Rare Earth Elements (REEs) global mining news

Here are some recent news and views regarding Rare Earth Metals, mines in development, and uses for Rare Earth Elements.

China raising Rare Earth Elements export taxes by 1,000%+

Capitalvue reported that China moved to strengthen its control over rare earth minerals by announcing a surge of at least 10 fold in the resource taxes on rare earth minerals effective April 1st 2011.

The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation said that following the tax hikes, the taxes on light rare earth minerals such as bastnaesite and monazite will be CNY 60 per tonne while the taxes on medium and heavy rare earth minerals such as xenotime and ion absorbed rare earth clays will be CNY 30 per tonne.

Rare earth minerals are currently taxed under the category of non-ferrous metals with resource taxes at between CNY 0.5 and CNY 3 per tonne or per cubic meter.

According to an unnamed industry analyst, prices of rare earth minerals could further increase. The current average price of rare earth minerals is about USD 44,361 per tonne an almost two fold surge from the previous year.

There were calls made by government officials at the recently concluded National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference that the taxes on rare earth minerals be hiked in order to reflect the scarcity of the minerals, the environmental cost in mining them and to reduce smuggling and stockpiling by other nations.

China had announced in 2007 that it will gradually reduce the export quota for rare earth minerals and had twice raised the export taxes on selected rare earth minerals earlier this year.

According to the report, China currently has rare earth reserves of 27 million tonnes accounting for only 30% of global reserves down from 70% previously. Based on the current rate of production, reserves of medium and heavy rare earth minerals will last for between 15 and 20 years. This would lead China to become an importer of rare earth minerals.

(Sourced from www.capitalvue.com)



Lynas Corp gearing up to mine Rare Earths in Malawai, Africa

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Malawi expects Australia's Lynas Corp to start mining for rare earth elements in the southern African country "as soon as possible", the natural resources minister said on Tuesday.

Rare earths are some of the world's most obscure elements used is some of the world's most familiar devices including cell phones, flat screen TVs and microwave ovens.

The commodities are almost exclusively produced by China, which unnerved global powers last year by threatening to restrict exports to help it settle political scores.

Grain Malunga, Malawi's minister of natural resources, said the country has awarded exclusive rare earths exploration licences to five foreign companies over the past three years, including Lynas and uranium miners Paladin Energy and Resource Star.

"Some of the companies are now at bankable feasibility studies, other are at basic exploration, other companies, like Lynas, we are expecting them to start actual mining ...as soon as possible," Malunga told Reuters on the sidelines of an African power conference in Johannesburg.

He added: "Rare earth minerals are also associated with radio active minerals like uranium, so what is happening is that we have companies that are looking for uranium, but they are also looking for rare earths."

Malunga said Lynas was the only company with a rare earths mining licence so far and the elements would largely be for exports.

"We don't have the technologies for doing the value addition ...they will do the processing, especially the concentration of the rare earth minerals, and they are going to export to Malaysia or China where further concentration is done," he said.

Africa, Australia and Canada are seen as holding the key to a geopolitical battle being fought to end China's stranglehold over the obscure elements.





China Tax Bodes Well for these 5 Rare-Earth Stocks
Posted by tradegainer37 on Mar 24, 2011 at http://www.beaconequity.com

Rare earth stocks posted gains today as China is expected to impose a tax on rare-earth minerals starting April 1. The shares of miners including:

Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP)
Rare Elements (AMEX: REE)
Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX: AVL)
Arafura Resources Limited (Public, ASX: ARU)

are surging as the prices are expected to rise. The minerals are taxed at 60 yuan ($9.1) per ton of light rare-earth minerals and 30 yuan per ton of medium- and heavy-rare earth minerals.

China is currently the world’s largest producer of rare earths minerals that are used in the manufacture of several electronic and automobile products.

Molycorp gained nearly 7% on the day, closing at $55.28. Rare Elements closed at $12.93, a nearly 3% gain on the day. Avalon was gained less than 1% on the day, closing at $7.46. Arafura Resources was trading at $1.24, up 0.41% from its previous close. China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources (Amex: SHZ) slipped less than 1% to $4.82.

Japan earthquake disaster holding rare earth prices steady

It may have taken calamitous events to slow the bull market in rare earth metals, and the massive devastation in Japan certainly meets the criteria. According to a Reuters.com report on effects of Japan disaster on rare earth metals prices, the effect is unlikely to last more than a few months, when shortages and price rises are expect to continue.

Here's an excerpt from the Reuters article by Scott Malone:

Temporary closures of Japanese businesses, coupled with disruptions to ports and the electric grid as authorities struggle to stop the release of radiation from a quake-hit nuclear plant, may cause delays in shipments of the metals used in everything from Apple iPads to wind turbines. But few rare earth users are likely to turn away previously ordered materials in the face of continued export cutbacks by leading supplier China.

"You're looking at something that probably has an impact of two to four months. We may see some relaxation in prices over that time, more as a knee-jerk reaction," said Jon Hykawy, rare earth analyst with Byron Capital Markets.

Over the long term, no rare earth users are likely to turn away shipments out of concern about the overall current short supply of the materials.

"Deliveries will go on, shipments will go on. There will be delays in processing," Hykawy said at the Asian Metal International Rare Earth Summit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Western companies including Molycorp Inc (MCP.N), Lynas Corp Ltd (LYC.AX), Great Western Minerals Group (GWG.V) and Avalon Rare Metals (AVL.TO) are scrambling to redevelop mines capable of producing rare earth elements.

They are largely focusing on restarting mines that were idled at times when prices were lower, but look economical since China last year began reducing its rare earth exports.

China to issue revised 2011 Rare Earth Metals export quotas

In late 2010, Chinese government officials announced a 35% cut in allowable exports of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) during the first half of 2011.

On March 14, 2011, Beijing announced China will issue a second batch of rare earth export quotas later this year, but the total volume for 2011 has yet to be decided, the China Securities Journal said, citing Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming.

Reuters reported today that the decision on how much would be adjusted compared to last year was now in the "last stage of research". China produces around 97 percent of total global rare earth supplies, giving it a stranglehold on a range of elements used in wind turbines, defence technologies and batteries for mobile phones and laptop computers.

Reuters.com article on revisions to china's 2011 rare earth metals export quotas