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A comment on Left-wing party opposed to rare earth mining project wins Greenland election. Parent comment

Re:Left-wing party opposed to rare earth mining project wins... by pjc50 on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @09:46AM (#26724845)
There's a question over cobalt, although that's not usually counted as "rare".
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Re:Left-wing party opposed to rare earth mining project wins... by _Microft on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @10:06AM (#26725156)
"Rare-earth elements" is a name for a set of particular elements. Cobalt is not among them.

Despite their name rare-earth elements are not that rare either. They occur in rather low concentrations though and never pure either (i.e. always as compounds) which makes mining and processing them complex.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element

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Re:Left-wing party opposed to rare earth mining project wins... by baybal2 on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @12:08PM (#26726934)
Cobalt is also not that rare just as Nickel is.

It's just the price is set by people who can mine it for nearly free from the most rich deposits in the world.

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Re:Left-wing party opposed to rare earth mining project wins... by moistbar on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @09:57AM (#26725026)
Low-cobalt batteries are also becoming increasingly common.
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Re:Left-wing party opposed to rare earth mining project wins... by barney54 on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @11:32AM (#26726370)
True, but the quantity of batteries they are used in is rapidly increasing leading to more demand overall.
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