The future supply of critical HREE’s such as dysprosium has been in the news lately with Japan talking about recycling and reduction efforts. Some fear that if Japan is successful in their efforts to reduce dysprosium use that it will cause a glut, and be bad for the entire industry. But 100% of dysprosium coming from China is going to make people avoid being beholden to an industry with one supplier. Recycling and reduction by Japan is only likely to allow others who have avoided using dysprosium to count on more availability. Dysprosium from more than one source is good for everyone. Any glut in dysprosium is likely to be temporary. Continue reading

The uncertainty in global markets has had an effect on estimates for potash sales for early 2012, yet some still expect record sales for the year. Demand for non-essential resources or products is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future but food is a necessity that can’t be realistically cut back. The higher yields that result from potash, which has no substitute, makes it a strategic resource that is unlikely to see falling demand. However, lower market prices have caused potash miners to lower output estimates for the short term as reported on Croplife.com on Feb 6th 2012. The website also notes that Mosaic is reducing production by 20% for the next 4 months. But with a steadily growing population, higher demands for meat and food shortages in East Africa, the demand for food, and therefore fertilizer, are likely to increase just as steadily. The decrease in output is likely only being done to push prices back up so that potash can be sold later this year at a better price. Continue reading

100 years ago the most popular kind of car was electric but they didn’t use REE’s. A Prius today uses 100g of the Heavy Rare Earth Element, (HREE) dysprosium. That might not seem like a lot, but 100% of dysprosium currently comes from China and that’s a lot of control. The possible availability of HREE’s outside of China in the near future was the big question at REE World’s Technology Metals Summit in Toronto last week. Lynas is likely to be the first to supply Japanese car manufacturers, but other Australian miners have found even larger deposits of HREE’s, including dysprosium. Continue reading

The class action suit filed against Molycorp on Feb 3rd, regarding inaccurate reporting of their progress comes two days after Molymet invested USD $390 million in Molycorp. The lawsuit alleges that during mid 2011, Molycorp exaggerated how soon their Mtn. Pass mine would be re-opened and supplying its customers. This resulted in the stock price falling in the second half of 2011.The sale of company stock by Molycorp’s board is now looking suspicious to other investors. However, companies are always optimistic about timelines, REE stocks fell across the board in the latter half of 2011, and the filing coming two days after a large cash infusion also looks opportunistic. Continue reading

The Technology Metals Summit at The Hyatt Regency in Toronto Feb 1st and 2nd has wrapped up and it was a fascinating experience. Almost every mining company and would-be miner outside of China was there to find out what everyone else was up to and what they will be doing in the near future. Industry predictor Dudley Kingsnorth gave his forecast for 2016 and 2020 via satellite from Perth Australia on the 2nd. The day before, Australia’s Lynas was granted a temporary operating license for the world’s largest refinery in Malaysia. Interestingly, Kingsnorth seemed to think this development was no surprise. Continue reading

Lynas plantThe Technology Metals Summit taking place in Toronto as we speak was the news in REE’s earlier today, but the news now is that The Atomic Energy Licensing Board of Malaysia has granted a two year temporary operating license to Lynas on Feb 2nd. There are several conditions, but Lynas is almost completed their refinery, the largest in the world, and they are certain to do everything they can to abide by the conditions. As a result, Lynas stock has risen 20% in Sydney in the first 20 minutes of trading. Continue reading

The current talk in the potash industry is very conflicting. People predict prices and demand to rise and fall and production to do the same. They predict companies to be taken over, and, or protected by governments. It would seem that with the world economy having an uncertain future, posturing is what we are going to get right now from the major players. But with food supplies and prices depending on the fertilizer, stockpiles and government intervention are also very likely for the near future. Continue reading

Pele Mountain has the opportunity to produce rare earth elements at the only mining camp in Canada that has produced REE’s before, potentially changing the community enormously. Their mine is in the works at Eco Ridge near Elliot Lake, ON. If they can produce soon, it would greatly alter the town. Elliot Lake was invented when uranium was found there. They used to have 12 operating mines, now there is none. I can relate, having just changed communities from Banff to Toronto due to the REE opportunities here. Originally I emailed Pro-Edge just to see about attending the Technology Metals Summit only two weeks ago, now I am watching the summit take shape. Perhaps things could change as much for Elliot Lake where the population has fluctuated between 26, 000, and 6,600 in the last few decades. Continue reading

Quest Rare Minerals of Montreal reported their most recent drilling results on Marketwire Jan 12th 2012, satisfying their estimates of viable deposits at Strange Lake B-Zone in Northern Quebec. The Preliminary Economic Assessment report delivered in 2010 and the Revised Resource Estimate in April 2011 were validated by their summer... Continue reading