Rare Earth News

New market rare earths needed to bring down prices

In July, China, the world leader in rare earth elements (REE) exports, released its second-half rare earth export quota, revealing it had reduced its amount of exports, in comparison to its year-over-year doubling of the quota prior to the announcement.

Now, high prices may be the new norm, unless new rare earth mining operations become available, according to Resource Investing News.

The media outlet states that analysts, executives and industry insiders agree that demand is extremely high, and supply outside China continues to be tight.

New sources of REE are important because they have the power to control entire industries. Cerium, for example, nearly drove some producers of LED light bulbs to completely halt production, the media outlet stated.

However, new deposits of REE have been discovered in Quebec, and the province is currently in talks with different countries about investing in rare earth.

"We will encourage them to invest in processing, not only extraction," Quebec Premier Jean Charest recently stated. "That for us is very important and we are ready to support that."

Quebec is currently formulating a deal with Japan, the world's largest importer of rare earth's, according to Bloomberg.