A part of Mongolia was retained by China, which became Inner Mongolia.
The rest, which is still referred to as Outer Mongolia by some people, became Mongolia proper.
Rare earths are used as catalysts, phosphors, and as polishing compounds.
One notable example is the neodymium magnet.
The 17 rare earth elements.
Rendering byFoxPictures/Shutterstock.com
Clockwise from top center: praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, and gadolinium.
Nearly two-third of these come from the mines pictured in the satellite image above.
But nothing could be further than the truth.
The prefecture-level city where the factories and refineries are located, is home to 2.6 million people.
The smell of sulphur and the roar of the pipes invades my senses.
It feels like hell on Earth, he wrote.
More fromMaughans report:
Baotous many coal-burning power stations sit unsettlingly close to freshly built apartment towers.
The air is filled with a constant, ambient, smell of sulphur.
Its the kind of industrial landscape that America and Europe has largely forgotten.
Before the factories were built, there were just fields here as far as the eye can see.
They would flower all right, but sometimes there was no fruit or they were small or smelt awful.
Ten years later, vegetables stopped growing altogether.
A refinery in Baotou pumps toxic and radioactive tailings into an adjacent artificial lake.
Another option is to recycle electronic waste.
The rest of the countries are just too worried about polluting their environment.
But the project was suspended by regional authorities due to social and environmental concerns.
Things are different in China.
Here, environment always takes the backseat.
