Brazil sees opportunity in Chinese rare earth export limits

Mining Weekly. com  reports that China’s announcement that it was going to cut the rare earth export quotas for this year  has led Brazilian officials to urge their government to stimulate the mining and processing of rare earths in the South American country.

The market news is quoted as saying:

China currently produces more than 97% of the world’s rare earths, amounting to 120 000 t/y, while Brazilian production accounts for less than 1%, or 650 t in 2009.

But, at the end of last year, a joint working group of specialists from Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy and Ministry of Science and Technology submitted a report to the government highlighting the opportunities created by the Chinese decision and by the growing global demand for rare earth metals in high technology applications and strategic industries, the newspaper O Globo reported on Wednesday.

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