Australia could be 'Saudi of rare earths'

Export clampdown by China opens door for miners of vast reserves Down Under

Agence France-Presse in Sydney
Oct 04, 2010

Rare earths, the little-known elements behind everything from iPods to hybrid cars and eco-friendly light bulbs, are set to boom in Australia, thanks to an export clampdown by China, experts say.
Industry sources and analysts say Australia's vast reserves of the obscure metals with highly prized properties could make it one of the world's leading producers in just a few years.

"By about 2014, we should be one of the dominant suppliers of rare earths to the world. And we will compete with China for that," a long-term investor said. "We're a small country but we're going to be the Saudi Arabia of rare earths."

World attention shifted to Australia's nascent 發生中的; 開始存在的 rare earths industry after China, which dominates global production, began restricting exports, sending shudders 發抖, 戰慄 through major consumers Japan, Europe and the United States.

Australian experts say China has simply used up its tightened annual export quota, playing down fears of a trade embargo 封港令; 禁運 on hi-tech producer Japan over a bitter territorial dispute.
But the scare triggered a rapid reappraisal of rare earths sources other than China, which cornered the market with about 90 per cent of global supply but now needs growing amounts for its domestic market.

Rare earths like super-magnet dysprosium鏑 and red-glowing europium銪 are vital components in hard drives and computer screens, while the metals also make possible laser missile systems, wind turbines and solar panels.

"We touch rare earths every day of our lives but people are not aware of the applications they're in," said Matthew James, vice-president of corporate and business development at Australia's Lynas Corp. "They are underpinning societal trends which are not going to reverse. We have to become more energy-efficient, we have to become better in managing our environmental footprint. People are not going to accept larger, clunkier devices, they want smaller, faster, lighter. These trends are driving growth in the rare earth market."

The United States, fearful of further restrictions from China, is scurrying to resume production, while Japanese companies reportedly turned to Lynas.

Lynas, among five companies with proven Australian deposits, according to www.australianrareearths.com will next year be the first Australian producer to come on stream when it shifts some 11,000 tonnes from a new plant in Malaysia. The company will double output to 22,000 tonnes a year by the end of 2012, worth about US$1.1 billion at current prices.

James said Lynas had about 1.4 million tonnes at its Mount Weld holding in Western Australia and could be selling to China within a decade.

He believes Lynas is two to four years ahead of any other producers outside China because rare earths projects take several years to develop. The Lynas project had already been eight years in the making, James said.

The rare earths investor said there would soon be a "real focus" on Australia, which has 46 per cent of the world's rare earths deposits. "When you look at the international literature about scarcity of rare earths, you see a mention of Australia, but nobody has an understanding that we've got 46 per cent of the world's supply. And that we've probably got the richest and best deposits in the world."