a culling of the herd and the survivors part 3, page-12

DoD walked on Molymess as soon as they worked out there is NOTHING strategic at Mt Pass. Mark's Smith's BS didn't cut it with Congress or DoD, just the stock market.

As Wolves states "DoD signed a contract with Ucore" as the most prospective ATM but the US has some other very promising resources, not the least TRER:

"Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp. (TRER) ("Texas Rare Earth"), a heavy rare earths exploration company, is pleased to announce that in-house research on the mineralogy, geochemistry, and kinetics of direct acid leaching indicates that this simple process is effective in removing target heavy rare earth elements from coarse grains of Round Top rock. These continuing studies are defining the conditions under which approximately 150 grams per liter (15%) strength sulfuric acid successfully penetrates the grains and dissolves the valuable rare earth-containing minerals that are disseminated throughout the rhyolite host rock. Estimated recoveries into solution of the target heavy rare earths consistently exceed 80%. If the further technical results and economics of the leach process prove favorable, the combination of open pit mining and heap leaching could significantly decrease capital and operating costs for a heavy rare earth facility. This approach is in the process of being confirmed by independent third-party consulting laboratories and will be released upon completion.

Dan Gorski, CEO, commented "This research indicates that the porosity and permeability of the Round Top rhyolite coupled with the favorable solubility characteristics of the REE minerals holds potential for heap leaching at Round Top. We will continue to investigate this alternative REE extraction approach by trying to optimize the particle size, time, acid strength and solution management to develop a heap leach economic model for this deposit."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/texas-rare-earth-resources-announces-110000952.html

Read the full story of Magnequench up to current, it reveals a great deal about China's RE strategy - acquire, rape, advance & discard.