rare earths

While the EU, Japan and the United States have challenged China’s restrictive Rare Earths export policies before the World Trade Organization (WTO), German Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to have chosen a less confrontational route for Germany’s bilateral relationship with China.

During her state visit to China, Merkel offered to partner with Beijing in efforts to address environmental issues related to REE development – which China claims are the main reasons for its restrictive policies. Speaking at a conference in which both Chancellor Merkel, and Chinese Prime Minister Wen participated, President of the German Federation of Industries Ulrich Grillo reiterated that joining the WTO suit was not in Germany’s best interest. He did, however, voice concerns about distortions resulting from Chinese government control over the global REE market.

Raising the Rare Earths issue during the state visit is in line with Germany’s recent policy shift towards a more comprehensive mineral strategy and a more active role in the global race for resources. Having jumped into the REE pursuit at the beginning of the year with plans to develop a 38,000 tonnes deposit of Rare Earths in the East German state of Saxony, Germany has inked a cooperative REE development treaty with Mongolia and Kazakhstan, and is expected to partner with Russia to develop these precious resources as well.

Meanwhile, the recently formed “globally active profit-oriented raw materials corporation” called the “Alliance for Securing Raw Materials,” which enjoys the backing of the German federal government, is beginning to take concrete action, and may participate in a first project to explore and develop Rare Earths as early as this year.

With mineral supply issues affecting not only many of U.S. domestic manufacturers, but also our national security and economic wellbeing, one would think our policy makers in Washington, D.C. would place as much emphasis on addressing them. Thus far, Berlin is ahead of Washington in framing out a strategic policy concerning strategic metals.

The global race for resources is heating up, with the latest frontier being the seabed beneath the world’s oceans. Last year’s discovery of significant Rare Earth deposits by Japanese researchers on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean seems to have set of a flurry of activity on the part of countries trying to gain access to what is considered a treasure trove of metals and minerals. Not surprisingly, China, which is engaging in a global quest to gain access to critical mineral resources, threw its hat in the ring earlier this year, with a goal to develop its deep-sea mining technology by 2030.

Not to be outdone, and concerned that “China’s deep-sea excavations will further increase China’s dominance over rare-earth elements,” India has reportedly made the decision to spend roughly $135 million on a new exploration ship and to retool another vessel for another for “sophisticated deep-water exploration off its coast.”

According to the Science and Development Network, the seabed in the region holds promise for Nickel, Copper, Cobalt and potentially Rare Earths exploration.

New Zealand, too, is mulling seabed exploration efforts according to the New Zealand Herald, with the seabed around the country’s shores containing Iron, Manganese, Gold, Silver, Copper and Zinc, among others.

With more and more countries jumping into the fray, deep-sea mining is beginning to sound less and less like a chapter of a Jules Verne novel. However, it is not, as some were quick to conclude last year, the silver bullet to (China-induced) mineral supply woes. Environmental concerns aside – technological challenges and the political question of who owns the seabed “commons” still loom large, and would dictate that in order to secure access to critical mineral resources, the immediate focus should be placed on the mineral riches we are blessed to have beneath our own soil.

While most Rare Earths-related stories focus on China these days, there’s no denying that the race for critical mineral resources has arrived on the North American continent. As the Fairbanks Daily News Miner reports, Alaska State geologists are excited by the findings of recent mineral cataloguing efforts, with a new $3 million program underway. The [...]

A REE World Report titled ‘Political Squeeze Play and the Rare Earth Revolution’ on Rare Metal Blog highlights the implications of U.S. dependency on foreign supplies of Rare Earths for our military. Here are some of the report’s key points: • The current WTO case brought on against China by the U.S., European Union and [...]

China has announced a series of moves designed to place additional controls on global rare earth metal supply. Meanwhile, U.S. Federal and state policymakers continue to dither over domestic mining policy initiatives. According to the National Mining Association, the US has $6.2 trillion dollars of mineral reserves, but it also has one of the slowest [...]

Earlier this year, a Department of Defense analysis stunned many with its conclusion that concerns about Rare Earths supply shortages were exaggerated. Jeffery A. Green, founder of the Strategic Material Advisory Council and American Resources expert, explains how the Pentagon misses the mark in its assessment in a new policy brief for the Center for [...]

China’s suspension of Rare Earth shipments to Japan in the fall of 2010 kicked off a firestorm and has largely contributed to the extensive media coverage Rare Earth supply issues have received in recent months. While shipments were since resumed, reports that Japan is diversifying its supply sources have surfaced from time to time. But [...]

In an Industry Week piece from earlier this month, Paul Martyn, vice president of supply at BravoSolution, shares his thoughts on the dangers of China’s Rare Earths supply stranglehold from a U.S. manufacturing perspective, and ways to address this challenge. Here are the key points from the piece: • China’s near-total Rare Earths monopoly has [...]

In his latest column for Real Clear World, American Resources principal Daniel McGroarty zeroes in on the newly-released Chinese government white paper entitled ‘Situation and Policies of China’s Rare Earths Industry’ and notes the insight it provides into China’s broader mineral strategy. McGroarty’s key points are as follows: · The white paper essentially sets the [...]

Earlier this month, China’s President Hu Jintao paid a three-day visit to Denmark. Danish officials were quick to dismiss speculations that Arctic issues were on the agenda, but the fact that “the leader of the world’s most populous country decided to visit a nation of 5.6-million for the first time in 62 years” only two [...]