Mischmetal is a mixture of a some rare earth metals, mostly cerium and lanthanum. The cerium, when finely divided, is pyrophoric - it burns.
When you mix mischmetal with some iron and magnesium oxides, it's a lot more brittle, and you can chip off little flakes, which give sparks. That's your lighter flint.
Very interesting. How does this compare with traditional flint and steel?
The "Forever Match;" another reason why Homeland Severity is an ass.
Is it just the natural LREE mix, or do they actually seperate the metals and then remix them to a specific formula?