Chinese authorities have announced the discovery of a huge rare earth deposit in the southwestern province of Yunnan, as Beijing seeks to consolidate control over the global supply chain of the vital minerals.
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| China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced that Chinese scientists had discovered a new type of ore called niobaobotite at the Bayan Obo ore mine in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia in early October 2023. (Source: Getty Images) |
The newly discovered rare earth mine in Yunnan mainly contains medium and heavy rare earths, which are important inputs in the production of high-tech products such as electric vehicles, wind turbines and advanced defense systems.
According to the Geological Survey of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, the mine has potential reserves of 1.15 million tons, including more than 470,000 tons of key rare earth elements such as prazeodymium and neodymium.
"This discovery is of great significance in consolidating China's advantages in rare earth resources, improving the rare earth industrial chain, and further consolidating China's dominant strategic position in medium and heavy rare earth resources," the bureau said on its WeChat account.
The latest discovery is one of the results of an initiative launched in January 2023 to locate strategically important resources, including lithium, helium and rare earths.
China is the world's leading producer of rare earth elements - a group of 17 metal oxides - with 44 million tonnes of reserves, according to the US Geological Survey.
China currently mines 70% of the world's rare earths and processes 87% of the mined ores. 91% of the processed rare earths are also refined into products, and 94% of the world's permanent magnets are labeled Chinese.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/trung-quoc-phat-hien-mo-dat-hiem-khong-lo-o-van-nam-301372.html
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