14 DAY TRIAL // News from China inform us that the country's government recently decided to drastically cut down on the amounts of rare earths this nation extracts from the underground. Also, exports to various parts of the world will likely undergo considerable limitations.
Supposedly, this decision has to do with protecting said limited natural resources.
Moreover, it is expected that this shift in mining policies will also encourage the companies involved in such activities to green up their agenda, especially after several mines and smelting facilities were shut down because they failed to abide by the environmental legislation currently in place.
China Daily informs us that these new standards also aim at putting an end to illegal trades involving rare earths.
Thus, He Jilin from China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co Ltd. argued that, “China needs to cultivate large-scale and competitive companies to follow a regulated path and curb illegal extraction.”
Apparently, as much as one fifth of China's ongoing rare earths production will be brought to a standstill as a result of these new rules and regulations, something which might very easily translate into higher prices for the rare earths that will eventually make it on the market.
On the other hand, Business Green questions how various industries in the US and in Europe will be affected by these latest developments in the rare earths industry.
More so since the American states, together with various European nations, are presently striving to increase their reliance on clean technologies, which in turn depend on a constant flow of rare earths in the manufacturing field.
Thus, wind turbines, solar panels and hybrid cars all require that rare earths are used in their making.
The good news is that, according to the same source, Canadian company Orbite Aluminae recently succeeded in extracting some samples of heavy rare earth oxides and scandium in Quebec, so maybe this will help ease the strain placed on the electronics and clean technologies industries by China's latest policies.