

The Battle Over Rare Earth Metals - dskhatri
http://www.ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=228:the-battle-over-rare-earth-metals&catid=102:issuecontent&Itemid=355

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hristov
Sigh, yet another article touting the free market and asking for large
government subsidies at the same time.

It is rather contradictory -- in the beginning it says how rare earth metals
are so incredibly valuable and only China has them, and in the end it says
well California has a lot of them too but the big mine in California had to
shut down because prices were too low. So give us money now.

If the metals are really so valuable, and if prices skyrocket, then the mine
in California should reopen. It is possible that the Chinese were dumping the
stuff below cost in order to close the California mine, but in that case we
should address the issue with existing anti dumping legislation and not with
subsidies.

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hristov
BTW I meant "the free market".

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dskhatri
Here's a presentation to Congress by Molycorp, the company referenced in the
article as the owner of the Californian mine (the largest rare-earth metal
mine outside China): <http://www.molycorp.com/pdf/MMCEMARCH09.pdf>

Two observations from the presentation:

a) it is an interesting example of how to lobby for government funding, and

b) looking at the hybrid vehicle supply chain figure, it is startling how
dependent the future of clean energy is on magnets which are made from rare-
earth metals: magnets play a big role conversion of mechanical energy to
electrical energy - wind, hydro, wave turbines require magnets, and vice versa
(permanent magnet motors for hybrids, electric vehicles etc.)

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doki_pen
The article makes note that rare earth metals have a huge application in green
energy, and that 95% of the world's rare metals are in China. It's ironic
that, of all countries, China would have a monopoly on natural resources that
can help reduce pollution. Especially after the recent events at the
Copenhagen climate summit. I hope that altruism can prevail over selfishness.

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fnid2
It's not ironic, it's a blessing. What better place for rare earth metals that
help reduce pollution than in the most populated place and next to the other
one.

And referring to the altruism quote, do you really think if those rare earth
metals were in the u.s. they'd be shared with China?

Copenhagen was a joke from the get go. It's all about powerful compan... I
mean countries taking more resources from poor countries, restricting their
people's desire to grow and live a good life while putting few restrictions --
and none that would be followed -- on those countries that have had good lives
for decades already.

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doki_pen
I wasn't saying that Copenhagen was an example of how the US is great and
China is bad. But it seems that right now the US is more aligned (selfishly)
with cutting pollution then China is. It is directly against China's immediate
interest to cut pollution. If roles were reversed the US would behave in a
very similar fashion.

It's ironic because, in all the world, I can't think of a place where cutting
pollution is more against a countries best interest then in China.

China has the largest population in the world and would need to be many times
more "green" then the US to make a positive impact. As it stands now, being
green does not lend itself to fast economic growth. Any restriction on Chinese
pollution would necessarily result in it's people suffering the consequences
of slower growth.

I hope that altruism can prevail all around, but I have little faith that it
will.

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dskhatri
The NYTimes piece linked to in this article is a shorter read, although it
focuses on the environmental impact of mining the rare-earth metals :

[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/business/global/26rare.htm...](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/business/global/26rare.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print)

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GiraffeNecktie
There are a number of other metals that might not technically be 'rare earth
metals' but they fall into the same category. Very strategic and rarely found
in mineable deposits. I'm thinking specifically of gallium and indium both of
which are used in solar panels. Indium is also an important component in flat
panel displays.

