Are Rare Earth Minerals really rare? Rare earth minerals are minerals that control our everyday life; from your car to computers, from satellites to submarines. Yet most of the current production is controlled by China, Russia, and Brazil. The United States has a vast reserve of these mineral and a large deposit has also been discovered off the coast of Japan In the recent past, there is a proposal in Congress on the extraction of these versatile minerals from Coal Ash because of the strategic nature of these minerals. Study the attached file and other online resources and then post your opinion here( Report on Rare Earth Elements from Coal and Coal Byproducts, Report to Congress January 2017)