Rare earth metals — so called because they are found in such low concentration on the Earth and are, therefore, exceedingly difficult to profitably mine — are required in everything from advanced electric car batteries and motors to new refrigerator technology.
Is the US running headlong into a future where we depend on other countries for a stable supply of this critical resource?
As I discussed in a post late last year, in this transformation from fossil fuel based cars to electric cars over the next 40 years finding stable supplies of rare-earth metals could become the next “oil” battlefield. Even now, China, who controls more than 95% of the world’s rare-earth metal supplies, has started to hoard them — for what reason I don’t know, as other countries have the capability of producing them but simply haven’t because, well, China was doing all the legwork for them. Nonetheless, the issue highlights the importance of having our own guaranteed supply.
In testimony in front of a congressional panel devoted to the topic, renowned rare-earth expert, Karl A. Gschneidner Jr., a senior metallurgist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, has echoed just such a sentiment. “Rare-earth research in the USA on mineral extraction, rare-earth separation, processing of the oxides into metallic alloys and other useful forms, substitution, and recycling is virtually zero,” he told the panel members. “Europe and China are moving rapidly in this area, the USA needs to put together a strong, cohesive effort to retain our disappearing leadership in this technology.”
Let’s hope his voice is heard. Certainly rare-earth metals fall in the category of unsexy and difficult to sell politically, but they are sure to become a major resource issue if we don’t start acting now.
You can read Mr. Gschneider Jr.’s full testimony on the next page.
Source: EurekAlert!
PDF Pages: 1 2
It seems to me that detectors and surveyors are all the USA needs, since deposits are likely in every portion of the globe, and we have as yet only tried a few places. What do they look like? How can you know you have them, (rare Earths) unless your search criteria is improved. So the problem is not lack, but identification. Once you have a detector or a quantifiable system, then you will find what you need in sufficient quantities. Especially true in California which has the geological formations you look for in discovering those elements. Please let me know what you find. Oklahoma also has mountains set on their sides, which could have a significant boost on your discovery processes. gregors@att.net
It seems to me that detectors and surveyors are all the USA needs, since deposits are likely in every portion of the globe, and we have as yet only tried a few places. What do they look like? How can you know you have them, (rare Earths) unless your search criteria is improved. So the problem is not lack, but identification. Once you have a detector or a quantifiable system, then you will find what you need in sufficient quantities. Especially true in California which has the geological formations you look for in discovering those elements. Please let me know what you find. Oklahoma also has mountains set on their sides, which could have a significant boost on your discovery processes. gregors@att.net
It seems to me that detectors and surveyors are all the USA needs, since deposits are likely in every portion of the globe, and we have as yet only tried a few places. What do they look like? How can you know you have them, (rare Earths) unless your search criteria is improved. So the problem is not lack, but identification. Once you have a detector or a quantifiable system, then you will find what you need in sufficient quantities. Especially true in California which has the geological formations you look for in discovering those elements. Please let me know what you find. Oklahoma also has mountains set on their sides, which could have a significant boost on your discovery processes. gregors@att.net
It seems to me that detectors and surveyors are all the USA needs, since deposits are likely in every portion of the globe, and we have as yet only tried a few places. What do they look like? How can you know you have them, (rare Earths) unless your search criteria is improved. So the problem is not lack, but identification. Once you have a detector or a quantifiable system, then you will find what you need in sufficient quantities. Especially true in California which has the geological formations you look for in discovering those elements. Please let me know what you find. Oklahoma also has mountains set on their sides, which could have a significant boost on your discovery processes. gregors@att.net
I’ve been seeing more of this coming to the forefront, but you’re right that it’s a hard sell. The London Times Online recently had an execellent article about this. Here’s the link – http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article7042598.ece
The terms you’ll be hearing are “resource husbanding” and “resource nationalism.” As oil prices start their climb to ungodly heights, and altfuel vehicles take off, you’ll see nations such as China hording rare metals like a fat kid at a pie-eating contest.
Interestingly, I caught an article stating the US has plenty of Lithium under its swollen butt. However, creating the facilities to process the stuff costs upwards to over a billion dollars. Compared to the wheelbarrows of my tax dollars rolled down Wall Street, it seems a bargain to get such an operation up and running. Make it a nationalized company like AmTrak and start sucking in the Big Bucks. I can’t find the original article mentioning this, but here’s one I pulled up from Duke University that pretty much covers the same territory – http://nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/lithium
Anyway, food for thought until we all croak.
I’ve been seeing more of this coming to the forefront, but you’re right that it’s a hard sell. The London Times Online recently had an execellent article about this. Here’s the link – http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article7042598.ece
The terms you’ll be hearing are “resource husbanding” and “resource nationalism.” As oil prices start their climb to ungodly heights, and altfuel vehicles take off, you’ll see nations such as China hording rare metals like a fat kid at a pie-eating contest.
Interestingly, I caught an article stating the US has plenty of Lithium under its swollen butt. However, creating the facilities to process the stuff costs upwards to over a billion dollars. Compared to the wheelbarrows of my tax dollars rolled down Wall Street, it seems a bargain to get such an operation up and running. Make it a nationalized company like AmTrak and start sucking in the Big Bucks. I can’t find the original article mentioning this, but here’s one I pulled up from Duke University that pretty much covers the same territory – http://nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/lithium
Anyway, food for thought until we all croak.