:0) NAK must be approved, given national security I’m per active, that as a by-product of gold extraction rare earth exploitation can make wonderful sense, if not only sense.
The struggle against the CCP demands no less. What is a few salmons for a bunch of rich folks wishing to sport fish, and besides, given the trade war, the salmons aren’t exported to China-China-China anyway.
NAK needs to come out fighting, for the team.
Or something like that angle, might work. Heck, rare earths is important and after three years of twisting in the wind, the self-reliant / with-allies-group-reliant hasn’t done anything useful and has gone nowhere, as if REE is not critical.
‘They’ cannot even use the bullcr@p of lots of dirt at bottom of ocean spin to fool anyone worth a matter in the know, and so ‘they’ did not bother this time as ‘they’ did in 2010, when Team China tested the efficacy of REE weaponisation on wayward Japan. The responsible test was fortunately successful, and international peace quickly restored in a situation that normally would have easily spun out of control.
Sounds like a Game of Go, as engaged in by poker players ...
... It’s like they are all trapped in some Chinese REE Matrix re-boot – and there is no Neo on the horizon ...
NAK must be allowed to do its thing :0)
So that the next puzzle, say gallium anything, and the new next next thing, say titanium, etc etc can be addressed by legislation spun by a bunch of lawyers who might take a rest from fixing things that can be fixed.
resourceworld.com
Rare Earths sector a challenge: can anyone stand up to the Chinese?
By Peter Kennedy
Rare earths elements with tongue-twisting names like neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium are key to the production of military equipment and high-tech consumer electronics. Yet due to lack of downstream processing facilities, the United States faces an uphill battle in any bid to challenge China’s dominance in the rare earth minerals sector. In an interview with Resource World, U.S. consultant James Kennedy explains how we got here and outlines the regulatory changes that are necessary to eliminate China’s rare earths monopoly.
James Kennedy provides consulting services to the financial, mining and nuclear energy industry on strategic issues related to Rare Earths, Thorium and the U.S. regulatory environment.
Is it true that the United States dumped its Rare Earths stockpiles some years ago?
Yes, in 1994 the National Defense Authorization Act authorizes the sale and disposal of all rare earth stockpiles held in strategic reserves in the National Defense Stockpile. In 1996 all U.S. DoE rare earth materials were transferred into the National Defense Stockpile, for public sale under Public Law 104-106. In 1998 the entire remaining inventory of rare earths in the National Defense Stockpile were sold, including all previously held reserves with the Department of Energy.
Does the U.S mining industry also intentionally disposes of REE resources, due to a 1980 regulatory change that pushed the industry into China?
Yes, in 1980 the NRC and IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) changed the definition of “source material (nuclear fuel)” to any refined or processed material with 0.05% Thorium (Th) and or (Uranium) (U). Prior to this regulation, nearly 50% of the world’s rare earths and 100% of the world’s heavy rare earths came from the by-product production of Th-bearing Rare Earth Element (REE) resources.
To avoid the costs and liabilities resulting from this regulatory change, U.S. mining companies disposed of these resources. Today, just one existing and operating phosphate mine in the U.S. mine could exceed 100% of U.S. REE demand if the regulatory issue was resolved. Solve the gypsum entrapment issue and the U.S. could meet close to 100% of global demand from existing mining waste containing economically recoverable REEs.
Currently, does the U.S. have problems obtaining its needed Rare Earths?
No. When it comes to the defense industry, China has established a gated pipeline. The Chinese make sure that sub-contractors in the defense industry can get all of the rare earth metals they need to meet our national security demand. The defense industry plays its part in this game of ‘three card montey’ by defining “critical materials” at the alloying level. This allows defense contractors to buy Chinese metals, through a convoluted chain of custody, and claim to produce U.S. magnets. The Pentagon has been playing along with this Chinese charade for over a decade.
Electric cars such as the Toyota Prius use about 65 pounds of the Rare Earth neodymium for magnets and 3-megawatt wind turbines use 700 pounds. With applications such as these increasing, is there a strong demand for certain Rare Earths?
Yes, the REEs needed to make magnets and heat resistant magnets for military applications are those in most demand now. They are neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), dysprosium (Dy), terbium (Tb). The problem for most non-Chinese REE producers is that they cannot produce meaningful amounts of heavy REEs such as Dy and Tb. This is the case with MP Materials (which recently agreed to merge with Fortress Value Acquisition Corp. [ FVAC-NYSE]). MP owns the Mountain Pass rare earth mining and processing facility in California. It cannot produce material amounts of Dy, Tb, holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), terbium (Tb) or lutetium (Lu). So, it can never produce military-grade magnets or any other materials needed for hyper-sonic or directed energy weapons. The company is incompatible with U.S. national security needs. (NOTE: The Red Rhino 550-lb military grade (N52) neodymium magnet is encased in a thick steel cup. A nickel and copper compound coats the outer shell to provide a glossy yet rust and chip resistant finish.)
What is the supply situation for rare earths?
The U.S. disposes of enough REEs each year to meet the non-Chinese world’s demand. If the U.S. resolved the 1980 NRC regulatory issues, as outlined in the House and Senate bills (H.R. 4410 and S. 2093), the U.S. and all non-Chinese countries could be entirely independent of Chinese REE production.
What makes a Rare Earths project attractive?
The economics of any successful REE project need to be based on something, anything, other than REEs. It is foolhardy to open a stand-alone rare earth mine when China controls global supply, price, and consumption. If the U.S. wants to build an independent REE supply chain, it must build it upon uninterruptible REE resources. The only uninterruptible REE resources are the by-product resources that are disposed of under the 1980 NRC/IAEA regulation. Everything else is subject to Chinese monopoly price manipulation.
Do you think that the Mountain Pass Mine has the right Rare Earths Element distribution for manufacturers in the United States?
MP Materials’ Mt. Pass mine has possibly the worst rare earth distribution of any operating rare earth mine in the world today. Over 82% of the REE distribution is La and Ce. These materials are in gross oversupply. The current cost of mining and processing these materials exceeds market prices. Consequently, if you subtract the dead-weight-value of the La and Ce, the Mt. Pass deposit is only contributing to 1.5% of global REE demand, not 15%, as the company likes to claim. Because the companies’ economics are carried on the residual 18% balance of its REE distribution, mostly Pr and Nd, it economically vulnerable whenever Nd and Pr prices drift lower. Dysprosium and Terbium, critical for military grade magnets, are not present at recoverable levels, making the deposit incompatible with U.S. national security needs. Due to the current oversupply in Ce and La, it’s hard to pick a worse deposit to mine.
With China becoming a Rare Earths importer for the past two years, does this mean that non-Chinse Rare Earth explorers and miners can successfully compete with China?
Yes and no. China is now outsourcing the dirty work of mining and oxide production to others. This is no act of charity. China intends to control these entities by pitting them against one and other. This should be obvious from its efforts to nurture regional producers in Africa and Asia. China’s goal is to moderate “profitability” so that outside producers can never climb the value chain to metal production – and without non-Chinese metal production these REE producers are nothing more than low value suppliers to China’s REE monopoly (REE oxides have few meaningful tech uses).
So, yes, the U.S. and others will be allowed to produce low value REEs for China, in competition with other low-cost producers in Africa and Asia. But what is the point in all of this if we are only feeding China’s monopoly?
Would you say that China’s dominance of the Rare Earths sector is waning?
No. China’s rare earth monopoly is approaching its zenith. The U.S. and other governments find themselves subsidizing domestic mining operations that will only serve China’s interests. MP Materials and Blue Line Corp. will use government subsidies to feed China’s monopoly at the point of metal and magnet production (representing over 90% of all value derived from REEs).
That is how dominant China is in this game, it has manipulated other countries into feeding its Dragon. Lynas Corp. a key source of rare earths outside China, and partner Blue Line recently won a U.S. Department of Defense contract to build a rare earths processing plant in Texas.
What are the biggest challenges currently facing non-Chinese Rare Earths explorers and miners?
They all suffer the delusion that there is a “rare earth market” based on western perceptions of what markets are. There is no ‘market’ – only a Chinese construct that resembles a market.
It’s like they are all trapped in some Chinese REE Matrix re-boot – and there is no Neo on the horizon.
Commerce Resources Corp. [ CCE-TSXV; CMRZF-OTC; D7H-FSE] is focused on the advancement work for the completion of the pre-feasibility study for their Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit, located in Nunavik, Quebec. The deposits are 100% held by the company and host one of the world’s largest rare earth element (REE) and fluorspar resources.
... [blah blah blah] ...
Commerce is a stock to watch and a play on the ever-increasing insecurity the world has with their Chinese based supply chains.
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