Posted on 03/16/2022 6:28:26 PM PDT by blam
Just over one month ago, we posited that China’s virtual monopoly on mining rare earth metals would soon come to an end as competitors ramped up production. Well, just a few weeks later, Australia is taking steps to do exactly that. To wit, Aussie PM Scott Morrison announced Wednesday that he would introduce new funding for the refining of rare earths refining on Wednesday.
The move makes sense. Australia has large deposits of rare earth metals, coming in right behind Russia and India. Now, it will invest in projects to not just mine but also refine the metals – something that has previously been left to China, which has processed the metals cheaply, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Ultimately, Australia’s decision is bad news for Beijing, which has seen its dominance in the rare earths space diminish in recent years.
Source: Statista
And while the US has 1.5 million million tons of rare earth elements (or REEs) in reserve, the dawn of the war in Ukraine has left the European Powers searching for new sources after sanctions have dramatically restricted what they can and can’t buy from Russia, another major producer and exporter.
Australia has a number of REE deposits that are distributed across the country.
Rare earth elements are a group of seventeen chemical elements that occur together in the periodic table. The group consists of yttrium and the 15 lanthanide elements (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium). Scandium is found in most rare earth element deposits and is sometimes classified as a rare earth element.
Given their important role in electric vehicle production, it has been posited that cobalt, lithium and the REEs would become the most sought-after resource following crude oil and natural gas.
They’re also part of the great irony of “renewable” energy: while the sun and wind are indeed infinitely renewable, the materials needed to convert those resources into electricity – that is, minerals like cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and the rare-earth elements – are anything but.
To try and bolster its production, the Australians will invest a total of $500 Australian dollars ($360 million) in various REE and mineral-related projects, according to the SCMP.
Australia announced almost A$500 million (US$360 million) in funding to boost output of critical minerals, aiming to diversify supply for its allies and counter China’s dominance of the global market.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled the funding for a slew of projects in Western Australia on Wednesday and said the state would become a powerhouse for Canberra’s allies.
“Recent events have underlined that Australia faces its most difficult and dangerous security environment that we have seen in 80 years. The events unfolding in Europe are a reminder of the close relationship between energy security, economic security and national security,” he told reporters.
As Bloomberg reminds us, the US and its allies have long worried about China’s efforts to dominate the market for REEs. They worry that it could use this dominance to restrict flows of these minerals to the West, which would cripple high-tech manufacturing.
Rare Earths might seem like a misnomer. While they’re not as rare as gold or silver, the elements aren’t often found in large volumes and require intensive processing to produce materials for end users.
The move by Australia isn’t exactly a surprise. They agreed back in September during a meeting of “the Quad” – a the Pacific focused security alliance that China has obliquely denounced as a “Pacific NATO” – in Washington to bolster rare earth mining and refining to try and combat China’s dominance.
Still....it's a start.
$360 million doesn’t seem like much , 3 guys with shovels ? LOL
Good move by Sco Mo. Unfortunate he betrayed conservatives with heavy handed covid retardism. But Albigreasy would be infinitely worse. A real CCP brown noser.
We have 1 working mine and a number in development. NioCorp/Elk Creek development will be the only REE;Niobium/Titanium/ Scandium mine in the U.S. (Most scandium is recovered by product.) Moutain Pass already exists. Round Top in Texas are three I can think of off hand.
Morrison hasn't been a great PM, but where he's actually had the power he's generally tried to do the right thing, even if he's not good at selling it. Unfortunately, lots of people just don't seem to grasp the difference between state and federal action.
There’s no point spending billions when hundreds of millions are all that is needed to accomplish this goal.
Well Aussies are diggers.
But, they are damaging the environment!
We cannot have working mines in the US!
And, even when we can mine them, there are no smelters available. The US mined Rare Earth are partially owner by Chinese and the ore is send to China for processing!
Why not process in the USA? Well, that’s bad for the environment too! Nobody will go through the process of getting the permits for a smelter!!!
Seems that they have already created a prison state. Might as well put them to work. One way to compete with China
Well I live here, and I can see where he went wrong covid wise. Very hard to go against media driven hysteria I know. Gonna be a tough decision on election day for me. I’m in pox on all their houses mood. Might do a donkey. And yeh I know, ‘but that just helps AllthingsGreasy’. I get that but frankly I just have had enough of politicians
What’s old is new again. Use to be penal colony as you no doubt are aware But Australia, despite Covid white flaggism is still a good place to live.
I live here as well. And I’ve studied Australian constitutional law, and I’d honestly like to know what the hell you think Morrison could have done differently within the constraints of the constitution? Or do you think the Prime Minister should just ignore the constitution whenever it becomes inconvenient? Because that’s what a hell of a lot of people seem to think he should have done with the complaints that they are making about what he did.
https://www.niocorp.com/ see investor esg statement. This is a Mine and refining facility. Recovering REES does not require a smelter.
I don’t think he highlighted the constitutional constraints enough. Could have pushed for referenda to make changes to stop induvidual states being dictatorial in a nation wide crisis situation.He had no media foghorn, so that made it hard to do so. But he should have still hammered it. Called for bill of rights too to protect us from over over reach.
Thanks.
But all you see are plans.
Once the environmental lawyers (probably paid by Russia or China) get into it, who knows where it will go?!
China can also buy the plant or temporarily undercut its pricing to drive them out of business.
All above was successfully used on Mountain Pass facility.
Lawyers; No, because it is orivate land owned by the company and is already permitted by Nebraska. (Not the operating permit...has to be built for that.) Federal permits are not needed.
China; Hard to undercut prices on products that you do not control(Scandium and Niobium) so the MP experience is unlikely.
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