Correct. That was Molycorp. Went out of business twice. Before the second failure they shipped raw material to China for processing by Molycorp-owned facilities there, now known as Neo Performance Materials. Molycorp’s most recent incarnation is MP Materials, who ship almost 100% of their raw material to their China-state-owned major shareholder.

Perhaps you should talk to a junior rare earth miner and acquaint yourself with the permitting process in USA. You won‘t be amused.

Or talk to rare earth processing hopeful Energy Fuels about diametrically opposed policies on federal and state level, creating a perfect pigs breakfast.

US experts in the production of RE and magnets are now in their mid 70s to mid 80s.