For the first time in more than 70 years, a rare earth minerals mine broke ground in the United States last Friday. The Brook Mine, owned by Ramaco Resources, near Sheridan, Wyoming, is also the first new coal mine in the state to have opened in decades.

The continent wants to reduce the risks of depending so heavily on China for the valuable minerals. The question is how.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple is expected to announce a $500 million commitment to MP Materials — the only rare earth mine currently operating in the United States, according to multiple sources familiar with the deal.

China's exports growth beat expectations in June as businesses continued to divert shipments to non-U.S. markets while shunning the U.S. despite a tariff reprieve.

In the chaos of war, there’s nothing to stop Chinese firms from ravaging the landscape and extracting the minerals, which end up in China.

While the area has traditionally been renowned for livestock, today the region embodies the stranglehold that China has over the supply of rare earth elements, as it is home to one of the world’s largest reserves of rare earth elements,

The U.S. is opening its first new Wyoming coal mine in decades to extract both coal and critical rare earth metals, inching the country closer to the Trump administration’s energy independence goals.

The move comes after China, the world’s dominant supplier, imposed export restrictions in April this year on seven rare earth elements and finished magnets