Rare Earth Metals Future May Hinge On China

Earth Techling:

Even though China claims that its own supplies of the metals have been over-estimated (China says it only accounts for 23 percent of global deposits, while the the rest of the world puts its share at about a third), until recently the metals were plentiful enough in the country to be used as clasps in women’s purses.

Read the whole story at Earth Techling

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Comments

[Terry Floyd]

12:39 AM on 07/05/2012

Thorium Th232 and Uranium 238 makes US REE costly due to the expense of storing them as radioactive nuclear waste. Failing to recognize the potential of using these natural substances as neutron dense (no enrichment required) fuel for the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR). All of our friends who advocate the solar/wind power remedies for the negatives of global warming can not dodge the THorium bullets here and the use of LFTRs to consume the LWR nuclear spent fuel (LFTR fuel) and the thousands of tons of nuclear weaponized material around the world. We need to pursue the LFTR deployment without delay.

http://www.moltensalt.org/references/static/home.earthlink.net/bhoglund/uri_MSR_WPu.html

[Genders]

03:38 PM on 07/15/2012

no. 20 years away if ever. Solar wind and waste are already cheaper, faster to install than existing reactors, safe clean and forever. There is no reason for deadly nukes. Nukes are trill dollar million cancer disasters, million year millions of cancers waste, and civilization ending proliferation, that is so expensive and hazardous that non reactors would even be built without 500M$ per year per reactor in breaks and protection from liability.

LFTR's are just another fantasy bait and LWR switch.

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/952238/dont_believe_the_spin_on_thorium_being_a_greener_nuclear_option.html

http://www.ieer.org/fctsheet/thorium2009factsheet.pdf Not the answer, and waste still need million year storage.

http://daryanenergyblog.wordpress.com/ca/part-8-msr-lftr/8-4-the-isotope-separation-plant/

Solar cheaper than nukes and energy source amounts: http://cleantechnica.com/2011/08/23/solar-power-intro-3-key-solar-power-points-top-solar-power-news/ Note the fossil and nuke numbers are totals, the solar wind and waste are PER YEAR!
Realizable Scenarios for a Future Electricity
Supply based 100% on Renewable Energies
http://130.226.56.153/rispubl/reports/ris-r-1608_186-195.pdf
http://www.iset.uni-kassel.de/abt/w3-w/projekte/LowCostEuropElSup_revised_for_AKE_2006.pdf
Low Cost but Totally Renewable Electricity Supply for a Huge Supply Area
http://www.100percentrenewables.eu/

[niumarmion]

03:42 PM on 07/04/2012

This is why nuclear has to be a big part of the solution to climate change. These REMs are too limited to provide sufficient alternative energy to meet modern needs.

[Genders]

03:30 PM on 07/15/2012

Nukes need REM too, tons of them. wow.

solar wind and waste are cheaper, faster to install than nukes and safe, clean and forever.

[Michael D Ballantine]

09:35 AM on 07/04/2012

The problem with extracting rare-earth minerals is that the process pollutes the surrounding environment. There is one source of rare earth minerals that we can exploit and create millions of jobs at the same time, the Moon. Building a moon base would allow companies to begin processing Moon rocks for rare-earths without concern for the environment offsetting the cost of production and providing opportunities for new companies in a new market. Extracting rare-earths in California will destroy the local watersheds, negatively impact wildlife, and push the cost of polluters onto future generations. Our short-sighted mining, drilling, and extraction regulations do not consider future clean-up costs. We need to begin focusing on the society we want 50 years from now instead of next quarter's profits. Instead of a President with vision, we have a fire fighter that continually trips over himself. We need environmental Justice in Washington because our children have rights, too.

Support Rocky Anderson in November 2012.

[hazbro24]

04:28 PM on 07/03/2012

Japan just located a 6.8 million ton deposit that will last them 230 years at projected manufacturing rates. Sorry China.

[June25]

07:18 PM on 07/03/2012

The hard point isn't finding the stuff it's the willingness to move the vast quantity of earth to extract these resources.

[hazbro24]

10:21 PM on 07/03/2012

It's on the seafloor, and will be easier to get than surface minerals.

[MrBIgp]

01:22 PM on 07/03/2012

China has a great advantage in producing rare earth metals in that they don't have to spend the money to processes the metals in an environmentally acceptable manor. The other problem is that there is always thorium along with rare earth metals, which is slightly radioactive and is classified as radioactive waste - making it a gigantic headache for western producers. The irony is that the thorium as a byproduct of rare earth metals mining has the potential of powering the entire planet if a nuclear reactor were to be developed too utilize it.

[Aquest]

02:15 PM on 07/03/2012

One of many articles about thorium reactors;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_salt_reactor