China

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Globe Metals and Mining has discovered significant rare earths deposits at its exploration site Mount Muambe in Mozambique. This positive exploration result will likely further strengthen China’s quasi-monopoly position when it comes to rare earths, as the Chinese state-owned East China Minerals Exploration and Development Bureau only two months ago became the majority shareholder of the African-focused resource company.

It also illustrates the geopolitical nature of the global race for resources – a fact well-understood by China.  Africa, which has vast, but largely unexplored mineral deposits, has been the target of increased Chinese investment in an effort to gain access to these mineral riches for more than a decade. The continent may well become the next battle ground in the global resource wars, as other emerging powers, including India, are looking to strategically position themselves here.

On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, I testified on behalf of American Resources Policy Network before the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, which held a hearing on the issue of “domestic minerals supplies and demands in a time of foreign supply disruption.” (Read my testimony here and watch my remarks here.)

One of my main goals was to highlight that in order to maintain our modern economy, we need a steady supply of metals and minerals – and that choosing not to produce the ones we have beneath our home turf perpetuates a needless and potentially harmful foreign dependence.

Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn (R, CO-05) set the tone in his opening remarks:

We will continue to ship American jobs overseas and forfeit our economic competitiveness unless we take steps to develop our own mineral resources … Developing our Nation’s mineral resources is not only an integral part of an all-of-the-above energy plan but it will create long-term family wage jobs, stimulate our economy and reduce our foreign dependence on mineral resources.

Congress isn’t lacking these days for issues demanding its attention.  ARPN will be watching to see whether Chairman Lamborn and his fellow Members who have the House Natural Resource portfolio can get their colleagues to give resource security the attention it deserves.

The rare earth topic we have been covering on our blog is no longer a niche topic discussed solely by industry types and commodity traders. The latest issue of Technology Review India, published by MIT, also features the rare earth crisis and its implications.  While access to the full version of the article requires a [...]

Adding fuel to the fire of the rare-earth crisis we have been following on our blog, the Australian Associated Press reports that the Chinese government announced today its decision to further tighten rare earths export quotas, previously applied to “pure” rare earths only, to include iron alloys containing more than 10 percent of rare earths [...]

A new study by the Metals Economics Group (MEG) outlines that when it comes to potential new precious and base metals mining discoveries, the Americas have dominated the rest of the world in the last three years. This means that initial drill results show a “significant deposit” that “has obvious commercial value.” In light of [...]

In Rare Earth Woes Could Mean Trouble for U.S. Stealth Fleet, Christine Parthemore takes a look behind the headlines at the materials that give the U.S. Military its high-tech edge: “Ever since Osama bin Laden’s demise, aviation sleuths have been trying to figure out what was the mystery copter that Delivered Seal Team Six.  I’ve [...]

The New American recently provided an in-depth look at Chinese investments into the world’s minerals and metals supply. I’ve included an excerpt below, but I recommend you click here to read the full article. While the piece was certainly compelling, I want to point out a few key facts that were not included. The author, [...]

In yet another indication that a global race for resources is in full swing, this opinion piece carried by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti suggests that Russia, a generally resource-rich country, should rethink its long-held position that prospecting for minerals outside its own territory is not necessary.  According to the author, Africa, another area [...]

Recent decisions by China, the world’s leading rare earths producer, to tighten export restrictions and raise taxes have set off a flurry of global activity as nations are looking for ways to respond to these new realities. In the United States, policy initiatives aimed at securing an ongoing supply of these mineral materials are being [...]

Canada’s Globe and Mail leads with a quote well-known in rare metals circles:  “The Middle East has oil…and China has rare earths.” Following Xiaoping Deng’s 1992 dictum, China developed its rare earths production to the point where, today, it provides 97 percent of the world’s supply. But don’t blame China for capitalizing on its market [...]