Summer sale: Save 58%

Topic: rare earth metals

Electronic components including circuit boards sit in a pile ahead of recycling at Aurubis AG on February 7, 2014 in Luenen, Germany. (Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images)

Chemists want to mine e-waste for metals

Eric Schank
In this Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, photo, a general view of Mes Aynak valley, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Afghan government is trying to grab President Donald Trump’s attention by dangling its massive, untouched wealth of minerals, including lithium, the silvery metal used in mobile phone and computer batteries considered essential to modern life. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Shortages of rare earth elements

Laura Mast