Thursday, December 30, 2010
2011 Will be the Year of Rare Earth Metals
Independent Israeli Intelligence and Security News Service Says Saudi Arabia Has Acquired Atomic Arms
China's Defense Chief Strikes Warlike Tone
A Modest Proposal for the New Year: America Should Outsource Energy Policy to an Ethical Foreign Expert
Whereas the leaders of both political parties in the United States have hollowed out the nation's economy in order to benefit relative handfuls of corporate shareholders and executives, and the bankers, lawyers, accountants, and consultants who have enriched themselves through globalization, the Obama administration should now consider outsourcing energy policy to a qualified foreigner with the expertise and ethics to do a first-rate job--for the whole country.Copper Climbs to Record on China News
Ahmadinejad Aiming to Take Power from Ayatollah
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
DENMARK FOILS ISLAMIST TERROR PLOT
Can China Crush Gangster-Run Rare Earth Mines?
South Korea Getting Tough With North
Year in Review: Sino-India Relations
Miner's Shares Jump on China Rare Earth News
Japan, S. Korea Drawing Closer With US Push
Friday, 31 December 2010
An announcement this week by China that it plans to cut export quotas for rare earth minerals next year is raising concerns about future supplies of the increasingly sought after natural resource that is a crucial component in a wide range of high-tech goods. The move is sparking trade concerns and helping boost the hunt for and production of rare earths outside of China.
Approximately 97 percent of the world's production of rare earth minerals is located in China.
So, when China announced this week that it was cutting its quotas for the export of rare earths, countries and companies that rely on the elements for the production of everything from high-tech electronic devices to electric cars, wind turbines and defense systems began voicing objections.
Japan's electronics giant Sony says the move is a hindrance to free trade, adding it will try to reduce its reliance on Chinese supplies.
U.S. representatives at the World Trade Organization say they're "very concerned" about the restraints and have raised the issue with China. The U.S. says it may complain to the WTO about China's export restraints.
China's Export Controls
China argues that its export controls are in line with World Trade Organization rules.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu says the measures are necessary to protect China's environment and supply of resources. She adds that in the future China will continue to provide rare earth products to the international market.
Concern over the export of rare earth minerals has been building in recent months.
China slashed export quotas for the minerals in the second half of 2010, citing a shortage of supply for domestic manufacturers. And, when it was embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with Tokyo, shipments of the minerals to Japan were temporarily interrupted.
Gabe Collins, the co-founder of China Sign Post, says that he does not believe China will let the issue cause too much unnecessary friction in its relations with other countries.
However, he adds that should another dispute arise with Japan, the rare earths issue could again surface. China and Japan are the two major rare earth component producers in the world.
China's Industrial Policy
China's moves to cut quotas, Collins says, are ultimately reflection of its industrial policy.
"This is a manifestation of a Chinese industrial development policy," he says. "They want to keep they want to keep the higher value added steps of the manufacturing chain in China."
While the decision is raising concerns from governments, it is giving companies outside of China that are already in the business of mining rare earth minerals or working to restart projects a big boost.
Companies such as Australia's Lynas Corporation and the U.S.-based Molycorp have seen their share prices shoot up since the decision was announced.
Molycorp resumed operation of its rare earth metal facility in California last week. The site was shut down in 2002 amid environmental concerns and low costs for rare earth metals from mines in China.
Alaska and others states are actively assessing the prospects for the mining of rare earths.
Bob Swenson, director of Alaska's division of geological and geophysical surveys, says: "The Bokan area is actually the only known minable occurrence of rare earth elements in Alaska. We do have many areas specifically in interior Alaska as well as down in southeast Alaska where we do have indications of permissible geology for rare earths and those are the areas we've really been focusing on."
In November, the U.S. Geological Survey carried out its first-ever assessment for rare earths. It found that deposits that total about 13 million metric tons had been found in 14 states.
World demand for rare earths is currently at about 120,000 metric tons per year, with China accounting for most of that demand. The remainder is split between Japan, the United States and Europe.
The bottom line: in five years, rare earths will no longer seem so rare. In the meantime, fortunes will be made--staggering sums--in the field and on the major stock exchanges.
Surely, such a qualified individual can be found; and it isn't hard to imagine what he or she would do, given the power to move swiftly and effectively--in the national interest.
Simply put, the Ultimate Energy Czar-for-Hire would unlock the nation's awesome energy resources--immense, hidden-in-plain-sight reserves of oil and gas and coal and shale--to achieve energy independence. Tapping the neglected and despised (by liberal loons and the media that regularly disinforms them) fossil fuels with which America has been blessed would create millions of well paying, permanent jobs, generate hundreds of billions of dollars in tax revenues, and put the country back on the road to real prosperity.
Think about it: a Chinese or Indian energy expert tasked with making America energy independent.
This reporter volunteers to write the want-ad.
NEWS CHINA REDUCING RARE EARTH EXPORTS
AFP: "China produces more than 95 percent of the world's rare earths, which are critical to manufacturing 21st-century goods from iPods to low-emission cars to wind turbines."
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