2026/2027 / Volume I / Published
The rare-earth enclosure
What must a society sustain to make rare earths available, and what remains when the product leaves?
Published volume
Primary Function
Rare Earth follows Bayan Obo, Xu Guangxian's separation science, and California's Mountain Pass into the industrial enclosure that makes rare-earth materials available. It asks whether production requires a toxic lake, whether rare earths can support a primary mine, and what a new source contributes to ecology and national security. The inquiry ends with the whole route from ore to a qualified defense component.
Begin the 2026/2027 series here. The first edition follows the rare-earth enclosure through sixteen chapters and documentary source notes, from the mineral inside the mine to the qualified component and the ecology that remains.
Inside This Volume
Bayan Obo and rare earths within an iron-centered industry
Xu Guangxian and China's scientific and industrial contribution
Mountain Pass and primary rare-earth mining
Tailings, water recovery, and the Salton Sea comparison
A new mine's material burden, economic value, and ecological limits
Domestic defense components and the national enclosure
Related Material
Play
Industrial systems
How rare-earth technology emerged from the infrastructure, tailings, chemistry, and labor of iron mining.
The 2026/2027 Rare Earth volume is the source manuscript for the Bayan Obo enclosure, separation chain, and limits of the iron–rare-earth relationship.
Play
Industrial systems
Why a mineral deposit becomes a resource only when recovery, separation, and manufacturing form a viable system around it.
The 2026/2027 Rare Earth volume distinguishes the mine, the recovery enclosure, and the full industrial chain.