"The (Chinese) government is also planning to launch a rare-earth trading platform intended as a market-oriented pricing mechanism."
6/20/12, "China to Tighten Rare-Earth Mining Rules," Dow Jones Newswires, Beijing
"China will more tightly control the mining, sorting and smelting of rare earth minerals and phase out outdated capacity while promoting industry consolidation, the government said Wednesday.
In a white paper released by the State Council, China's cabinet, the government said it will introduce stricter standards for rare-earth mining and improve the relevant legal framework to crack down on violators.
The move could further flare up tensions with key consumers who have accused the Chinese government of interfering in the market to push up prices by artificially limiting supply.
The U.S, E.U and Japan jointly complained to the World Trade Organization in March that China was deliberately restricting exports, violating WTO rules.
The Chinese government is willing to strengthen communication and negotiations with relevant parties to resolve issues related with rare-earth trading, but "will actively use WTO rules to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the country," said Gao Yunhu, deputy chief of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Rare Earth Office.
Mr. Gao said China's management of the industry fully complied with WTO rules. China accounts for more than 90% of the current world supply of rare-earth minerals, a group of 17 minerals which are crucial in the production of high-technology products such as electric car batteries, iPhones and missiles.
Chinese officials have repeatedly said excessive mining of rare earth minerals is leading to severe environmental damage, including landslides and pollution. The decline of rare-earth resources in major mining areas is accelerating, the white paper said.
The government also disputed U.S estimates of China's rare earth reserves. According to the United States Geographical Survey (USGS), China's rare earth reserves totaled 36 million metric ton in 2009, 36% of the proven reserves worldwide.
But according to Mr. Jia Yinsong, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, an internal ministry survey indicated that China's reserves totaled 18.59 million tons in 2009, just 23% of the world total. The USGS has not provided a source for its data which is inaccurate, he said.
At a function to release the white paper, Su Bo, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said the government is also planning to launch a rare-earth trading platform intended as a market-oriented pricing mechanism, and had consulted producers and downstream users on the initiative. He didn't provide a time frame for the launch.
In a related move, the government earlier this week said it supported Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech Co. (600111.SH) to lead national consolidation efforts for northern China's rare-earth industry.
Baotou, the country's largest rare-earth producer by output, had encountered difficulties this year when two of its subsidiaries were among a dozen companies that had their rare-earth export quotas held up by the Ministry of Commerce for five months after the companies failed to meet the government's environmental standards related to rare-earth mining. ...
The Inner Mongolia government had, in February, set up the China Northern Rare Earth Group to lead national consolidation, the report said. The group is aimed at eventually becoming a single conglomerate merging all light rare-earth miners in northern China.
Other state-backed giants, including Aluminum Corp. of China and China Minmetals Corp., have also been appointed to lead the national consolidation of the rare-earth industry in other parts of China.
The consolidation is an effort aimed at bringing order to China's fragmented mining industry and control over rare-earth prices."
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- 'Green' electric car batteries require 'dirty' rare earths minerals in their manufacture. Picture above, rare earth smelting plant in Communist China, reuters, 11/21/10)
- Rare earths mine in Communist China from DailyMailOnline, Jan. 10, 2010
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12/29/10, "China will cut rare earths export quotas," BBC
"China has said it will cut exports of rare earth minerals by 10% in 2011.World manufacturers are heavily reliant on China for these minerals, which are essential for making many electronic goods, such as TVs and PC monitors.
China has 97% of the world's known supply of the goods. The US mined none last year."...
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6/5/11, "RARE EARTHS: USA CONCERNS, US CONGRESS ETC…," simonthongwh.com
"Rare earths and other critical minerals are essential to the manufacture of green technologies including wind turbine generators, advanced solar panels and electric car batteries."...
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3/15/12, "Rare earth case reveals US hypocrisy," China Daily, Chen Weihua
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6/10/11, "Electric cars may not be so green after all, says British study," The Australian, Ben Webster
"Emissions from manufacturing electric cars are at least 50 per cent higher because batteries are made from materials such as lithium, copper and refined silicon, which
- require much energy to be processed.
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Electric car mileage claims questioned:
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4/17/12, "Ford CEO: Battery Is Third of Electric Car Cost," WSJ.com, by Mike Ramsey
"One of the auto industry's most closely guarded secrets—the enormous cost of batteries for electric cars—has spilled out.
Speaking at a forum on green technology on Monday, Ford Motor Co. F -1.01% Chief Executive Alan Mulally indicated battery packs for the company's Focus electric car costs between $12,000 and $15,000 apiece.
"When you move into an all-electric vehicle, the battery size moves up to around 23 kilowatt hours, [and] it weighs around 600 to 700 pounds," Mr. Mulally said at Fortune magazine's Brainstorm Green conference in California.
"They're around $12,000 to $15,000 [a battery]" for a type of car that normally sells for about $22,000, he continued, referring to the price of a gasoline-powered Focus. "So, you can see why the economics are what they are.""
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"Rare Earth Metals," UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability
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Ed. note: US environmental rules and wages make it too expensive to extract here. We let other people do our dirty work. Most rare earths come from Communist China now.
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