The vines need a long, dry growing season for the grapes to ripen fully and for the roots to burrow deep and extract the mineral elements that add to the structure and flavor of the wines.

WSJ: Will Lyons on Wine: The Lafite Phenomenon

"I suppose if you lay in a bath filled with mineral salts and trace elements some small part of that will be absorbed through your skin, " he says.

FORBES: Water, Water Everywhere

Jake Matijevic was found to be high in elements consistent with the mineral feldspar, such as sodium and potassium, and low in elements such as magnesium and iron.

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These are after all mines, often big mines, and the minerals extracted require complex and challenging refining to separate the chemically similar constellations of rare earth elements that are always collocated in various mineral concentrations and combinations.

FORBES: Tech's Mineral Infrastructure - Time to Emulate China's Rare Earth Policies