I really pity those "Investors" who put money into Rare Earth...

I really pity those "Investors" who put money into Rare Earth hopefuls without doing the prerequisite homework/research !

There has been a wealth of information posted by numerous sources on the state of play in this Industry ~ 'The Rare Earth Observer' has been putting out a Chinese sponsored weekly blog since 2019; it is highly politicised but it does spell out the facts on Ionic Clays, and the fact that Chinese Authorities have now banned Clay mining in China. They still 'illegally' mine them in neighbouring countries of Myanmar and Laos.

The BIG problem with mining and processing clays is that by dissolving the REE ions, you are removing the very Cations that are binding the clay particles together and end you up with a colloidal slime that has less structural integrity than quick-sand ! For once I agree with the Greenies until somebody comes up with a viable solution to stabilise the tailings/slop then the clays should not be mined. Given the extremely low grades/value of these deposits and the growing abundance of much higher value 'Hard rock' deposits; I doubt if any economic solution will ever be found.

All things considered, they are more of a detriment rather than a bonus to any NiPg deposit that they might overlay !