Rare earth minerals — metals that are critical components for much of the technology in use today — are in high demand, but experts say most of the country’s supply is imported.

But now, researchers with the Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute say there is an opportunity to tap into a domestic supply in Florida.

The research is taking place at the institute’s lab on the Florida Polytechnic Institute campus in Bartow, where they have been studying what it would take to source rare earth elements during the process used to make fertilizer.

The elements can be found in high concentrations in phosphate ore, which is already being mined by fertilizer companies. Researchers say there is the potential for fertilizer companies to add in an extra step during their production process to gather those elements.

“We get that from them, we can break it down with the leaching apparatus, pull the rare earths out of that," said lab manager Aaron Medley.

Medley says if Florida’s fertilizer companies adopt the new process, the United States could start supplying the bulk of its own rare earth minerals domestically, with 50% of what’s needed coming from Florida alone. 

The lab’s research is funded primarily through the U.S. Department of Energy.

However, grant money was also awarded more recently by Mosaic, the largest phosphate mining company in Florida.

Spectrum News reached out to Mosaic for more information, but has yet to hear back.