Hot Pink List
Toronto Escorts

Global supply of rare earth elements could be wiped out by 2012

oil&gas

Well-known member
Apr 16, 2002
12,225
1,622
113
Ghawar
http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/

by Metals Place
January 27, 2010

What industries are those? The automobile industry uses tens of thousands
of tons of rare earth elements each year, and advanced military technology
depends on these elements, too.

Lots of "green" technologies depend on them, including wind turbines,
low-energy light bulbs and hybrid car batteries. In fact, much of western
civilization depends on rare earth elements such as terbium, lanthanum
and neodymium.

So what's the problem with these rare elements? 97 percent of the world's
supply comes from mines in China, and China is prepared to simply stop
exporting these strategic elements to the rest of the world by 2012.

If that happens, the western world will be crippled by the collapse of
available rare earth elements. Manufacturing of everything from computers
and electronics to farm machinery will grind to a halt. Electronics will
disappear from the shelves and prices for manufactured goods that depend
on these rare elements will skyrocket.

These 17 rare earth elements (REE) – all of which are metals – are
strategic resources upon which entire nations are built. In many ways,
they are similar to rubber – a resource so valuable and important to
the world that many experts call it the "fourth most important natural
resource in the world," right after water, steel and oil. Without rubber,
you couldn't drive your car to work or water your lawn.

Many medical technologies would cease to work and virtually all commercial
construction would grind to a halt.

Many of the strategic battles fought in World War II were fought, in
fact, over control of rubber, most of which now comes through Singapore
and its surrounding regions (Malaysia and Indonesia).

Global shortage of Rare Earth Elements coming

Now, by threatening to cut off the world's supply of rare earth elements,
China appears to be attempting to monopolize this extremely important
strategic resource. According to information received by The Independent,
by 2012 China may cease all exports of rare earth elements, reserving
them for its own economic expansion.

An article in that paper quotes REE expert Jack Lifton as saying,
"A real crunch is coming. In America, Britain and elsewhere we have
not yet woken up to the fact that there is an urgent need to secure the
supply of rare earths from sources outside China."

And yet virtually no one has heard of this problem! People are familiar
with peak oil, global warming, ocean acidification, the national debt
and the depletion of fossil water, but very few are aware of the looming
crisis in rare metals... upon which much of western civilization rests.

For those who still aren't convinced this is a big deal, consider this:
Without rare earth elements, we would have no iPhones.

Yeah, I know. That's a disaster, huh?

We would have no fiber optic cables, either. No X-ray machines, no car
stereos and no high-tech missile guidance systems for the military. And
here's the real kicker: No electric motors.

Demand outstrips supply

The problem with the supply of rare earth elements is that demand
has skyrocketed over the last decade from 40,000 tons to 120,000
tons. Meanwhile, China has been cutting its exports. Now, it only
exports about 30,000 tons a year – only one-fourth of the demand the
world needs.
 

tegR

Member
Jun 14, 2008
187
0
16
Witholding essential strategic resources from USA, European Union and Russia is definately asking for a serious ass kicking. If China wants to go back to being a puppet bitch to the rest of the world they should do this. Otherwise, No.
 

blackrock13

Banned
Jun 6, 2009
40,087
0
0
Finally it hits the pages of TERB, but it's not unknown to those in-the-know. that's why the big interest in the oceans and the moon. The operative words in the above is 'China may stop' . The fact that China has this large proportion can be explained by it size and accessibility. unlike Russia and Canada, Chinas resources are more easily discovered and available. in time that can change. 2012 seems a bit early for 'all' such metals. I've heard quote of 2012 to 2050, depending on the material, but it will be an interesting market to watch.
 

Keebler Elf

The Original Elf
Aug 31, 2001
14,572
203
63
The Keebler Factory
Such fear mongering.:rolleyes:

If China shuts the door on the world, the world will shut the door on China. And that means no one buying anymore cheap crap from China. And that means China's economy collapses.

Don't believe the hype.
 

danmand

Well-known member
Nov 28, 2003
46,353
4,776
113
Rare earth metals are actually not so rare, they are just a bit hard to extract. They are
used in small quantities, so I think the world will survive nicely.
 
Last edited:

wet_suit_one

New member
Aug 6, 2005
2,059
0
0
And all this means is that exploration and mining elsewhere will take off. It's not like China is the only place on Earth where these materials can be had.
 

Asterix

Sr. Member
Aug 6, 2002
10,025
0
0
That's true, but most countries aren't willing to rape extensive areas of their land to get the fairly tiny deposits, as China seems willing to do.
 

newguy27

Active member
Feb 26, 2005
1,347
0
36
please. alternatives will be found. Dont have a rubber hose? how about a plastic one?
gold connectors replaced by silicone?
 

danibbler

Active member
Feb 2, 2002
2,269
0
36
Toronto
It's a stupid article. China is not the world's supplier of rare earth metals. About a month ago, I was reading about a Canadian company that mines a range of rare earth metals. Do a search on the Globe and Mail's website, should be there.
 

oil&gas

Well-known member
Apr 16, 2002
12,225
1,622
113
Ghawar
It's a stupid article. China is not the world's supplier of rare earth metals. About a month ago, I was reading about a Canadian company that mines a range of rare earth metals. Do a search on the Globe and Mail's website, should be there.

I am an amateur stock investors but the scope of stocks trading on TSX
under my watch is more or less comprehensive.

I do not know of any significant rare earth metal mining companies with
mines in production. Of the miners with rare earth mines under development
it would probably take at least 3--4 years for Avalon Rare Metals Inc. and
Rare Element Resources Ltd to bring their mines to production stage. There is
also Ucore Uranium which might have found a significant deposit in Alaska
but I have not followed the stock. Forum Uranium which has the backing of
Agnico Eagle Mines has also made some interesting discoveries (in Quebec
I guess). If anything I bet it will take a decade to bring a mine to production.
 

oil&gas

Well-known member
Apr 16, 2002
12,225
1,622
113
Ghawar
Following my post I paid a visit to Ucore Uranium at http://www.ucoreuranium.com/ I was
interested to read their claim that their flagship property contains the largest rare earth element
resources within United States.

Prior to my last post I knew next to nothing about this company and I was never invested
in it. So please note that this post is not meant to provide stock tips.
 

danibbler

Active member
Feb 2, 2002
2,269
0
36
Toronto
oil&gas, no, the company that was in the Globe article is based in BC but it does have a project (at least one, maybe more) in Quebec. I went to the website but did not look much further because they did not post any financials there. Seemed very junior to me.

The gist of my post is to that there are more companies out there doing rare metals than just the Chinese.
 

oil&gas

Well-known member
Apr 16, 2002
12,225
1,622
113
Ghawar
oil&gas, no, the company that was in the Globe article is based in BC but it does have a project (at least one, maybe more) in Quebec. I went to the website but did not look much further because they did not post any financials there. Seemed very junior to me.

The gist of my post is to that there are more companies out there doing rare metals than just the Chinese.
Any junior miner sitting on a commercially viable and sizable rare earth metal resource
with prospect of near-term production should have seen its stock price explode like a Bre-X and its
market capitalization increase 10 to 100-folded months ago. The company
you read about is probably still in the stage of exploration.
My experience is that 90% of junior explorers would end up as money losers.

So there may be more than a handful of companies doing rare metals outside China.
But in all likelihood most of them would not become a major supplier of
this strategic resource soon enough to even partially alleviate a supply crunch.
 
Ashley Madison
Toronto Escorts