Rare Earth News

China's rare earth monopoly could affect global economy

On September 21, a set of hearings took place among the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, where a consensus was reached that China's monopoly could very well be a threat to the global economy, Oil Price reports.

The committee met in response to the effects of China's export ceiling, which in 2010 cut the country's mineral exports by 40 percent, causing prices to skyrocket in 2011 to levels of more than $100,000 per ton.

Now, Japan has announced that it plans on taking its rare earth mining operations to other countries, in addition to moving some operations to China, the media outlet stated.

According to the news source, sufficient rare earth deposits exist outside China, it is just a matter of companies developing those sites in an economic manner.

Recently, Quebec opened its entire northern region to mining and forestry, which has led to a boom in rare earth mining, according to The Associated Press. The provincial government plans to spend $80 billion to make the region, which has large rare earth deposits, more accessible to rare earth mining companies.