Regina Talk Radio 980
Posted September 10, 2009
If you've ever made a call on a cell phone, driven a hybrid vehicle, or installed a compact flourescent lightbulb, you've had direct contact with rare earth elements.
97 per cent of those elements come from China, but Saskatchewan has a huge untapped supply. And that's what Great Western Minerals Group is attempting to capitalize on.
Rare earth minerals expert Jack Lifton says big things lie ahead for the junior mining company.
"Within two or two and a half years, this will be a very significant company in the Canadian mining industry," he says. "It's going to be your one-stop shop for heavy rare earths. And you know what, it's going to be the world's one-stop shop."
Many of the elements are used in "green" technologies like wind power generators and batteries. Lifton says that could make Saskatchewan a big player in the environmental movement.
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Here are few interesting facts about rare earth metals:
* China produces about 97 percent of world's rare earth metals.
* The country wants to use its resources mainly for its domestic consumption while getting global companies to set up high-tech operations in its regions such as Inner Mongolia.
* In late 1990s, Chinese companies expanded their mining operations, leading to the country's control of most of the world's rare earth production.
* China regulates its exports with quotas and duties. Since 2004, exports from China have shrunk by about 10 percent each year. Analysts say the export quotas for this year could range between 32,000 tonnes to 34,000 tonnes.
* Demand for rare earth metals is likely to increase between 10 percent and 20 percent each year, on back of growing demand for metals such as neodymium, used to make hybrid electric vehicles and generators for wind turbines.
