The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, June 30, edition that stocks of companies planning to extract "rare earth" elements from the earth crust rallied nicely earlier this year, but have now settled back. The Globe's Richard Blackwell writes that individual investors may be wondering if this is the time to get on the bandwagon. Rare earths are increasingly critical in high-tech manufacturing, but can be risky bets because most companies are still years from production. Byron Capital Markets analyst Jon Hykawy says if you do your homework there are opportunities to be had. Mr. Hykawy notes that some rare earth exploration firms are still overvalued because investors "got caught up in hysteria" after China said last year it would limit its rare earth exports. Others, however, can still look forward to impressive gains, he suggests. Mr. Hykawy recommends buying Rare Element Resources ($10.42). It operates a deposit in Wyoming that has "available infrastructure in a good mining jurisdiction." China currently produces 95 per cent of rare earths, but it has cut its exports and signalled it will continue to do so. This could cause a shortage of some critical materials in the West.