Also present in the region are lithium, vanadium, and rare-earth metals, not to mention a potential for uranium and diamonds.

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Asteroids could yield precious minerals such as gold, platinum and rare-Earth metals.

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He was questioned on the mining and future availability of metals such as cobalt, platinum and titanium, as well as so-called "rare earth metals" which as used in magnets and nanotechnology.

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Metals, platinum-group elements, rare earth elements, and other volatiles, like H, H2O, and carbon compounds, are abundant on asteroids, many of which are relatively accessible from Earth.

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Information provided by Metal Pages, a news site that focuses on non-ferrous metals, ferro alloys and rare earths, indicated that rare earth elements exports have dropped 65% in 2011 and that China has only exported 11, 000 metric tons of rare earths through the first three quarters of the year.

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