We operate in this space and have certainly seen an increase in prices. A product not mentioned in the article that has had explosive growth is solar panels.
We've see the price of Tellurium dioxide move from $13 to $215/KG from 2002 to today. Manufacture's are now requiring that all broken panels be returned for recycling.
Tellurium's not a rare earth element though. It is currently produced only in very small quantities, but my understanding is we just don't know much about how much of it's available due to the fact that we didn't really use it for anything until CdTe photovoltaics came along.
Worth noting too that this is only one of a number of thin film solar technologies, and that silicon rather than thin film still accounts for the vast majority of all production.
We've see the price of Tellurium dioxide move from $13 to $215/KG from 2002 to today. Manufacture's are now requiring that all broken panels be returned for recycling.