World faces hi-tech crunch as China eyes ban on rare metal exports

[charlie]

A draft report by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has called for a total ban on foreign shipments of terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, thulium, and lutetium. Other metals such as neodymium, europium, cerium, and lanthanum will be restricted to a combined export quota of 35,000 tonnes a year, far below global needs.

China mines over 95pc of the world’s rare earth minerals, mostly in Inner Mongolia. The move to hoard reserves is the clearest sign to date that the global struggle for diminishing resources is shifting into a new phase. Countries may find it hard to obtain key materials at any price.
...

New technologies have since increased the value and strategic importance of these metals, but it will take years for fresh supply to come on stream from deposits in Australia, North America, and South Africa. The rare earth family are hard to find, and harder to extract.

Mr Stephens said Arafura’s project in Western Australia produces terbium, which sells for $800,000 a tonne. It is a key ingredient in low-energy light-bulbs. China needs all the terbium it produces as the country switches wholesale from tungsten bulbs to the latest low-wattage bulbs that cut power costs by 40pc.

No replacement has been found for neodymium that enhances the power of magnets at high heat and is crucial for hard-disk drives, wind turbines, and the electric motors of hybrid cars. Each Toyota Prius uses 25 pounds of rare earth elements. Cerium and lanthanum are used in catalytic converters for diesel engines. Europium is used in lasers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/6082464/World-faces-hi-tech-crunch-as-China-eyes-ban-on-rare-metal-exports.html

[Motown_Johnny]

1. well that pretty much fucks us.. unless we learn how to do things like.. recycle

the mines are in Mongolia?


maybe Russia will invade, God!! that is all we need

[charlie]

2. Could be

I dunno. We've still got means to do some arm-twisting, I expect. Still, the days the US could pretty much dictate allocation of key resources appears to be drawing to a close. Bumpy ride ahead.

[FarCenter]

3. I think that rare earths are used in compact florescents, but not LEDs or OLEDs

Also, there is a rare-earth mine in California that Chevron is allegedly restarting, and their may be additional reserves in Idaho.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

4. Very interesting

Thanks.

K&R

[FarCenter]

5. China is also one of the largest sources of lithium

The other major sources and/or reserves are Chile and Bolivia.