China may further tighten environmental standards for rare earth production

[Aeon]

China may further tighten environmental standards for rare earth production
2010-11-07 12:26:11

HOHHOT, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities are mulling tightening pollution standards for rare earth miners, industry insiders at a rare earth production base in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region said.

"We heard the new standards will be strict, which will force uncompetitive miners out of the industry," said Zhang Zhong, general manager of north China's Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth (Group) Hi-tech Co., Ltd., the country's biggest rare earth producer.

Zhang said the new regulation will increase the cost of rare earth production and may raise the price of Chinese rare earth exports.

Yang Wanxi, a government advisor involved in the new regulation's drafting, said the new standards are aimed to force producers to upgrade production techniques.

For example, experts said the permissible content of the pollutant ammonia nitrogen per liter of production waste water will be lowered to 15 mg from the current 25 mg, said Yang, a rare earth expert with the government of Baotou City.

He said the experts also suggested the government consider eliminating producers whose annual production capacity is less than 8,000 tonnes of mixed rare earth products.

Yang said that the draft regulation has been filed to the Ministry of Industry and Information. The ministry is still soliciting the industry opinions on the version.

Rare earth, a class of 17 chemical elements, has become increasingly important for the manufacture of high-tech products like flat-screen monitors, electric car batteries, wind turbines, missiles and aerospace alloys.

Mining rare earth damages the environment.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at the sixth China-EU Business Summit held in Brussels in October that China, which has a considerable percentage of the world's rare earth reserves and products, seeks a sustainable way of exploiting the minerals.

He said proper control and regulations are important, and China will not close the market.

The Baotou Steel Rare-earth (Group) based in Baotou City has taken a dominant position in north China's light rare earth market.

The company acquired equities in three rare earth separating and processing enterprises in Ganzhou City in eastern Jiangxi Province in August in a bid to expand into south China's heavy rare earth market.

China stopped issuing new rare earth mining licenses in 2006 and has closed hundreds of small miners.

The government in September announced draft guidelines for the industry's next five years of development, which encouraged merger and acquisition in the sector.

The guidelines aim to cut the number of rare earth firms from the current 90 to 20 by 2015.

Yang said the city of Baotou, which has the country's biggest rare earth reserves, used to have 150 rare earth producers. Now the number has been reduced to 18.

 

[ThatDamnGood]

Let them dirty their own backyards for a change.

China may further tighten environmental standards for rare earth production
2010-11-07 12:26:11

HOHHOT, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities are mulling tightening pollution standards for rare earth miners, industry insiders at a rare earth production base in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region said.

"We heard the new standards will be strict, which will force uncompetitive miners out of the industry," said Zhang Zhong, general manager of north China's Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth (Group) Hi-tech Co., Ltd., the country's biggest rare earth producer.

Zhang said the new regulation will increase the cost of rare earth production and may raise the price of Chinese rare earth exports.

Yang Wanxi, a government advisor involved in the new regulation's drafting, said the new standards are aimed to force producers to upgrade production techniques.

For example, experts said the permissible content of the pollutant ammonia nitrogen per liter of production waste water will be lowered to 15 mg from the current 25 mg, said Yang, a rare earth expert with the government of Baotou City.

He said the experts also suggested the government consider eliminating producers whose annual production capacity is less than 8,000 tonnes of mixed rare earth products.

Yang said that the draft regulation has been filed to the Ministry of Industry and Information. The ministry is still soliciting the industry opinions on the version.

Rare earth, a class of 17 chemical elements, has become increasingly important for the manufacture of high-tech products like flat-screen monitors, electric car batteries, wind turbines, missiles and aerospace alloys.

Mining rare earth damages the environment.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at the sixth China-EU Business Summit held in Brussels in October that China, which has a considerable percentage of the world's rare earth reserves and products, seeks a sustainable way of exploiting the minerals.

He said proper control and regulations are important, and China will not close the market.

The Baotou Steel Rare-earth (Group) based in Baotou City has taken a dominant position in north China's light rare earth market.

The company acquired equities in three rare earth separating and processing enterprises in Ganzhou City in eastern Jiangxi Province in August in a bid to expand into south China's heavy rare earth market.

China stopped issuing new rare earth mining licenses in 2006 and has closed hundreds of small miners.

The government in September announced draft guidelines for the industry's next five years of development, which encouraged merger and acquisition in the sector.

The guidelines aim to cut the number of rare earth firms from the current 90 to 20 by 2015.

Yang said the city of Baotou, which has the country's biggest rare earth reserves, used to have 150 rare earth producers. Now the number has been reduced to 18.

 

[Donatello]

Let them dirty their own backyards for a change.

Almost all great nations went through the dirty stage.

Here in USA, some rivers were so ****** that you could see oil boiling. Now they are all clean.

Singapore would be another example.

 

[unicorn]

DoD Sees U.S., Allies Ending China's Rare Earths Dominance
By JOHN T. BENNETT

New York - The U.S. must only survive a few more years of Beijing's dominance over rare earths minerals supply and pricing, then American and key allies should be able to turn the tables, said Brett Lambert, U.S. Defense Department industrial affairs chief.

"I wouldn't run out and buy a bunch of rare earths," Lambert said Nov. 9 during a conference here sponsored by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in association with Defense News. Though he acknowledged "the issue is in the near term," he said, "I think we'll be fine."

The markets should prompt Western nations to develop alternative to Beijing's rare earths dominance, he said.

Sources say a soon-to-be-released Pentagon study will feature a similar bottom-line conclusion.

China now controls nearly 100 percent of the global supply and production of this family of elements, which is used to make crucial components in a list of American weapon systems, including jet engine turbines, unmanned planes, electric motors, radars, night-vision goggles, missiles, electronics and other items.

The United States imports 100 percent of the rare earths it needs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

China's control, experts say, allows Beijing to dictate rare earths prices and global availability. This was spotlighted in recent weeks when China threatened to withhold rare earths from Japan during an unrelated flap.

Lambert, echoing some industry officials, said DoD officials, informed by the DoD study of the issue, have concluded market forces will drive Washington and several other Western nations to build up an alternative to Beijing's rare earths dominance.

Lambert said a "short-term squeeze" is likely, "over the longer term, the market will correct itself."

And what might that look like? He painted a picture where the United States, Australia and Japan all ramp up their respective rare earths mining and production - eventually collectively knocking China from its rare earth throne.

There is no rare earths production facility operating in the West. But Colorado-based Molycorp is attempting to upgrade and restart a facility at Mountain Pass, Calif.

The company's goal is to churn out 20,000 tons of rare earths by 2012, but without new sources of funding it could take up to 10 years.

 

[ThatDamnGood]

"The company's goal is to churn out 20,000 tons of rare earths by 2012, but without new sources of funding it could take up to 10 years. "

This kind of thing they dare to say.
Reduce the export quotas further, see if they will dare delay bring the mines online anymore.

 

[ThatDamnGood]

Rare earth mining footage.

Rare earth prices to rise again? | Video | Reuters.com