rare earths

In an effort to secure access to critical metals and minerals for its industries, European Commission representatives Antonio Tajani (Vice President), and Andris Piebalgs (Commisisoner for Development Cooperation) have signed a letter of intent on cooperation with Greenland’s Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist.

The June 13 letter of intent covers cooperation in the areas of joint infrastructure development and investment, as well as capacity building in the exploration and development of mineral materials, according to a European Commission news release, which also points out that:

•58 % of exploration companies currently operating in Greenland are Canadian or Australian, and only 15% are European companies.

•These companies at present only have very limited involvement in on-going exploration activities and own only a few exploration licenses.

•With industries within the European Union highly dependent on imported raw materials, and Greenland’s vast mineral riches (iron, zinc, niobium, tantalum, rare earths, rubies, and molybdenum) and geostrategic position, Greenland is an important “strategic partner in the long term.”

Having identified a list of 14 metals and minerals as critical raw materials based on several risk factors in its “Raw Materials Strategy” from 2010, the European Commission is hopeful that closer cooperation with Greenland will be beneficial in particular as Greenland has “an especially strong potential in six of the fourteen critical raw materials identified by the European Commission (niobium, platinum group metals, rare earths and tantalum).”

While other global players are already implementing their overhauled mineral strategies reflecting new geopolitical realities, the U.S. has yet to formulate its own strategy. Unfortunately, as the new American Resources Critical Metals report points out, U.S. government agencies can’t even agree on a definition of what constitutes a critical mineral – which does not bode well for a strategic overhaul that is long overdue.

A cautionary tale comes to us from Argentina, where major resource companies are increasingly shying away from investments in light of growing populism on the part of the Argentinian government.

The latest company to pull out of the country is Cameco Corp, a major Uranium producer, announcing the end to a joint-venture exploration project with its partner Calypso Uranium Corp after two years.   Only a week prior Pan American Silver, a Vancouver-based company, said it would “stagger investments in Argentina until the investment climate cleared.”

Miners are growing increasingly concerned over President Cristina Fernandez’s policies, which have so far included the expropriation of a partially state-owned energy company, the forced repatriation of mining export revenue on local markets, and a mandate that companies source equipment domestically.

While certain government policies – such as the removal of red tape leading to permitting delays – are not only welcome but critical in creating a framework conducive to the responsible and effective maximization of a country’s resource potential, the Argentinian government’s approach is a page from the “What not to do” book, and could, according to experts, “push the Argentina onto a list of unfriendly jurisdictions for mining like Venezuela and Bolivia, and drive investors away when the country is most in need of investment.”

China’s aggressive pursuit of mineral resources around the globe continues with Africa being a “key destination for meeting China’s resource acquisitiveness,” according to a presentation given at the Coaltrans Southern Africa conference earlier this month. As outlined in an article on MiningWeekly.com, China’s quest for resources in Africa, which centers on oil, gold, platinum, copper, [...]

Take a few minutes to read Congressman Mike Coffman’s piece today in the Washington Times. The Colorado Congressman, co-chair of the House Rare Earths Caucus and lead sponsor of the RESTART rare earths bill, notes that the popular Call of Duty video game’s newest version – Black Ops II – incorporates a geo-political tug of [...]

Back in March, the U.S., Europe and Japan issued a WTO complaint against China’s mineral export policies. The complaint raised awareness of global resource needs, but accomplished little else. Rather than waiting for further action, as the U.S. seems content to do, Japan has taken matters into its own hands. The Japanese have partnered with [...]

Stop us when this sounds familiar: Europe is counting on Greek and Nordic rare earth metals to save car and electronics industries from uncertain imports. Europe is rich with resources, yet political leaders lack the political will to tap them. The United States is in exactly the same position, but do we really want to [...]

In his latest column for RealClearWorld, American Resources principal Daniel McGroarty takes exception to the Department of Defense’s assessment of the role of rare earths in the defense supply chain. In its (long-overdue) report on the issue, the agency shrugged off concerns, concluding that there is no reason to be worried about potential vulnerabilities due [...]

According to a newspaper reports of a (long-overdue) seven-page DoD report titled “Rare Earth Materials in Defense Applications,” sent to Congress last month and which has not yet been made public, “domestic rare earth supplies will meet the U.S. defense industry’s needs by 2013 for the materials that go into military motors and electronics” – [...]

Skyrocketing rare earth element (REE) prices in 2010 left companies wondering whether and they would be affected – a question I have been trying to answer, first through my Ph.D. research and now, as a postdoctoral associate at the Materials Systems Laboratory at MIT. As part of an ongoing project with Ford Motor Company, my [...]

Thomas Jefferson once said that “the most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. ” With Jefferson as our guide, we note here Congressman Mike Coffman’s response in full to the Pentagon’s long-awaited report on Rare Earths in the defense supply chain: “China still controls the production [...]