Posted on 10/16/2010 11:35:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Most of the world is dependent on China to supply rare earths as key raw materials used in many of the latest technologies from military hardware to electric cars, but China's Ministry of Commerce is warning that its massive supply of rare earths could be exhausted in just 15 - 20 years.
The current rate of production and global consumption is just too large for China.
Bloomberg:
China, controller of more than 90 percent of production of the materials used in cell phones and radar, cut its export quotas by 72 percent for the second half and reduced output, spurring a trade dispute with the U.S. The country may not be able to meet growing global demand as the government continues to curb output, Lynas Corp. said in March.
“We cannot rule out the possibility that China may need to rely on imports sometime in the future for these minerals, instead of supplying the world,” Chao said.
...
“China cannot afford to continue to carry the burden of supplying the world, from a strategic, environment and economic point of view,” Chao said.
This latest claim sounds like it will make a great excuse for any future export restrictions China implements, or any price hikes.
It should be read by nations such as the U.S. and Japan as a reason to redouble their efforts at developing alternative rare earth sources. Reliance on China's current near-monopoly is getting riskier by the day.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
/johnny
There’s more to this story than meets the eye. The reason China has a near-monopoly on rare earths is that it’s cheaper to buy it from them than to produce them ourselves. If China tried to shut off supplies, we could go back to producing our own rare earths, no matter what the enviro-nuts say.
That and our mines have been shut down.
So Peak Rare Earth will get us before Peak Oil, o the irony.
Most of Alaska has coal seams.. Unfortualt Washington D.C. owns most of Alaska..
If the economics warrant it, they won't necessarily stay shut down. While the Environmental Impact Reports may delay things for quite a while, I'd wager that many could (and would) be reopened.
Or only the very rich will get to drive....
Most of Alaska has coal seams.. Unfortunately Washington D.C. owns most of Alaska..
They can be reopened if it’s profitable to reopen them.
I am convinced that the USA could enter a huge "Boom Era" if only the government would get out of the way and unleash our entrepreneurship and ingenuity to use the resources of all types that we have in our nation. Rare Earths are just one example.
Rare earths are not really rare, they’re just deep. And often surrounded by radioctivity. And hard to mine without stirring up byproducts that are quite toxic. That’s why the Chinese are mining them in Africa and most nations prefer a NIMBY approach to mining them.
> So let me get this straight...the Envron-mentals want us to give up using a plentiful source of energy (oil) for automobiles whose internal components use “Rare Earth” components for their energy? Are these people whacked in the f’in head or what?
Answer: YES THEY ARE !!!
It gets better. Not only can’t we drill for oil, we can’t mine exotic minerals either. North America has more than enough energy resources (oil and gas) and minerals of a very diverse nature; it’s just that Democrats and enviro-weenies have legislated them out of reach for fear of encroaching on a bug, bird or small fish.
My Country is under attack my socialists, liberals, commies and environmentalists. Until sane people regain control, it will just get worse.
The US has relatively large stores of rare earth elements at the Mountain Pass mine on the Nevada-California border. It was closed down 8 years ago because (you guessed it) environmental concerns.
The company that owns it is investing $500 million to reopen and expand the mine in the next two years.
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