The Rare Earth Security of Supply Crisis in Simplified Form --
I was on CNBC-TV today, Sep. 2, 2009,
for a sound and image "bite' about the impact of the supposed Chinese
"decision" to cut off exports of HREEs and to reduce exports of LREEs.
Of course the Chinese have been reducing their export allocations of
all REEs for the last 5 years and will simply continue this process in
the next 5 years. Export allocations of REEs are already below the
demand just of Japan, so the crisis of security of supply isn't coming;
it's here now.
It is said that China has said that it may completely eliminate the
export altogether of the HREEs, dysprosium and terbium. This would be a
disaster for the high performance and military users of REE based
permanent magnets, because dysprosium and terbium are necessary and
cannot be substituted as additives for REE based permanent magnets that
raise the curie point of those magnets. This means that REE based
permanent magnets without dysprosium and terbium will not operate at
high temperatures. Thus the use of such magnets in high temperature
environments would require an expensive weighty cooling system. This
subtracts range from hybrid cars, performance from wind turbines, and
payload from exploration and military rockets.
i was surprised when commentator Erin stopped putting me on camera
after I told her that her tagline of "China hoarding" REEs was wrong.
China is merely saying that it is giving priority to domestic uses of
its own resouces. I had pointed out to Erin that free market capitalism
and globalism requires that any and everything be available for a
price, but that is not the Chinese way of thinking. Chinese bureaucrats
believe that the health, safety, and well being of the Chinese people
come before that of foreigners and that Chinese resources should be
used first to improve Chinese daily life. Just substitute the word
"American" for Chinese in the sentences above and tell me then that you
don't beleive in that and that you don't wish that American bureaucrats
thought the same way!
http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/65370-jack-lifton/25955-the-rare-earth-security-of-supply-crisis-in-simplified-form 
