kira kay reports on what that means for the u.s. and others. >> reporter: from the air, the frozen landscape of canada's northwest territories looks as remote as any place on earth. but in this vast uninhab ied zone there's a kind of 21st century gold rush underway. after landing on the icy surface of thor lake.... >> very nice to meet you. >> reporter:... i met chris peterson, a geologist with after loan rare metals company. he's out here looking for very valuable minerals he believes are under this lake. >> those gray specks are rare earth minerals. i mean they're very non-december crypt not sparkling and shining like gold or anything. they're just as important. >> reporter: rare earths are the elements at the bottom row of that periodic table studied in high schools around the world. 17 in all. peterson took me out to avalon's drilling station where machines are running day and night, pulling samples from a thousand feet down hoping to find proof of a large rare-earth deposit. these are gray right here. all of these. >> just star