Huge rare earths deposit found In what will be thrilling news to the White House, a massive deposit of rare earths and other critical minerals has been discovered in Utah – potentially reducing America’s reliance on exports from China President Trump has been frustrated dealing with China over its rare earths exports Lake Mountains SALT LAKE CITY Orem Lehi Highland Spanish Fork Utah Lake Rocky Mountains Provo Utah UNITED STATES Halloysite clay: Full spectrum of rare earth elements embedded in ‘shovel-ready’ material Silicon Ridge mine Large rare earths deposit discovered Ionic Mineral Technologies Processing facility already exists, so extraction can begin immediately HALLOYSITE CLAY CROSS-SECTION Topsoil Completely weathered layer Semi weathered layer Bedrock: Would have been harder to mine 30m 10km 6 miles Sources: GNN, Metals Weekly, ScienceDirect, Ionic MT Pictures: Google Earth, Getty © GRAPHIC NEWS