With a gaping tunnel carved deep into the rock behind him, the Turkish energy and natural resources minister, Fatih Dönmez, took to his podium to reveal the big news. He proudly announced that the ground below his feet was positively bursting with rare earth elements—694 million tons’ worth. Enough to rival China, he added.
In the two weeks since, breathless news stories have hailed Turkey’s “discovery” of this gargantuan bounty. “Move over China,” one report read.
There are 17 rare earth elements, and many of them make their way into a bewildering list of high-tech products—from cameras to telescopes, x-ray machines, and missile guidance systems. Take neodymium, used to make magnets in the motors of electric vehicles and wind turbines. Or cerium, which is an important material in catalytic converters. Some rare earth elements get added to metal alloys to strengthen them.
