TPT November 2009

G lobal M arketplace

each of the last three years, China has reduced the amount of rare earths available for export. This year’s quotas are on track to be the smallest yet, and Western governments and multinationals alike are alert to the alarming possibility of further restriction of these exports. (“China Tightens Grip on Rare Minerals,” 31 August) Mr Bradsher wrote: “Tighter limits on production and exports, part of a plan from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, would ensure China has the supply for its own technological and economic needs, and force more manufacturers to make their wares [in China] in order to have access to the minerals.” To the automotive industry alone, uncertain access to rare earth minerals would be disruptive in the extreme. China commands 95% of current production of neodymium. The electric motor in a Toyota Prius requires two to four pounds of neodymium, the Tribune was told by Dudley Kingsnorth, who compiles mining and trade statistics for the private consulting firm Industrial Minerals (Perth, Australia). “The people who are making [automotive] products outside China are at a huge disadvantage,” said Mr Kingsnorth. “And that is why more and more of that manufacturing is moving to China.” Only days after Mr Bradsher’s article was published, China sought to allay concerns about supplies of dysprosium and terbium, in particular – rare minerals crucial to recent advances in high-technology industries – but did not disavow tight regulation of production. Noting that a review of export policy was still under way, Wang Caifang, deputy director general of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, gave assurances that China would not “take arbitrary decisions.” After addressing the Minor Metals and Rare Earths 2009 conference, in Beijing, Ms Wang NEW AV65S TUBE END FORMING MACHINE • SIDE LOADING FOR FAST TOOL CHANGES AND NO LIFTING REQUIRED • Infinitely adjustable expansion & reduction • P.L.C. control - 300 program memory • High production capability • No tube clamping required • End form on or near bends • High quality build with practical platforms • Full 2 year warranty.

said on 3 September that China would continue to set an annual quota for the export of each mineral. But, she added, “I don’t think it will be zero.” › Chinese-Australian relations, already disturbed by China’s indictment of the Rio Tinto employees [see “Prudent Australia,” above], may be further tested as Australian regulators ponder a deal by a Chinese company to acquire a majority stake in Australia’s main rare-earth mine. As reported in the Tribune , two Australian mines with potential combined production equal to a quarter of global output – Lynas Corp and smaller rival Arafura Resources – were to have opened within three years, but lost their financing in the global financial crisis. In the spring, mining companies wholly owned by the Chinese government came in with cash and reached agreements to buy 51.7% of Lynas and 25% of Arafura. The Arafura deal has made it through to just short of final approval; a decision on Lynas, twice postponed, faced another deadline in mid-September. Mr Bradsher recalled that Deng Xiaoping, China’s de facto supreme leader from 1977 until his death in 1997, once remarked that the Mideast had oil but China had rare earth elements. Mr Deng’s economic reform policies (“Four Modernisations”) are widely seen as setting the stage for China’s emergence as a world economic power. › Some non-Chinese producers of rare earths are stepping up their efforts in advance of possible shortages. According to the Tribune , Avalon Rare Metals (Toronto, Canada) is trying to open a mine in northwest Australia. Molycorp Minerals (Greenwood Village, Colorado) hopes to reopen a mine in

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