The Battle Over Rare Earth
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| Photo courtesy of Mark F. via Flickr |
It might sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but there is a battle going on for rare earth elements and permanent magnets. These elements are used for emerging "green energy technologies" such as electric cars, wind turbines, and energy efficient compact fluorescent lighting. They also power many common devices such as cell phones and computer disk drives. Up until now China has been the number one producer and exporter of these elements; however with the growing demand for these elements China has decided to restrict the export of these precious materials for their own use.
What's a country to do with rare earth elements? The answer lies within our borders. Originally a prospective land parcel for uranium mining in 1949, Mountain Pass, California's 1.4 billion year old Precambrian Carbonanite geology is rich in these minerals.
Once, a booming mine, Mountain Pass Mine was forced to close it's doors in 2002 because it couldn't compete with the cheap imported price of the Chinese elements and magnets. It also ran into environmental issues stemming from leaks. It has since been purchased by the Molycorp Minerals Corporation which has invested 20.1 million dollars in preventative technology and remediaition.
With a push from the Obama Administration the company was permited to start mass producing rare earth elements. Molycorp Minerals has also received 500 million dollars from investors and from their July 2010 IPO. Currently, under the Recovery act, the company is set to get a 30 percent tax credit to produce this fossil fuel alternative. This is create countless jobs, and a new source of industry in the United States.
Environmental protection still remains a main priority. “I don’t want to produce another pound of product if we don’t do it right environmentally. That’s how serious we are,” CEO Mark Smith said. “We don’t want to be just environmentally compliant; we want to be environmentally superior.”
This is only a small portion of the story! To learn more about rare earth elements and Molycorp you can visit the following links:
Photo courtesy of Mark F. via Flickr
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