Lynas Corp. Ltd. (LYSCF)

[ax57]

Yes, refining the REMs is very process intensive and can leave radioactive tailings that have to be dealt with. (The rare earth deposits are often accompanied by thorium as well.)

The Mountain Pass mine in California is an exception, it has a high grade rare earth ore body that doesn't contain thorium. The company that owns it, MpMaterials, is privately held though. (If they have an IPO any time soon I'll likely invest it, and I normally stay far away from IPOs.) When MpMaterials acquired the Mountain Pass assets they also got a processing facility that they are currently rehabbing. So soon, the U.S. will have two rare earth processing plants to go along with the one operating mine.