US, EU and Japan challenge China on rare earths at WTO

[BabuK]

The US, Japan and the European Union have filed a case against China at the World Trade Organization, challenging its restrictions on rare earth exports.
US President Barack Obama announced the filing at the White House, accusing China of breaking agreed WTO rules.
Beijing has set quotas for exports of rare earths, which are critical to the manufacture of high-tech products from hybrid cars, to flat-screen TVs.
It is the first WTO case to be filed jointly by the US, EU and Japan.
They argue that by limiting exports, China, which produces more than 95% of the world's rare earth metals, has pushed up prices.
Environmental concerns?"We've got to take control of our energy future and we cannot let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules," Mr Obama said in a Rose Garden press conference.
"If China would simply let the market work on its own we would have no objections."
In the press conference, Mr Obama also said his new trade enforcement unit - which he established last month, with China the primary target - was ramping up its operations.
China has denied the allegations in the WTO case, saying that it had enforced the quotas to ensure there was no environmental damage caused due to excessive mining.
"We think the policy is in line with WTO rules," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.
"Exports have been stable. China will continue to export, and will manage rare earths based on WTO rules," he said.

The 17 metals are used in electrical products, as well as many renewable energy devices.
There have been concerns that Beijing has implemented the quotas in a bid to ensure that prices remain low within China, which would give its manufacturers an advantage.
But Ivor Shrago, chairman of the mining services firm Rare Earths Global, said the US was in trouble because it took the wrong decisions in the past.
"They took a deliberate decision about 20 years ago not to develop [rare earth mining] and instead to buy the completed products," he told BBC News.
"Because of the deliberate decision that was taken, in China we have developed skills and expertise that the others do not have."
Welcoming Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping to the White House last month, Mr Obama warned that China must play by the same rules as other major powers in the world economy.

 

[Chereko Chereko]

Tanzania wake up, hot deal on our plate. Plenty of rare earth material have been discovered in Morogoro region area, Rukwa, Singida, Mbeya and so on and so forth. By the way Uranium is also a Rare Earth material, so watch out boy!!!

 

[jmushi1]

China wanamiliki over 90% of rare earth.However ndo wachina wanavyotumia rasilimali zao, siyo kama zetu zinachotwa tu, wanasema na wao wanazihitaji za kwao, wana bahati sana kuwa ni super power,otherwise timu za NATO nk zingeshatia mguu loong time.

Sijui watafikishan wapi na hii issue.

 

[Namtih58]

Wakuu hapa mnachangaya, uranium simojawapo ya rare earth mineral. hapa wanaongelea hizi amabzo zina contain hizi.

 

[jmushi1]

Wakuu hapa mnachangaya, uranium simojawapo ya rare earth mineral. hapa wanaongelea hizi amabzo zina contain hizi.

True, while the rarest of the 17 chemically similar metallic elements are more common in the earth's crust than gold and the most abundant, are about as well represented as copper and zinc etc, and they only occur in concentrations that are economic to mine in a few places just like how it is for the Chinese.

US pia wanazo rare earths lakini ni too expensive kuzichimba.Wachina walipigiwa kelele pia kuhusiana na hayo ya uchimbaji huo ie pollution nk, lakini waligunduwa advantage waliyokuwa nayo na ndiyo maana sasa mataifa mengine wanalia lia.
Pia ni ukweli kuwa China inamiliki zaidi ya asilimia 90 ya hizo minerals.

Ndipo hapo unaposhangazwa na sisi ambao tunafuata kila kitu tunachoambiwa na hayo mataifa, hili ni somo la kujifunza kabisa.

 

[Mwembetayari]

Huge deposits of a rare mineral have been found in Kwale county, sparking a race for exploration.

A Canadian firm, which has been prospecting for niobium at Mrima Hills said on Monday that it had extended operations to more regions of the county rich in the mineral.

Niobium is a metal used in the production of steel, rocket turbines, magnets, car parts, television set elements, lamp filaments and jewellery.

Only few countries in the world among them Brazil, Canada, Australia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Burundi and Mozambique produce the metal.

In Kwale, government officials and prospectors say the deposits could be mined for up to 20 years and bring in as much as Sh270 billion.

Local economies
Last year, the PS in the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, Mr Ali Mohammed, said the project will have enormous direct and indirect impact on local economies.

The central government, he said, would receive 80 per cent, county government 15 per cent and the community five per cent of the royalties.

Pacific Wildcat Resources Corps (Paw), the Canadian firm doing the prospecting, and its partner, Cortec Mining Kenya (CMK), said yesterday that they would extend their operations in the coastal county.

Kwale geologist Wafula Baraza said: “We are hopeful that the deposits are large and that is why the investor is putting a lot of money into prospecting.”

Cortec chief executive David Anderson said the deposits could last up to 20 years and would make Kenya one of the world’s top producers of the mineral.

Prof Ken Collerson, a consultant hired by Paw, surveyed Kwale last November and concluded that in addition to Mrima, there were deposits of niobium and other rare earth minerals around Kiruku, Dzombo, Nguluku and Dzirihini hills.

Prof Collerson said that the discovery had increased the area of prospecting around Mrima hill to more than 110km square.

He said in a report that there were also chances of getting platinum, gold, scandium, gallium and copper deposits in the area.

During the survey, Paw collected 34 rock chips in Kwale.
It was identified that the Dzombo and Nguluku hills had a higher potential for gold, scandium, gallium and copper.

Prof Collerson added that following these positive results, Paw planned to undertake a detailed airborne regional survey at Mrima and the surrounding hills to determine the locations that have large concentrations of the earth metals.

Paw’s chief executive officer Darren Townsend said the exploration work undertaken by geologists and Prof Collerson identified many targets for the minerals.

Mr Townsend said it was the intention of Paw and CMK to actively explore the additional hills to gain a better understanding of the potential of the minerals.

Rare mineral sparks race for exploration *- News*|nation.co.ke








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