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NANCHANG, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Three people have been detained in east China's Jiangxi Province for illegal mining of rare earth, authorities said Saturday.
The suspects extracted rare earth without authorization in Dingnan County of Ganzhou City, according to the county's public security bureau.
Ganzhou has rich rare earth resources and a special crackdown on illegal mining was launched at the end of last year.
The case is still under investigation.
Rare earth metals are vital for manufacturing high-tech products ranging from smartphones and wind turbines to electric car batteries and missiles.
