$8 billion worth of rare earth minerals in Sierra Blanca area mountain, company says

[TexasTowelie]

A fledgling Sierra Blanca company is trying to raise $20 million to continue developing plans for its proposed open-pit mine on a mountain near the West Texas town to produce billions of dollars of rare earth minerals that federal agencies have deemed critical to make clean-energy products and weapons.

"We're going to put Hudspeth County on the map," said Anthony Marchese, 50, a New Jersey investment banker and board chairman for Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp., which trades on the Over-the-Counter, or penny, stock market under the TRER symbol. "This could be a very large opportunity for the area, including El Paso."

China supplies more than 90 percent of the world's rare earth minerals.

Besides, energy and defense applications, the minerals also are used in electronic devices, lasers, in oil and gas drilling, water treatment, and other uses.

Texas Rare Earth Resources holds two state leases to explore and develop a 950-acre rare-earth minerals deposit in the almost mile-high Round Top Mountain, located eight miles northwest of Sierra Blanca and about 85 miles southeast of El Paso.

More at http://www.elpasotimes.com/business/ci_24993344/8-billion-worth-rare-earth-minerals-sierra-blanca .

[JeffHead]

1. That mountain's days are numbered.

Welcome to the world of mountain top removal mining Texas. You might want to ask West Virginia how that's working out for them. But, hey there's gold in them there hills!

[wandy]

2. Then and again theres always blood for niobium........

Afghanistan’s Rare Earth Element Bonanza

U.S. agencies estimate Afghanistan’s mineral deposits to be worth upwards of $1 trillion. In fact, a classified Pentagon memo called Afghanistan the “Saudi Arabia of lithium.” (Although lithium is technically not a rare earth element, it serves some of the same purposes.)

Of course, the fact that Afghanistan is rich in minerals is not necessarily new information. The Soviets identified mineral deposits in Afghanistan during their decade-long occupation.
Snip........
Yet what Afghanistan lacks in infrastructure, it makes up for in rare earth riches, which explains why some governments are willing to look past the many impediments to development. Of course, those impediments are significant, and removing them will require a commitment within Afghanistan to embrace economic freedom, the foundations of which — personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to enter and compete in markets, and property rights — have yet to fully take root.

http://www.american.com/archive/2013/august/afghanistans-rare-earth-element-bonanza

And I bet you wonder why we are still there.