Rare-earth demand wakes a mining firm

MOUNTAIN PASS, Nev., Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A Colorado mining company said it is gearing up to meet demand for rare-earth minerals vital to modern industries.

Electronics manufacturers use rare earths, as do makers of wind turbines, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

With 97 percent of the world's supply produced by China, however, manufacturers were put on alert last year when China temporarily withheld shipments to Japan during a dispute involving a Chinese boat captain arrested by the Japanese in disputed waters.

China has since curtailed exports of minerals, such as neodymium and dysprosium, to meet domestic demand, the newspaper said.

Mark Smith, chief executive officer of mining company Molycorp, said, "The use of these materials has really skyrocketed, with demand outstripping supply literally overnight."

Rare earths are not specifically rare, but processing them has been cost prohibitive. Toxic materials are often involved in their processing. Radioactive materials are often found in the same areas, increasing risks to the environment.

Smith said Molycorp, which owns a rare-earth mine in the Mojave Desert in Nevada, is aiming to produce one-quarter of the world's supply by 2014.

"Bottom line, we fell asleep as a country and as an industry. We got very used to these really low prices coming out of Asia and never really thought about it from a supply-chain standpoint," Smith said.