When the rare earth castle came crashing down
Molycorp, which last week filed for bankruptcy, is a bet gone awry as reports of scarcity proved unfounded
New York
IN late 2010, two questions were on the minds of many commodities investors: What are rare earths? And where could they buy some?
The group of 17 obscure, difficult-to-pronounce minerals, used in hot-ticket items like smartphones, electric cars and wind turbines, were beginning to post the kind of price gains not seen even in the traditionally volatile energy and metals markets.
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