rare Earth Minerals: Policies and Issues (Earth Sciences in the 21st Century)

U.S. mineral policy emphasises developing domestic supplies of critical materials and the domestic private sector to produce and process those materials. However, some raw materials do not exist in economic quantities in the United States, while processing, manufacturing, and other downstream ventures in the United States may not be competitive with facilities in other regions of the world. The current goal of U.S. mineral policy is to promote an adequate, stable, and reliable supply of materials for U.S. national security, economic well-being, and industrial production. This book provides a discussion on the major issues and concerns of the global supply chain for rare earth elements, their major end uses, and legislative and other policy proposals that Congress may consider to improve the U.S. rare earth position.