Australia, U.S., to Cooperate on Critical Minerals, Rare Earths
(U.S. News and World Report/Reuters) Australia and the United States will support projects to develop critical minerals and rare earths, an Australian government minister said on Wednesday (November 20, 2019), signaling deeper cooperation in a market dominated by Chinese supplies.
Australian Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross laid the groundwork for collaboration in financing such projects in talks in Washington, Canavan’s office said in a statement.
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China is the world’s largest producer of rare earth minerals, which are used in electric vehicles, smart phones, renewable energy and defense applications, and there is concern it could use its supplies as a bargaining chip in its trade war with the United States.
Canavan’s office did not mention China in the statement.
Australia is host to the largest rare earths producer outside China, Lynas Corp . The company signed a preliminary deal in May to build a heavy rare earths processing plant in Texas. READ MORE
Lynas close to securing funding for rare earths plant in the US (Mining.com)
Explainer: Can the US take back some control of rare earths from China? (South China Morning Post)
Trade war: will China use ‘nuclear option’ of banning rare earth exports to US? (South China Morning Post)
Mine, replace or recycle: can the US, Europe and Japan end reliance on China for rare earths? (South China Morning Post)
Critical Minerals: The Achilles Heal of America’s Clean Energy Future? (Our Energy Policy)
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Excerpt from Mining.com: The facility would be the world’s only large-scale producer of separated medium and heavy rare earth products outside of China, which currently accounts for 70% of global production. Beijing also controls 90% of a $4 billion global market for materials used in magnets and motors that power phones, wind turbines, electric vehicles and military devices.
Lynas, the only major rare earths producer outside China, currently ships the ore it mines in Western Australia to its processing plant in Malaysia. The facility not only does not have heavy rare earths separating capacity, but also continues to face challenges rooted in concerns expressed by the Malaysian government over low-level radioactive waste produced at the plant.
The company’s six-year-old facility in the country — known as the Lynas Advance Material Plant (LAMP) — has been the cause of ongoing tension between Kuala Lumpur and the Sydney-based miner.
LAMP was the centre of relentless attacks from environmental groups and local residents while under construction in 2012. They feared about the impact the low-level radioactive waste the refinery generates could have on the health of those living nearby, and to the environment.
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In December, the country ordered Lynas to remove 450,000 tonnes of radioactive waste stockpiled at its processing plant by Sept. 2., when the company’s licence was up for renewal.
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With Washington and Beijing locked in trade talks, there were fears that China may restrict access to the materials. Instead, the nation has been bulking up, threatening efforts in the US and elsewhere to undercut the Asian giant’s dominance in the rare earths market.
Last year, the world’s second largest economy produced about 120,000 tonnes of rare earths, while the totals of the next two leading producers — Australia and the US — were 20,000 and 15,000 respectively.
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But, because rare earth ores oxidize quickly, extracting them is both difficult and extremely polluting.
In the past three months, The Trump administration has stepped up efforts to ensure the supply of critical minerals from outside China. As part of those initiatives, it recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Greenland to conduct a hyper-spectral survey to map the country’s geology. READ MORE
Excerpt from South China Morning Post: The mines in Baotou produce about 60,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides a year, or half of total production in China. This is much bigger than the 20,000 tonnes produced in Australia, mainly by Lynas, a company financially supported by its Japanese customers. A new project in Burundi owned by London-listed Rainbow Rare Earths is targeting the production of 5,000 tonnes of concentrate – containing about half that tonnage of valuable oxides – this year.
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How big is the industry’s environmental footprint?
Upstream rare earth mining involves the unearthing of a large amount of materials. About 8-8.5 tonnes of rare earth oxides can be produced from 100 tonnes of rocks and dirt removed from the Mountain Pass project in California. In Baotou, northern China, this number stands at 5-6 tonnes.
In California, strict environmental regulations mean waste water from mining activities must be treated before discharge. In China, local governments have stepped up the implementation of environmental regulations in recent years to clamp down on illegal mining that skirts Beijing’s quota system.
As far as waste disposal is concerned, besides treatment to remove toxic substances to prevent drinking-water contamination, some operators – including those in China – are also required to remove radioactive substances such as uranium and thorium.
“It is always a concern for new projects and their investors. If China feels threatened by the emerging competition, as the lowest cost producer it could lower prices to put emerging rivals out of business.
“China may not make a lot of profit mining rare earths and separating them into market-ready oxides, which as an industry is worth just US$4 billion per year. But China dominates all the steps to turn oxides into metals, alloys, magnets, motors and electric cars, and in each of these steps the profits are much greater than at the oxide level.” READ MORE
