Resource World Magazine

J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 8 www.resourceworld.com 19 headphone makers. Bose manufactures a NdFeB speaker that looks like a pole (the L1) which is very popular with musi - cians on stage. Malden was concerned that there could be a threat to REEs supply if trade wars develop. In this fast-changing marketplace, she remarked that some REE consumer products have a life of only 2-3 years. Why are NdFeB speakers so great? In answer to a Resource World question, Andrea Pratesi, Chief Procurement Officer for B&C speakers in Florence, Italy said that neodymium speaker magnets are typically 10 times more powerful than the old ferrite magnets, thus producing a big, bass-lush sound from a small speaker. He added that NdFeB speakers weigh considerably less than the old ones, making it safer to hang speakers from ceilings in auditoriums. Then there is green energy. In his pre - sentation, Robert Wolf of Alliance LLC in Valparaiso, Indiana, mentioned that wind turbines typically use 594 pounds of neodymium magnets. If they used ferrite magnets, they would weigh 4,752 pounds, making them too heavy to be practical. China is investing heavily in wind turbines with some 60,000 units to consume 36,000 tons of sintered neodymium magnets by 2020. On the automotive side, by 2025, it is forecast that some 173 million vehicles will be built worldwide with an estimated amount of REEs needed at approximately 128,668 tonnes, assuming 25% will be electric EVs. All this sounds great except that Chinese mines need to overcome some major issues, including pollution, contamination, labor rights, health issues, outdated equipment and safety issues. The problem for any competitors in the rest of the world is with China's monopoly over the REE sector as it can control prices and supply with restric - tions on trade. However, some companies are willing to compete with China, including Lynas Corporation Ltd. [LYC-ASX] of Western Australia and their high-grade Mt. Weld rare earths mine with its 25-year mine life, based on 22,000 tpa rare earths oxide (REO) production. The Lynas refinery is in Malaysia. The company is the No.2 pro - ducer with a 20–25% share of global fresh NdPr supply. Another Aussie, Northern Minerals Limited [NTU-ASX], recently com - pleted construction of a large pilot plant at their Browns Range Mine in Western Australian. The pilot plant, which will be in production in July at 10% of full-scale production (60,000 tpa), will draw on a three-year stockpile of ore. When the full- scale plant is built, 300,000 kilograms of dysprosium will be recovered annually and 3 million kilograms of TREO per year. One serious problem for the US is that it is dependent on the Chinese to supply REEs for its military. China is not exactly a friend or ally – it is a trading partner. James Kennedy, President of St. Louis- based ThREE Consulting, and a rare earths advisor to the White House, has suggested a solution to this dilemma. He writes, "By developing a structured and integrated solution, historical resources would be redirected into a privately funded and owned, US-based, multi-national and fully integrated rare earth value chain coopera - tive. The cooperative would be financed, RARE EARTHS Illustration courtesy Ford Motor Company.

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