Rare Element Resources Ltd. (AMEX: REE, TSX: RES) is a publicly traded American company having 100% interest in the Bear Lodge Property in Wyoming, which is one of the world’s best mining jurisdictions and was recently ranked fourth globally by the Fraser Institute. The Bear Lodge Project and its Bull Hill Mine are now considered by many to have become the second-best rare earth deposit in North America and one of the three best outside of China. The Bear Lodge Project has high-grade critical rare earth elements (CREOs), favorable metallurgy and outstanding infrastructure of existing roads, nearby low-cost power, ready access to skilled mining professionals and water, and rail access to an existing industrial park where the project’s hydrometallurgy facility will be built only 40 miles from the small mine site.

Rare Element Resources has filed its Plan of Operations with the US Forest Service in 2012 and remains had been on schedule to begin production in 2016. As of 2016 however, the project had been put on hold indefinitely due to falling market prices combined with an inability to secure additional financing to proceed. What particularly sets Bear Lodge apart from other rare earths deposits is that it holds significant quantities of what are termed by the US Department of Energy as the Critical Rare Earth Oxides (CREOs) including Neodymium, Dysprosium, Praseodymium, Europium and Terbium. The Bull Hill deposit may be the second richest Europium deposit on Earth. The deposit also contains significant quantities of Yttrium. It is these six CREOs that China is expected to begin importing in 2014 based on that country’s announcement in its July 2012 White Paper. CREOs are the most highly valued of the rare earths and are essential components for numerous high-tech and defense applications.

https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/10/us-china-rareearths-idUSBRE8691E920120710