New Post (114) : Rare earths to become rarer still.
PRESENT
China, produces about “97” percent of the global supply of rare earth minerals.
China's move to slash export quotas on rare earth minerals -- vital in a slew of high-tech products -- has raised fresh international trade concerns.
China has cut its export quotas by 35 percent for the first half of 2011 versus a year ago, saying it wanted to preserve ample reserves. It also cautioned that it has not decided on the quotas for the second half of the year.
The little-known class of 17 related elements is used in numerous electronic devices and clean energy technology.
PAST
Until 1948, most of the world's rare earths were sourced from placer sand deposits in India and Brazil.[8] Through the 1950s, South Africa took the status as the world's rare earth source, after large veins of rare earth bearing monazite were discovered there. Through the 1960s until the 1980s, the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California was the leading producer. Today, the Indian and South African deposits still produce some rare earth concentrates, but they are dwarfed by the scale of Chinese production. China now produces over 97% of the world's rare earth supply, mostly in Inner Mongolia
FUTURE
Where will this “resource nationalism” lead us to ?
Charlie Brown
