It has only one rare earth mine - because of its relationship with China, government scientists have been told not to cooperate with it.
Located in a mountain pass in Southern California, the mine is home to the world's eighth largest reserves of rare earths for missiles, fighter jets, night vision goggles and other equipment.
However, the U.S. Department of energy's Institute of critical materials told Reuters that the U.S. Department of energy (DOE) told government scientists not to work with the mine's owner, MP materials.
According to the company, this is because MP materials is almost one tenth owned by Chinese investors and heavily relies on Chinese sales and technical knowledge.
"Obviously, the ownership structure of MP materials is an issue," said Tom lograsso, interim director of the Institute The Institute is the U.S. government's focus on rare earth research, and is often a close collaboration with private companies.
Hot Model No.: