No minerals are "obscure"
The earth is abundant in all elements and metals
Land is cheap and abundant. The whole earth is made of minerals and metals of all elements, coal, oil, iron and everything else. It's only the cost of digging up the said minerals, metals and fuels from the earth wherever it is found convenient to do so in accordance with property rights and/or environmental considerations and processing them for the desired uses.
"Fueled by trade tensions and foreign wars, a rush for an obscure mineral heats up in Alaska"
It is the mass and vastness of the earth or merely the earth's rich crust versus how little of it could or would ever be mined or affected by human activity.
Alaska is popular for mining perhaps because of its remote areas where miners can focus their attention, maintain safety, and perform dangerous or critical work undistracted and undisturbed by others.
Gold for example is to found in more populated areas as well for sure, but it can't be mined or processed effectively in a vice district of whores and thieves. Gold is very common and easy to find in fact but it is highly dispersed in the earth and labor-intensive to gather tiny pieces of it from larger quantities of dirt and other rocks.
What, antimony? Lead? Bismuth? Silver? Copper? Uranium? So-called "rare earth" elements? Plenty of it is all there for the taking. Whatever kind of rock or mineral it is, that's what it is, to make some use of it for some purpose, if that is what is needed.