The discovery of two billion tonnes of these rare minerals could make the US a world leader

Over 2 billion tonnes of rare Earth minerals have been found in the United States, giving the country the potential to become a huge world leader in the substances.

In our changing world, efforts are being made to make good use of naturally occurring resources. Scientists at one Scottish university discovered how to turn wastewater from the whisky industry into sustainable fuel, but it is rare minerals that can really make a country into a superpower.

A discovery in Wyoming of two billion metric tons of rare earth minerals could see the US overtake China in its mineral resource ownership.

The American Rare Earth Inc said the discovery has “exceeded their wildest dreams” and to make matters more interesting, the drill is only about one-quarter of the way completed.

Amongst the discovery are oxides of neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, dysprosium and terbium – minerals which are used in the production of many modern day technologies including mobile phones and electric vehicles.

As it stands, 95 percent of such minerals come from China. The United States is a big customer, importing 74 percent of it.

In March 2023, American Rare Earths began drilling after estimating there to be around 1.2 million metric tonnes of the mineral in Wyoming.

But, it appears their predictions were way off after they have managed to gather over two thirds more than their estimated figure.

American Rare Earths CEO Don Schwartz, said: “These results are illustrative of the enormous potential of the project when the resource increased by 64 percent during a developmental drilling campaign, which increased measured/indicated resources by 128 percent.”

“Typically, you’ll see the resource decrease as infill drilling takes place – instead, we’re seeing the opposite, with only 25 percent of the project being drilled to this point,” Schwartz continued.

The value of the minerals could be staggering and would undoubtedly offer a huge boost to the American economy.

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