As defined by IUPAC, rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. WikipediaFT:
Lynas Corporation, an Australia-based miner, announced on Thursday that its first shipment of rare earths ore had arrived in Malaysia, where it has a processing facility expected to start producing the substances in the first half of 2013. Meanwhile, companies in Japan have been aggressively investing in rare earths mines and processing around the world, including in Kazakhstan, Vietnam and India.
China decided to subsidise a relatively small amount of $35m to $40m for the Rare Earth industry annually. China was and I believe still the dominant exporter of refined Rare Earths.
China's exports of these substances in 2011 was 11% less than the year before. Newer producers of Rare Earth like Vietnam, Kazakhstan and India are increasing the supply of Rare Earths elsewhere.
Despite the strong objection of the locals and some Malaysians, it seems now that the Lynas factory in Kuantan has received their first shipment of rare-earth and should be operating very soon. According to the information from Lynas, the plant is looking to produce 22,000 tons of Rare Earths concentrates per year.
Lynas will have a "pioneer" status and enjoy a 12-year tax exemption period. I believe that the people will be most concerned about the control on radioactive substances and prevention on any pollution. If the plant would like to operate with no hindrance in the future, it is important for it to really solve those problems.
