6 months ago when it became clear that China was going to act in a manner that defended its reserves or rare metals, it provided an opportunity perhaps the first public discussion on the fact that our reliance on these metals stretched beyond the traditional need. That, while we were planning a transition to the green economy, it turned out that many or the “renewable” energy technologies we were banking on to hit emission and energy intensity reductions were supported by the need for rare earth metals.
renewable. rare earth. renewable. rare earth. .. renewable rare earth?
Note: According to the article, rare earth metals are not actually all that rare. That they are:
In fact, they aren’t even rare and are as common as copper or nickel. There are two main issues: Rare-earth minerals are costly and complicated to extract. And processing them is even more complex.
However, given the fact that 97% of production capacity for these metals is found in China, and it would take 15 years to bring capacity back to the US… I would say that makes them pretty rare. Especially if the tap were to be closed off.
Anyway, it was a time where some naturally scratched their heads and wondered how they had painted themselves into a corner, and an opportunity for others to sound the alarm that China was looking to stymie the US/ EU cleantech movement through the restriction of these metals.
That, while the RARE earth metals were .. rare… to reduce the amount available to export was seen as a nationalistic move meant to keep China on top of the cleantech war. Or is it a race?
At any rate, it appears that a firm in the US has decided to work to bring balance back in to the market and has gained rights to the Mountain Pass Mine from Chevron, and will be raising the 500 million USD necessary to start the mine back up and become the only rare metal mine in the Western hemisphere. A move that could perhaps provide a semblance of relief to those who are currently in the market for these metals, but at the same time, it still has to make you wonder why anyone would design products that are mean to save (or destroy) the world when 97% of the capacity is held within a contained geographic and political boundary.