- TECHNOLOGY RARE EARTH ELEMENTS
by the market, says Lifron, but rather b)' the needs of
C hinese managers who have to meet quotas in the coun-
rry's planned e<:onomy. The result is a lack of investment
tO maintain and even expand production. "This sit ua-
tion cannot last much longer," hc warned in an analy-
sis for [he Gerson Lehrman Group in De<:ember 2009,
"be<:ause China itself is runnjo& sbou of rare carth met-
als due to inefficient production methods, environmen-
tal problems, and corruptio n."
Investors and clean-rech experts are no t the only ones
who are starting tO worry. Areport published by the
United States Government Accoumabjliry Office (GAO),
a "watcbdoe" ovcr spending and poliey in Congrcss,
warns ehat a shorraee of rare earths eould put d efense
inreresrs at risk. Mea nwhile, d evelopers are seeking 50-
lurions in countries including Australia, Canada, and
the U.S., where ra re earrhs are found.
Molyeorp Minerals' Mountain Pass mine in Califor-
n ia - ollee rhe world's number o ne suppliers of ra re
earehs - plans to reopen in lare 201 0, following mod-
ernization. T he company has plans to produce 40 mil-
lion pounds (18 million kilograms) of rare eanh prod-
uns per ycar, beginn ing in 20 12. In March 201 0, thc
United States Gcolo&ical Survey o fficially re<:ognized d.k:
~ in Idaho and Montana beJonging ro the compa-
ny U.S. Rare Earths ~ "as olle of only five provell
substantial deposirs of rare earths in the world outsid e
of mainland C h ina and/or Chinese contro1."
The other way to reduce the pressure on th e market
would be to devclop o ther materials with the sameInterview
propenics. The company Nanosys in c. in Ca[ifornia has
developed a symhetic m for LED lights that gives the
same effecr as rare earths. The same can be done for
same less complex systems. Bur Professor Relief says
rhat substitution of one material fo r another eould
mean having tO recollstruct the emire p roduct.
Recycling is another option available for ma intaining
the supply of these special elements. But it is very diffi·
cult to extract them. Elec rronic products such as com-
puters contain several kinds of metals in extremely small
quantities, says Reller. For recycling of rare earths to
work properly, it would have to bc included in the de-
velopmem phase of the producrs. Equipmenr, parts, and
machines conraining certain mcrals could al[ be co[o r-
coded for colleetion or reuse. One positive developmenr" Rare earth elements help us understand
fundamental natural processes"
MARTIN ENGI is a pro-
fessor of mineralogy and
petro[ogv at the Univer·
sity of Sern.What do ra re earth e ie-
.me.n.ts. mean to you as a
geologist?
We earth scientists worry
aboul "irrelevant" ques·
lions, such as how ol.an.:
etary bodjes, like the earth, operate as a whole. and how
and when they separated Iheir ~, man.tJ.e., and ~. The
rare earth elements are jnyaluab[e witnesses here, which
help us understand fundamental natural processes.
Why are investors getting excited about rare earth elements?
Currently, lots of money can be made. So, you can't blame
investors. What seems fairly irresponsible is to develop and
depend on te chnologies without a real future, such as those66 Business Spotligtn
based on non-renewable primary materials whose currently
known supplies are very limited.
What are the main problems of current developments?
First of all, increasing amounts of some truly invaluable
resources are being used in the development and produc·
lion of industrial products, some of wh ich are unnecessary
lifestyle products. Miniat urized jotegrated cjrcujts tor ever
more QQten1 ~ ~ an important quantity of some
rare earth elements and other metals - only 10 be thrown
out as soon as the next models appear! The other aspect is
the growing dependence on a few countries that effectively
govern the world market. Nations with a highly developed
economy, such as Japan, have every reason 10 be worried
about such unilateral dependencies.
Is there a need for regulation in th e rare earth marke!?
As the artist Jenny Holzer says: "A.b..L.Ig of power comes as
no surprise." In my opinion, if ecological supervjsjon and
economic control, both of which are !orms of power, are in
the same hands, we all know what to expect!4fl010