Increased power to influence global prices and supplies From The
Australian · February 7, 2011 Rare Earths are a group of usually
classified as 17 elements and sometimes are called “21st Century
gold” for their importance in such high-tech applications as
laser-guided weapons and hybrid-car batteries. | Many rare earth
minerals aren’t actually rare, and China doesn’t have a monopoly
on deposits of any particular rare earth elements. The US
Geological Survey recently estimated that China has about half
the world’s 110 million tonnes of rare earth deposits, however.
And mining in the US and elsewhere fell off several years ago,
in part because of environmental concerns. Australia’s Lynas
Corp, US-based Molycorp and other companies around the world are
ramping up mining. But a new mine can take a decade to develop,
and processing of rare earth elements will remain concentrated
in China for years. Industry observers say that if the
stockpiling efforts further restrict China’s exports, that could
raise hackles hig