CA rare earth metals mine to compete with China (Montclair: buy, costs)

[18Montclair]

This could be a well, gold 'mine'(no pun intended) for California and the US. Furthermore, what the hell was the delay? And why did we put ourselves in a position where China became our primary source of these materials? Seriously, this wil be the ONLY producer of rare earths in the entire US of A? C'mon? Really? Give me a break.

The Mountain Pass mine, owned by Molycorp Minerals, will be the only producer of rare earths in the U.S.

Tiny amounts of rare-earth metals are used in many everyday devices, like cell phones and hard drives. The U.S. Department of Defense estimates [PDF] the United States uses about 5 percent of the world’s production of rare earths just for defense purposes. They are considered “rare” because while they are relatively abundant, [SIZE=2]they are seldom concentrated in one, easily exploitable location.[/SIZE]

Currently, over 97 percent of rare-earth oxides are supplied by China and some Congress members have expressed concern [PDF] about the lack of a domestic rare earths supply.

When China cut back on its rare-earth exports last fall, many large companies also began questioning the reliability of the Chinese supply. Molycorp Minerals CEO Mark Smith told the Financial Times, “We’re being contacted by Fortune 100 companies who are worried about where they’re going to get their next pound of lanthanum, where they’re going to get their next pound of cerium. What they want to talk to us about is long-term, stable, secure supplies.”

California mine to compete with China in rare-earth metals | California Watch

[yeahthatguy]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

This could be a well, gold 'mine'(no pun intended) for California and the US. Furthermore, what the hell was the delay? And why did we put ourselves in a position where China became our primary source of these materials? Seriously, this wil be the ONLY producer of rare earths in the entire US of A? C'mon? Really? Give me a break.

MCP has been a pretty profitable trade for me.. seeing some pullback and missing earnings as of late and will try to re-enter in due time. The delay in using u.s mines was the all to present strategy : drain the world of their resources first.. use ours last... rare earth mining is dirty .. it was shut in the u.s due to costs to comply w/ mining it in a clean manner. China was willing to do it in the dirty/cheaper manner. We put ourselves in the situation because it made economic sense. There are tons of places w/ rare earth deposits .. canada .. africa.. afghanistan .. It's all strategy .. When something makes no sense it is most probably that it does .. its just that you dont fully understand the strategy goal . Good times .. A lot of current research could serve to make new materials that have properties of rare earths albeit at a cheaper cost ... I am putting my long term bets on this vs. the current high priced mania centered on rare earths.. Buy the rumor sell the news