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standard <br />60,000 tons of rare-earth metals. In 2008, it exported about 45,000 tons. In 2009, based upon preliminary estimates, that <br />will drop into the 30,000s. <br />The slide will most likely continue, with potentially serious implications for President Obama's energy goals. In 2008, an <br />Australian analyst named Dudley Kingsnorth released a report in which he calculated that China's rare-earth supplies could <br />become off limits to the world as early as 2012. The severity of 1 ingsnorth's projection has been questioned by some, and the <br />global recession has probably pushed the date back a few years. But the general trend holds. Resource production is limited, <br />and China's internal demand is soaring, fueled by consumers and new energy ambitions. Within five years, China wants to be <br />the world's leading manufacturer of wind turbines and electric batteries. <br />Global demand for rare-earth metals, meanwhile, is expected to grow at least 1o percent annually. If no new mines open, the <br />scenarios are daunting. At best, if China continues exporting, global prices seem sure to rise. At worst, the West could be shut <br />off altogether, left scrambling to find new sources of these metals for turbines, batteries, and other parts. "The very basic <br />question is 'Are we going to trade dependence on Mideast oil for Chinese rare earths?'" says Jeff Green, a lobbyist who <br />specializes in metals. "I think the answer is 'Probably.'" <br />1 2 3 4 Next Page > <br />Tags: China <br />Reader Comments <br />Read all 23 comments about this article <br />Australia has Rare Earths and could be the major producer Sparty of XX <br />Jul 08, 2009 22:31:54 PM [permalink] <br />We recently did a study on the world distribution of Rare Earths deposits and found [report conmrnent] <br />that Australia has substantial quantities of mine grade rare earth deposits. <br />In fact Australian listed ASX companies control almost as much rare earths as China... <br />There are three Australian compnaies that have large Australian deposits and one very <br />small by market cap company ASX:Code: GGG that owns the very large Greenland <br />deposit (that may not be able to be mined due to political concerns) <br />To get an understanding of these issues please vist: <br />http://w-ww.australiaurareearths.com/current-issues.html <br /><img src=http://www.australianrareearths.com/images/rees-updatel.gif> if the image <br />doesn't show cut and past this http://www.australianrareearths.com/images/rees- <br />updatel.gif <br />Nothing So Rare As A Real Shortage Rare Metal Man of XX <br />Jul 08, 2009 01:04:21 AM [permalink] <br />I have seen some other articles on this topic lately. I find it to be of concern, but I also [report comment] <br />think it maybe a bit of a "tempest in a teapot". Economic and political forces may make <br />standard