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Erisagi t1_j44q0s7 wrote

Reply to comment by PaloLV in Huge rare earth metals discovery in Arctic Sweden by TheUtopianCat

So what does that mean for this news? Is this resource meaningful only if Sweden decides to pollute their land?

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PaloLV t1_j44x2hq wrote

It means unless Sweden is willing to spend a ton of money to make it less damaging to the environment they will pollute the heck out of their land. If they choose to spend that money they won't be able to produce at anywhere close to competitive prices.

Unless they want to make a strategic decision to subsidize the industry to not be helpless to the whims of China it doesn't make economic sense to develop it. The U.S. is considering just that since our military and high tech industry requires large quantities of rare earths.

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Erisagi t1_j44yd3b wrote

The United States appears to have greater resources and incentives to develop this industry. Perhaps Sweden and our allies would prefer to rely on us. However, I wonder what sort of production capacity the United States would aim to achieve considering how it creates much pollution.

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