1. NATURE OF OPERATIONS	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
NATURE OF OPERATIONS	Rare Element Resources Ltd. (“we,” “us,” “Rare Element” or the “Company”) was incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia, Canada, on June 3, 1999. Rare Element has historically been focused on advancing the Bear Lodge REE Project and the Sundance Gold Project both located near the town of Sundance in northeast Wyoming. The Bear Lodge REE Project consists of several large disseminated REE deposits and a proposed hydrometallurgical plant to be located near Upton, Wyoming. The Sundance Gold Project contains an inferred mineral resource primarily composed of three main gold targets within the area of the Bear Lodge property. Because of the more recent focus on the REE deposit’s potential and volatile economic conditions for gold, no drilling or exploration on the Sundance Gold Project has been conducted since the end of 2011. The Company previously announced extensive cost cutting measures and the placement of the Bear Lodge REE Project on care-and-maintenance to enable us to move the Bear Lodge REE Project forward when market conditions improve. In the interim, we have been and will be continuing to pursue potential financings and strategic alternatives such as off-take agreements, joint ventures and the potential sale of various assets, including all or part of the Bear Lodge REE Project and/or the Sundance Gold Project. We continue to pursue opportunities to further reduce corporate and administration costs. More recently, the Company has turned more of its attention to the gold potential of the Bear Lodge property. The area with gold potential is mostly separate from the known rare earth deposits, including the Bull Hill deposit. There may be, however, significant gold occurrences in some of the identified satellite rare earth deposits. Only further exploration will define the extent of overlapping occurrences, if any. The Company is seeking investment and partnership opportunities with parties interested in the Sundance Gold Project. The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which assumes the Company will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business for the foreseeable future. The Company has incurred losses since inception and further losses are anticipated in the development of its business, raising substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months from the filing date of these financial statements. The ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon the Company obtaining the necessary financing to meet its obligations and pay its liabilities arising from normal business operations when they come due. Management intends to finance operating costs with existing cash on hand, asset sales, strategic alliances and potential issuances of common stock. There can be no assurance that we will be able to raise the necessary financing or complete a strategic transaction on acceptable terms or at all. In order to continue as a going concern and/or preserve shareholder value, we may have to liquidate our assets. If the Company decides to sell part or all of its assets, the sale proceeds may be less than the value at which those assets are carried on our consolidated financial statements.

1. NATURE OF OPERATIONS

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Rare Element Resources Ltd. (“we,” “us,” “Rare Element” or the “Company”) was incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia, Canada, on June 3, 1999.

Rare Element has historically been focused on advancing the Bear Lodge REE Project and the Sundance Gold Project both located near the town of Sundance in northeast Wyoming. The Bear Lodge REE Project consists of several large disseminated REE deposits and a proposed hydrometallurgical plant to be located near Upton, Wyoming. The Sundance Gold Project contains an inferred mineral resource primarily composed of three main gold targets within the area of the Bear Lodge property. Because of the more recent focus on the REE deposit’s potential and volatile economic conditions for gold, no drilling or exploration on the Sundance Gold Project has been conducted since the end of 2011.

The Company previously announced extensive cost cutting measures and the placement of the Bear Lodge REE Project on care-and-maintenance to enable us to move the Bear Lodge REE Project forward when market conditions improve. In the interim, we have been and will be continuing to pursue potential financings and strategic alternatives such as off-take agreements, joint ventures and the potential sale of various assets, including all or part of the Bear Lodge REE Project and/or the Sundance Gold Project. We continue to pursue opportunities to further reduce corporate and administration costs.

More recently, the Company has turned more of its attention to the gold potential of the Bear Lodge property. The area with gold potential is mostly separate from the known rare earth deposits, including the Bull Hill deposit. There may be, however, significant gold occurrences in some of the identified satellite rare earth deposits. Only further exploration will define the extent of overlapping occurrences, if any. The Company is seeking investment and partnership opportunities with parties interested in the Sundance Gold Project.

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which assumes the Company will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business for the foreseeable future. The Company has incurred losses since inception and further losses are anticipated in the development of its business, raising substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months from the filing date of these financial statements. The ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon the Company obtaining the necessary financing to meet its obligations and pay its liabilities arising from normal business operations when they come due. Management intends to finance operating costs with existing cash on hand, asset sales, strategic alliances and potential issuances of common stock. There can be no assurance that we will be able to raise the necessary financing or complete a strategic transaction on acceptable terms or at all. In order to continue as a going concern and/or preserve shareholder value, we may have to liquidate our assets. If the Company decides to sell part or all of its assets, the sale proceeds may be less than the value at which those assets are carried on our consolidated financial statements.