California mine will reopen to meet U.S. demand for rare Earth metals/cut Chinese monopoly
31 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Japan has already taken measures to innovateand make deals around China’s monopoly on the global supply of refined rare earth elements, and the U.S. is now doing the same. Rare earths producer Molycorp has secured the proper permits and clearances needed to reopen the Mountain Pass, Calif., mine that should be able to cover the current domestic demand for rare earths once it reaches full production.
Mountain Pass would be the first domestic producer of rare earths in the U.S. in more than a decade, when cheap Chinese imports rendered the U.S. market unprofitable. The 50-acre pit near Las Vegas is about 500 feet deep currently, but expansion will push it down another 1,000 feet in coming years.
By 2012, Mountain Pass is projected to be capable of delivering around 20,000 tons of rare earth materials per year. Molycorp says it has already lined up contracts for a quarter of the materials it will mine during that first year of full production, and already has letters of intent to sell the rest in U.S., Japanese, and European markets.
The materials that come out of Mountain Pass will be used to make high-strength magnets necessary for electric vehicle engines, wind turbines, and a variety of other high-tech products. However, the U.S. possesses neither the technology nor the licensing to manufacture the neodymium-iron-boron alloy necessary for their production. As such, Molycorp has partnered with Japanese firm Hitachi Metals to manufacture the magnets in the United States.
The development of a domestic U.S. source of rare earths really doesn’t come as a surprise, though it does add another wrinkle to the ongoing rare earhts narrative that is increasingly seeing the U.S., Europe, and Japan aligning themselves opposite China in a sometimes quiet, sometimes overt struggle for these prized raw materials that are necessary to manufacture everything from portable electronics to emerging green technologies to high-tech weaponry. Both the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense have voiced concerns about a disruption in supply, concerns that were exacerbated this year when China quietly imposed a brief and unofficial embargo on exports to Japan.
[img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/MolycorpMountainPass.jpeg[/img]
[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-12/california-mine-will-reopen-meet-us-demand-rare-earth-materials[/url]
It's good that the US is starting to bring back some of its in-house production instead of outsourcing.
[QUOTE=tinhead50;26895390]It's good that the US is starting to bring back some of its in-house production instead of outsourcing.[/QUOTE]
Now only if the US would do it for other industries...
Fucking snow can't see shit
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;26895816]Now only if the US would do it for other industries...[/QUOTE]
baby steps
:patriot: :fsmug:
About time we started doing things ourselves again.
Hells yeah, now all we have to do next is produce and export our own goods and drive China out of business.
A man can dream...
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;26895816]Now only if the US would do it for other industries...[/QUOTE]
china's economy would collapse
What's intresting is i think that past leaders planned so if we reserve our resources long enough once other countrys that used to supply us would run out and therefor a complete switch of economic power.
sum up - Save resources till china runs low, They stop mass exporting theres allowing us to export ours.
Imagine when we start drilling for oil on our own land again.
[QUOTE=CubeManv2;26896147]What's intresting is i think that past leaders planned so if we reserve our resources long enough once other countrys that used to supply us would run out and therefor a complete switch of economic power.
sum up - Save resources till china runs low, They stop mass exporting theres allowing us to export ours.
Imagine when we start drilling for oil on our own land again.[/QUOTE]
Actually, China gets quite a lot of its raw material resources from Africa. China merely is a middle man in production.
If the US really wants to cut China, we would do more business in Africa and pump up production in the US.
Why was this plant closed in the first place? I don't recall learning about a sharp decline in demand for rare earth metals.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;26896204]Actually, China gets quite a lot of its raw material resources from Africa. China merely is a middle man in production.
If the US really wants to cut China, we would do more business in Africa and pump up production in the US.[/QUOTE]
As long as the business is done legit and civilized. Why should we fund company's that bought the land off dictators and gangs. We could just buy the oil from a town or city and they use the money to reestablish.
[QUOTE=CubeManv2;26896147]What's intresting is i think that past leaders planned so if we reserve our resources long enough once other countrys that used to supply us would run out and therefor a complete switch of economic power.
sum up - Save resources till china runs low, They stop mass exporting theres allowing us to export ours.
Imagine when we start drilling for oil on our own land again.[/QUOTE]
We do drill for oil - what little is actually left, atleast. The US didn't have a large amount of oil in the first place, and little of that is actually left.
[editline]23rd December 2010[/editline]
[QUOTE=Billiam;26896242]Why was this plant closed in the first place? I don't recall learning about a sharp decline in demand for rare earth metals.[/QUOTE]
Safety issues and lowering costs of rare earth elements/minerals:
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine[/url]
I'm not normally one to hate countries, but I strongly dislike China for some reason. I'm not sure if it's their lack of human rights, or that most shit isn't mandated, whether it's vehicle safety, or the fur trade and them skinning animals alive.
Sweet Crash Test video.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9YbDCvrBBk&feature=channel[/media]
If you want to watch the animal one, just search China Fur. I love me some steak, but slicing their skin off when they are alive is just a bit much.
[QUOTE=Second-gear-of-mgear;26897137]I'm not normally one to hate countries, but I strongly dislike China for some reason. I'm not sure if it's their lack of human rights, or that most shit isn't mandated, whether it's vehicle safety, or the fur trade and them skinning animals alive.
Sweet Crash Test video.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9YbDCvrBBk&feature=channel[/media]
If you want to watch the animal one, just search China Fur. I love me some steak, but slicing their skin off when they are alive is just a bit much.[/QUOTE]
God damn I would NEVER drive those shitty cars
[QUOTE=Second-gear-of-mgear;26897137]
Sweet Crash Test video.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9YbDCvrBBk&feature=channel[/media]
[/QUOTE]
oh yes,
i see the safety of seat belts
[editline]22nd December 2010[/editline]
finally my country is doing something good
[QUOTE=Billiam;26896242]Why was this plant closed in the first place? I don't recall learning about a sharp decline in demand for rare earth metals.[/QUOTE]
Earthworm habitat
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;26896107]china's economy would collapse[/QUOTE]
:(
edit:
:'(
Damn Margaret Thatcher, we need to re open the English coal mines.
about fucking time
now we make more bullets
[QUOTE=Ridge;26900932]Earthworm habitat[/QUOTE]
[B]Fuck the economy, protect earthworms.
[/B]Earthworms won't feed your family. They will probably eat their frail, decaying bodies.
[editline]23rd December 2010[/editline]
[QUOTE=Moose;26901487]about fucking time
now we make more bullets[/QUOTE]
Nope.
portable neodymium powder-coilgun hybrids.
think about it.
First the blast of a normal bullet, then the acceleration of the coilgun.
Early-prototype Gauss rifle.
Now we just need to put explosive warheads in those bullets.
[QUOTE=Second-gear-of-mgear;26897137]I'm not normally one to hate countries, but I strongly dislike China for some reason. I'm not sure if it's their lack of human rights, or that most shit isn't mandated, whether it's vehicle safety, or the fur trade and them skinning animals alive.
Sweet Crash Test video.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9YbDCvrBBk&feature=channel[/media]
If you want to watch the animal one, just search China Fur. I love me some steak, but slicing their skin off when they are alive is just a bit much.[/QUOTE]
What a violation of dummy rights
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;26896107]china's economy would collapse[/QUOTE]
And no one would give a fuck (assuming there was a valid alternative.)
[quote]Earthworms won't feed your family. They will probably eat their frail, decaying bodies.[/quote]
But that helps with the soil, thus allowing food to grow, thus your family is fed!
[QUOTE=Second-gear-of-mgear;26897137]I'm not normally one to hate countries, but I strongly dislike China for some reason. I'm not sure if it's their lack of human rights, or that most shit isn't mandated, whether it's vehicle safety, or the fur trade and them skinning animals alive.
Sweet Crash Test video.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9YbDCvrBBk&feature=channel[/media]
If you want to watch the animal one, just search China Fur. I love me some steak, but slicing their skin off when they are alive is just a bit much.[/QUOTE]
I just watched the China Fur video, and I just... Why didn't they even try to kill them before skinning them? I mean at least club them to death, for God's sake.
Send a bunch of people from the minecraft thread down there, they'll have 64 bits of Plutonium in no time.
This is really good. We all know California needs the money.
You know what is better than mining for rare earth metals in America? Asteroid mining!
[QUOTE=108payne;26923217]Send a bunch of people from the minecraft thread down there, they'll have 64 bits of Plutonium in no time.[/QUOTE]
Fuck plutonium, i'll get you fourty stacks of diamonds.
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;26922745]And no one would give a fuck (assuming there was a valid alternative.)[/QUOTE]
And then you have 1 billion people either starving, jobless or trying to jump ship.
Guess which option they would choose and which country they would go to.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.