Elemental Crisis | Sunday on 60 Minutes
In a Nutshell
The US's sole active rare earth mine in California's Mojave Desert, an hour southwest of Las Vegas, is a key front in the trade war with China, which holds a near-monopoly on these strategic metals. When Beijing restricted supplies last year, mine operator James Lety's company was summoned to the Pentagon amid a presidential directive to rapidly address the crisis.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
An hour southwest of Las Vegas, in the guts of the Mojave, sits the only active rare earth mine in the US, an unlikely battlefield in our trade war with China, which has a near monopoly over these strategic metals.
When Beijing choked off supplies last year, James Lety and his company got the call. We got called into the Pentagon and it was clear that there was a directive from the president to solve this problem as quickly as possible.
Sign in to read the full notes
Get access to AI-generated notes, topic timestamps, and more.