If you have been wanting to invest in rare earth minerals, but were
having trouble because China has the market sewed up, you may get your
chance. The rare earth stocks U.S. market could soon be exploding,
because of mines that will be opening again.
Rare earth stocks us
The
deep pit located in the Mojave desert may hold the key to the U.S.
moving into the rare earth minerals sector, and causing rare earth
stocks in the U.S. to soar. China has had the rare earth minerals
sector tied up by providing over 90% of the worlds supply. With recent
developments showing that China is most likely going to halt exportation
of rare earth minerals to use within their own country for production
of some of the worlds highest demand products, the U.S. would be hanging
over a barrel.
The Mojave desert mine currently holds one of the
largest rare earth mineral deposits outside of China. The mine was
shut down almost a decade ago, however, the owners have finally secured
approval to start operations again in the near future. Molycorp
Minerals chief executive Mark Smith explained that, "We will probably
never be the largest mine in the world again. It will be hard to
overcome China's status in that regard, but we do think we will be a
very significant supplier."
Americans are concerned without the
mine that the U.S. will lose control over the production of many of the
new technologies, including smart phones, and green energy products,
like electric cars, and wind turbines, along with a host of other
products that have been recently developed around new technologies.
Global
demand for rare earth metals is predicted to reach 205,000 tons by
2015. "If we don't get alternative supplies up and running we are going
to have this supply gap that is going to cause a lot of issues," Mark
Smith said. We are looking at skyrocketing rare earth minerals stocks,
because of this situation.
"You would need seven mines the size
of Molycorp's just to meet the demand for wind turbines and that would
mean no neodymium for motors or any other applications," said Jim
Hedrick, who was the U.S. Geological Survey rare earth expert.
Companies
are looking at alternatives to using rare earth’s in the production of
some of these new technology products, or at least reducing the amount
they use in production, along with working on recovery and recycling
measures.
The U.S. mine in the Mojave desert used to play an
important role in technology in the 1960’s, by producing europium, which
provided the bright red tones in the new color televisions. Hopefully
it will become a big part in producing rare earth metals in the 21st
century for production of the new technology products of today and the
future. Whatever happens, when considering investing in rare earths, it
is a good idea to keep your eye on the rare earth stocks in the U.S.
Rare earth stocks us