Rare earths:
soon a common problem?
What are rare earths?
The few elements on the periodic
table which makes hybrid vehicles,
electric vehicles, wind turbines,
solar panels, MRI machines,
and a number of those clean
energy technologies, possible.
Why should we be concerned
about rare earths?
Today, China provides 97%
of the world’s rare earth materials.
Not only do they provide
the rare earth material,
they also provide the final application.
They make the turbines, the battery
technologies and the electronics.
How rare are rare earths?
Rare they aren’t. If you took a shovel
and dug a hole in your back yard,
you’d probably find rare earth.
We have more than enough supply,
potentially, today.
Why then has there been
such a focus on them?
It became a story.
Well, stories bring confusion,
especially in a new science area.
What is rare though, is finding
them in economic quantities,
in terms
of the concentrations required
because there are
rather unique technologies
to extract what you’re looking for.
How important are
rare earth prices?
Prices have risen over the last
several years on rare earth
as new applications
were coming into being,
and more recently the Chinese
have imposed export quotas
on the supply of their rare earth.
They wish to improve
their environmental practices.
They also have a very large
growing demand internally
and want to satisfy
that domestic demand first.
It’s not a matter of price,
but of availability.
At times, the market got
caught up in some of the prices.
The prices could be managed.
How strategic or political
could rare earth be?
It is strategic.
New technologies and directives are
to implement
green energy technologies,
get off oil and clean up
the environment, et cetera.
There have been
political incidents recently,
with a fishing boat incident
in Japan and China,
that through administrative or policy,
slowed up the delivery of rare earth.
How much of a surprise are
recent restrictions of supply?
The Chinese have been encouraging
that for the last five years.
They've said: Expect embargoes.
We have our own demand,
hurry up and get going.
Is it the private sector or governments
who have been reacting most?
The private sector has been
doing the majority of this.
In terms of organisations
like Molycorp, Avalon,
Lynas Corporation,
a number of corporations
have recognised this need.
The Japanese companies,
the Toyotas and the Hitachis,
recognise it,
have been taking the action.
Governments have
been rising to the occasion:
Wait, there are broader issues.
strategic trade imbalances,
trade embargoes, currency, pricing.
So, in conclusion
there's no need to panic?
There are ample resources.
This is a relatively small sector,
anticipated by 2015
to run about 185,000 tonnes a year,
not a very large one, and by four, five,
maybe half a dozen producers
in the West should be ample
to drive further technology.
This is not copper,
this is not diamond,
and it’s end use,
it’s the value added it gives,
the enabling capabilities
it brings to these other technologies.
And how quickly
can we address the issue?
Even if you found a reserve today
it takes 10 to 20 years
to bring it into production.
On a good day.
