Rare earths are vital, and China owns them all

Yeah in fact the word "rare" in rare earth is a bit of misnomer. Some rare earth elements are actually quite plentiful but they aren't usually found in concentrations great enough to mine on their own and even when they are found in mineable deposits it's difficult for mining companies to get financing for mines since banks and investors don't have the same knowledge and yardsticks that they have for other minerals like gold, nickel etc. Two deposits in North America that I know about are the Cordero gallium property (owned by Gold Canyon) and a property in New Brunswick owned by Geodex that might be the largest indium property in the world. The Geodex property will probably get mined because it has other valuable minerals but the Gold Canyon property is still a question mark at this point, even though gallium is in demand.