Geologists Believe Alaska Has Major Rare-Earth Deposits

Tim Ellis, KUAC – FairbanksAlaska has at least one major deposit of rare-earth elements, and state geologists think they’ll find more during a three-year study they hope to begin this summer. Alaska may have a lot of the highly valuable substances that are essential to manufacturing electronics and other high-tech products.But finding them is the easy part – the first step in what state and federal officials say is a critical need for U.S. economic and national security.KUAC’s Tim Ellis outlines the challenges of creating a U.S. rare-earths industry, and Alaska’s role in that important effort, in this second of two reports.Download Audio (MP3)