Chinese officials have warned that the price of rare earths is likely to rise. “The Financial Times reported today that three North American companies are using radioactive waste from other mines, “phosphorus-cerium-lanthanum ore” to produce rare earths, working together to create a supply chain to reduce dependence on rare earths from China.
China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of rare earths, but Chinese controls to reduce rare earth exports have raised international concerns. China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing said yesterday that China’s rare earths are not sold at the price of “rare” but at the price of “earth” because of vicious competition and competing price pressures, making this valuable resource wasted. This comment is a worrying forecast of the soaring price of rare earths.
In the face of the Chinese Communist Party‘s hold on rare earths, which are indispensable in many fields such as weapons and electric vehicles, three North American companies have joined forces in the hope of breaking through the clutches.
According to the report, the U.S. company Energy Fuels and Canadian company Neo Performance Materials found an effective and safe way to produce rare earths from radioactive phosphorus-cerium-lanthanum ore. The ore is a by-product of mining and will be supplied by the U.S. chemical company Chemours.
According to the report, China holds 80% of the rare earth supply and is considering implementing export controls on rare earths, raising concerns that China may take the lead over Europe and the United States in the military and commercial sectors.
Most Western rare earth companies avoid the mining of zirconium, titanium and other minerals produced by-products “phosphorus cerium lanthanum ore”, because of the high radiation content. However, uranium mining company Energy Fuels has developed a method to extract radioactive elements from phosphate cerium lanthanum ore, using this method for nuclear fuel, turning what was originally a waste byproduct into a rare earth cash cow.
Energy Fuels President and CEO Mark Chalmers said in an interview with the Financial Times, “This is an important step in creating an integrated rare earth supply chain in Europe and the United States.”
He said the company only needs to invest $2 million in the White Mesa mine in Utah, but more money is needed to become a rare earths processing plant.
Neo CEO Constantine Karayannopoulos said the large U.S. stockpile of phosphorus-cerium-lanthanum ore can handle the soaring demand for rare earths.
The lanthanum phosphate ore contains 50 percent rare earths, much more than other ores, as well as 0.2 to 0.3 percent natural uranium, and 15 of the 17 rare earths.
Karayanopoulos said: “We can clearly foresee double-digit annual growth in demand (for rare earths) in the next five to 10 years. Currently European electric vehicle sales are higher than in China, and our Silmet plant in Estonia is currently only at 75% capacity and needs more raw materials.”
Starting in March or April, Energy Fuels will ship raw materials to Silmet, Europe’s only rare earth processing plant, where Neo will produce separated rare earths for use in permanent magnets and other advanced materials needed for electric vehicles.
Energy Fuels will supply Energy Fuels with at least 2,500 tons per year of phosphor cerium lanthanum ore and will ship 840 tons of rare earths to Estonia, with the ultimate goal of processing 15,000 tons per year of phosphor cerium lanthanum ore, which will supply half of the rare earths needed in the U.S.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports that Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets contain 417 kilograms of rare earth materials each, and a nuclear submarine requires more than four tons of rare earths.
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