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Old 02-20-2011, 04:56 AM
Sparty Sparty is offline
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Default The U.S. can?t dig its way out of its rare earth minerals shortage

Experts: U.S. cannot mine enough rare earth minerals

http://www.smartplanet.com/business/...minerals/4900/

The U.S. can?t dig its way out of its rare earth minerals shortage. Instead, increased government investments are necessary to foster the development of alternatives, experts groups concluded in a joint study.

The American Physical Society (APS) and Materials Research Society were unanimous in calling for broader research into new materials and increased electronics recycling. The study was released to lawmakers today.

Ask as they may, the U.S. House of Representatives seems unlikely to oblige. The House majority?s FY 2011 discretionary budget proposal dramatically reduces government spending for the sciences by 33 percent, the APS reports.
House Republicans have committed to cut US$100 billion in government spending, with the possibility of further cuts to come.

Washington's nascent austerity politics puts the experts at loggerheads with policy makers: the study saw no away around greater government involvement.


The Associated Press quoted Robert Jaffe, co-chair of the joint study group and professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as saying, "We do not recommend economic stockpiling, which we believe is a disincentive to innovation and has backfired in the past."

Jaffe continued, "After all, many of these elements are not even found in significant deposits in the United States so mining independence doesn't even make sense."

The Obama administration called on Congress take action to diversify sources of supply for the U.S. and its allies. There has been a slight uptick in domestic supply in response. In December, a rare earth mine reopened in California.

Rare earth minerals belong to a family of elements that are used to manufacture many staples of the modern world - ranging from electronics, hybrid cars, solar panels and wind turbines to guided missiles.

China is the world's leading source of rare earth metals, the rest of the world lags far behind its production capacity. China has used export bans to put the squeeze on Japan and the United States in political disputes. However, China is also reliant upon on imports for sourcing its solar technology, the study's authors noted.

 

Disclaimer: The author of this post, may or may not be a shareholder of any of the companies mentioned in this column. No company mentioned has sponsored or paid for this content. Comments on this forum should never be taken as investment advice.

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Old 02-20-2011, 04:58 AM
Sparty Sparty is offline
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Default Australia can help but ASIA is on our doorstep

What isn't widely known is that Australia has a large part to play in this situation as Australian ASX listed companies control over 35% of the World's Rare Earth Elements.

Australia's Lynas Corp ASX: LYC has the world's richest deposit at Mt Weld in Western Australia and is currently mining the deposit. More importantly LYC is building an advanced REE refining plant in Malaysia that will be operational in 2011 -2012 and will then be the world's first new supplier of the refined rare earth metals.

Australia also has Alkane Resources ASX: ALK who hold one of the world's richest deposit of the heavy rare earths (H-REE) 28% that are vital for the production of the strong magnets used for hybrid cars and wind turbines.

Additionally Australia's ASX listed Greenland Energy and Minerals (ASX Code: GGG) holds the world's largest deposit of REEs in Greenland. ASX / AIM Code: GGG is in the process of drilling two more deposits that look likely to have high grades and importantly the Greenland Parliament has now opened up a pathway for the development with changes to their mining policies towards GGG's uranium credits.

Australia has several more companies with proven REE deposits that are economically viable. Some of these have demonstrated that they have favorable chemistry and have established separation flow sheets and concentration plant pilot programs e.g. Arufura Resources. (ASX: ARU). These can be found at http://www.AustralianRareEarths.com

Australia will become the world's swing producer of processed Rare Earth metals in the very near future (2011-12) and within a few years may become one of the dominant suppliers of the processed Rare Earth Oxides outside of China.

Amazingly, despite the fact that we cannot have an electron-economy without REE/REOs the market caps of all of Australia's companies with proven deposits is less than $5b with most companies being in the $100 -$ 400m range. This sets the scene for one of the most extraordinary investment opportunities. For those seeking further information about Australian Rare Earths stocks they are summarized here: http://www.australianrareearths.com/...th-stocks.html

For those seeking a broader understanding of who has what and the current interplay with China this page has been written for you: http://www.australianrareearths.com/current-issues.html

So come on down under to Australia the lucky energy country.......

We have around 40% of the world's uranium (www.australianuranium.com.au), 23% of the world's Lithium (www.australian-lithium.com) and the best hot rocks in the world (www.hotrockenergy.com)and a rapidly emerging Underground Coal gasification and Gas to Liquids industry (www.UCG-GTL.com)

 

Disclaimer: The author of this post, may or may not be a shareholder of any of the companies mentioned in this column. No company mentioned has sponsored or paid for this content. Comments on this forum should never be taken as investment advice.

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