Here's the lowdown on rare earths. They are not rare. In fact, there is an overabundance of them. China currently makes most of them because they have the lowest labor costs. Other rare earth mines across the world have shut down in the face of Chinese prices. That's the only reason. What is rare is how much is produced, and the demand for the products. Some manufactures have in recent times started reinvesting in harvesting and refining their own rare earths, after China used restricting access to their markets as a club in negotiations. It costs more to obtain needed rare earths this way, however, it costs even more than that to have an insecure supply chain. Several automobile assembly lines are currently shut down across the planet due to chip shortages, due to an insecure supply chain for computer chips. That industry is learning new lessons, (relearning old lessons,) now too. The main problem with rare earths as an investment opportunity is the inability to raise prices over the long term. Again, rare earths are not actually rare. Any attempt to raise price is met with new supply coming online, so prices can only ever climb temporarily. This is great for manufacturing, and lousy for investment.