REE Arte

[Janic]

tonight on arte at 22:20 pm: "rare earths - high tech at all costs?"
" Several metals-neodyne, yttrium, dysprosium or lanthanum-have become unavoidable..."

[Christophe]

http://future.arte.tv/fr/les-terres-rares

[Janic]

hard observation, even if nobody knows anymore. Electronics and all-electric can be more catastrophic than the whole heat.

[moinsdewatt]

China stocks high, rare earth prices plummet

Raymond Bonnaterre leblogenergie

The artificial scarcity of rare earths in the world, hitherto maintained by the Chinese authorities and the brutal quota of exports of this country, is in the process of cracking. The global extraction of these metals, particularly useful in the production of permanent magnets, Ni-MH batteries or various "phosphors" for fashionable LEDs, has been accompanied in recent years by a rise in prices has hit the headlines.

But trees do not rise to the sky, nor are the prices of metals. The price stimulation of mineral extractions has led Chinese authorities and producers, the first but not the only producer in the world, to build up large stocks, which have since become difficult to market in the metals market. User industries such as those producing permanent magnets, for their part, have optimized the quantities of rare earths implemented in their products or diversified the production recipes. Ni-MH batteries have been widely competing and replaced by Li-Ion batteries more compact and lighter.

The result, according to the Nikkei, is that the prices of these metals are now at their lowest in the last ten years, as prices have started to decline since the beginning of the year, accompanied by a strong recovery since 2015 exports. Chinese (FIG.)



For some metals such as Neodymium or the very expensive Dysprosium prices would have been halved.

http://www.leblogenergie.com/2016/04/06 ... ringolent/

[moinsdewatt]

Ah here we are rediscovering that there are rare earths in Romania.
We are talking about 50 million euros to invest.

Romania offers rare earths to enter the lucrative battery market

Bloomberg News | June 12, 2019

Romania is hoping to join the European Battery Alliance by renewing operations.

Romania is re-opening mines for rare earth minerals to lure investments in electric battery plants, joining a Europe-wide initiative that aims for a bigger share of the global market.

The Minister of Economy and Finance is one of the world's largest producers of renewable raw materials, including European Economics Minister Niculae Badalau said in an interview in Bucharest. Talks with electric battery manufacturers are ongoing for an investment of more than 50 million euros ($ 57 million), he said.

"We want to become a member of the European Battery Alliance," Badalau said. "That will ensure that it is one of the facts that will be produced here," he said, without naming the potential investors.

Romania is hoping to join the European battery network through Radioactiv Mineral Magurele SA, a company that traces its roots to uranium production and later rare metals during the communist era.

Among Daimler AG and Johnson Matthey Plc have announced plans to build plants in Poland, while Rio Tinto has been exploring lithium extraction in Serbia.

The European Commission set up the battery alliance in 2017 as part of its push towards cleaner industries and to support the market in which it is valued at over 250 billion euros per year from 2025. That offers an opportunity for Romania to be exploited in the past.

https://www.mining.com/web/romania-offe ... ry-market/

[moinsdewatt]

In South Africa, a mine rich in rare earths is dreaming in resort to the Beijing-Washington conflict

AFP • 25 / 08 / 2019

In an arid region of western South Africa, a mine containing rare earth reserves at some of the highest concentrations in the world wants to weigh on a market dominated by China, but in a context of a trade war resurrecting the cards world.

At 350 kilometers north of Cape Town, the Steenkampskraal mine, discovered in 1949, saw 1952 and its operators extract 1964 from thorium, used as nuclear fuel.

It has since been discovered that the mine also harbors monazite ore, a rare earth, at an extremely high concentration, as well as neodymium and praseodymium, resources that the country will soon exploit.

These "rare earths", strategic minerals which are the object of much covetousness in the world, include a set of 17 metals essential to advanced technologies, and which are found in smartphones, plasma screens, electric vehicles but also in weaponry.

The outlook for the Steenkampskraal mine is a boon to South Africa, as China, which produces more than 90% of the world's rare earths, barely veiled the United States from cutting its deliveries in the midst of a trade war, while Washington imports massive imports.

Beijing has produced 120.000 tons in 2018, six times more than the United States, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

In this context, US President Donald Trump signed the 22 July an intimating order to the Pentagon to find other sources of supply to these precious metals.

Another reason for optimism for South Africa, China became for the first time a net importer of rare earths last year, because of its massive trade in electric vehicles. Global sales of these vehicles surged from 68% last year to 5,12 million, with over a million sales taking place in China, according to the International Energy Agency.

"China could, due to its own needs, export less and less (of rare earths). It is therefore vital that other suppliers come forward for the United States, Europe and Japan," said AFP Trevor Blench, president of the Steenkampskraal mine, while no South African mine extracts rare earths at present.


Beijing is also seeking to further regulate illegal exploration, effectively depressing local production, to the benefit of foreign competitors.

At the Steenkampskraal mine "about 14% of (the) rock is made up of rare earths. It is an extraordinary level of grade, we have never known an equivalent level on the planet", explains Trevor Blench.

On a global scale, mines generally have a concentration close to 6%.

After getting all the permission to start mining the monazite, and securing funding for 50 million, the Steenkampskraal mine executives aim for a production of 2.700 tons per year.

In spite of the hopes raised by the exploitation of this mine, Mr. Blench himself recognizes the modest size in comparison with those containing millions of tons of minerals elsewhere in the world.

Although its rare earth concentrations are very high "the Steenkampskraal mine is mainly made up of light rare earths which are more abundant on a global scale (such as neodymium and praseodymium) and therefore less sought after than other rare earths heavier ", decrypts Diego Oliva-Velez, analyst in London for Fitch Solutions.

"South Africa will remain behind other countries," he adds, citing proven reserves and the prospect of higher investments in countries such as Australia, India, Russia and the United States. Vietnam.

Rare earth exploration is also developing in Brazil and Canada.

This does not limit the South African will to develop more aggressively its production of rare earths.

The country "is endowed with an abundance of rocks in which are found rare earths", affirms the head of the Council for Geoscience (Council for Geoscience), Mosa Mabuza. The organization is studying the mineral deposits in the country and says lithium is found there north of Cape Town.

https://www.boursorama.com/actualite-ec ... d02d36fdb4

Distribution of rare earth ore



https://www.steenkampskraal.com/

[moinsdewatt]

In South Africa, a mine rich in rare earths is dreaming in resort to the Beijing-Washington conflict

AFP • 25 / 08 / 2019

In an arid region of western South Africa, a mine containing rare earth reserves at some of the highest concentrations in the world wants to weigh on a market dominated by China, but in a context of a trade war resurrecting the cards world.

At 350 kilometers north of Cape Town, the Steenkampskraal mine, discovered in 1949, saw 1952 and its operators extract 1964 from thorium, used as nuclear fuel.

It has since been discovered that the mine also harbors monazite ore, a rare earth, at an extremely high concentration, as well as neodymium and praseodymium, resources that the country will soon exploit.

These "rare earths", strategic minerals which are the object of much covetousness in the world, include a set of 17 metals essential to advanced technologies, and which are found in smartphones, plasma screens, electric vehicles but also in weaponry.

The outlook for the Steenkampskraal mine is a boon to South Africa, as China, which produces more than 90% of the world's rare earths, barely veiled the United States from cutting its deliveries in the midst of a trade war, while Washington imports massive imports.

Beijing has produced 120.000 tons in 2018, six times more than the United States, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

In this context, US President Donald Trump signed the 22 July an intimating order to the Pentagon to find other sources of supply to these precious metals.

Another reason for optimism for South Africa, China became for the first time a net importer of rare earths last year, because of its massive trade in electric vehicles. Global sales of these vehicles surged from 68% last year to 5,12 million, with over a million sales taking place in China, according to the International Energy Agency.

"China could, due to its own needs, export less and less (of rare earths). It is therefore vital that other suppliers come forward for the United States, Europe and Japan," said AFP Trevor Blench, president of the Steenkampskraal mine, while no South African mine extracts rare earths at present.


Beijing is also seeking to further regulate illegal exploration, effectively depressing local production, to the benefit of foreign competitors.

At the Steenkampskraal mine "about 14% of (the) rock is made up of rare earths. It is an extraordinary level of grade, we have never known an equivalent level on the planet", explains Trevor Blench.

On a global scale, mines generally have a concentration close to 6%.

After getting all the permission to start mining the monazite, and securing funding for 50 million, the Steenkampskraal mine executives aim for a production of 2.700 tons per year.

In spite of the hopes raised by the exploitation of this mine, Mr. Blench himself recognizes the modest size in comparison with those containing millions of tons of minerals elsewhere in the world.

Although its rare earth concentrations are very high "the Steenkampskraal mine is mainly made up of light rare earths which are more abundant on a global scale (such as neodymium and praseodymium) and therefore less sought after than other rare earths heavier ", decrypts Diego Oliva-Velez, analyst in London for Fitch Solutions.

"South Africa will remain behind other countries," he adds, citing proven reserves and the prospect of higher investments in countries such as Australia, India, Russia and the United States. Vietnam.

Rare earth exploration is also developing in Brazil and Canada.

This does not limit the South African will to develop more aggressively its production of rare earths.

The country "is endowed with an abundance of rocks in which are found rare earths", affirms the head of the Council for Geoscience (Council for Geoscience), Mosa Mabuza. The organization is studying the mineral deposits in the country and says lithium is found there north of Cape Town.

https://www.boursorama.com/actualite-ec ... d02d36fdb4

Distribution of rare earth ore



https://www.steenkampskraal.com/

[moinsdewatt]

China is raising its qutoas for production of rare earths to an unequaled level.

China raises annual rare earth output quotas to record high

Reuters | November 8, 2019

China lifted its annual rare earth output quotas on Friday by 10% to record-high levels for 2019, potentially easing fears the world's dominant producer of the group of 17 prized minerals will restrict supply.

Beijing in late May raised the prospect of weaponizing its control of rare earths, used in everything from consumer electronics to sophisticated military equipment, in its trade war with the United States, but has yet to announce any formal restrictions.

China is home to at least 85% of global rare earth processing capacity, according to Adamas Intelligence.

The full-year rare earth mining quota has been set at 132,000 tonnes for 2019 and the smelting and separation quota at 127,000 tonnes, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement.
........

https://www.mining.com/web/china-raises ... cord-high/