Rare earths aren't all that rare. The real choke point is in processing and refining them, where China enjoys market dominance.
With names like neodymium and dysprosium, rare-earth elements sound exotic — and their perceived scarcity has only added to the mystique.
In reality, rare earths aren't that rare, but just difficult to extract and refine. Yet they've become indispens... [9300 chars]