China, which supplies about 95 per cent of the global rare earths market, is considering plans to clamp down further on export quotas for the valuable minerals used to produce everything from hybrid cars to iPod music players.

Wang Caifeng, an official of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told a conference in Beijing that domestic demand for dysprosium and terbium may outstrip supply, but she denied reports that China is considering a ban on some rare earth exports.Export quotas for rare earths have been cut for the past three years, but Beijing is now considering a plan for much sharper curbs which could leave multinational companies scrambling for other sources to supply their own growing needs.

Her comments came as Australia demonstrated its concern that China may be trying to dominate rare earth supplies beyond its borders as well. Australia’s foreign investment regulator has delayed for the second time China Nonferrous Metal Mining’s proposed A$470m ($395m) investment in one of the country’s leading rare earths mining projects.

The Chinese state-owned enterprise agreed to pay A$252m for a 51.6 per cent stake in Lynas in May and also promised to provide access to US$184m (A$221m) of debt to allow the Australian group to develop its Weld Range project in Western Australia, one of the world’s richest rare earth deposits.

Further Chinese export curbs could stimulate production outside China, industry experts said. According to a 2006 survey by the US Geological Survey, 43 per cent of global rare earth reserves are outside China, though few are currently being exploited."

1.Australia is not giving up their strategic reseves to the Chinese just like that.

2.Chinese export curbs could stimulate production outside China.

3.There was some talk about rare earth findings in the ROF can anybody plse shet some light on this?

Kind regards.

Inca.