China’s Dystopian Lake–Courtesy Of The World’s Lust For Rare Earths

[Elderberry]

Not a Lot of People Know That by Paul Homewood 12/24/2020

Further to my post on neodymium, it is worth taking a closer look at just why China dominates most of the world’s production, their share being estimated at 90%.

Although neodymium is classified as a “rare earth”, there is actually plenty of it about. The real problem is that extracting and refining it, and other rare earths, is a highly hazardous and toxic process.

Quite simply, few countries, other than China, are prepared to take the environmental hit.

Back in 2015, the BBC published this account of Baotou, where rare earths are mined:

Hidden in an unknown corner of Inner Mongolia is a toxic, nightmarish lake created by our thirst for smartphones, consumer gadgets and green tech, discovers Tim Maughan.

From where I’m standing, the city-sized Baogang Steel and Rare Earth complex dominates the horizon, its endless cooling towers and chimneys reaching up into grey, washed-out sky. Between it and me, stretching into the distance, lies an artificial lake filled with a black, barely-liquid, toxic sludge.

Dozens of pipes line the shore, churning out a torrent of thick, black, chemical waste from the refineries that surround the lake. The smell of sulphur and the roar of the pipes invades my senses. It feels like hell on Earth.

Welcome to Baotou, the largest industrial city in Inner Mongolia. I’m here with a group of architects and designers called the Unknown Fields Division, and this is the final stop on a three-week-long journey up the global supply chain, tracing back the route consumer goods take from China to our shops and homes, via container ships and factories.

More: https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/12/24/chinas-dystopian-lake-courtesy-of-the-worlds-lust-for-rare-earths/

[thackney]

Of the rare earths, only yttrium, lanthanum, and cerium are more plentiful than neodymium. In the igneous rocks of Earth’s crust, it is more than twice as abundant as lead and about half as plentiful as copper.

https://www.britannica.com/science/neodymium

Factbox: Rare earths projects under development in U.S.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-rareearths-projects-factbox/factbox-rare-earths-projects-under-development-in-u-s-idUSKCN2241L6
APRIL 22, 2020

[Fishrrman]

45 years from now, when the U.S.S.S.A has become a client state of the People's Republic of China, you'll see similar scenes where the Great Salt Lake used to be:

[unite for individuality]

45 years DAYS from now, when the U.S.S.S.A has become a client state of the People's Republic of China,
(if the Dems get away with stealing the election)
you'll see similar scenes where the Great Salt Lake used to be: