Greenland’s premier has said that the EU won’t be given preference over China as the country seeks to exploit its rare earths deposits. Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist told the media “All are welcome if they meet our conditions and our requirements to operate in Greenland.”

Europe has made a request for special treatment ahead of what many believe will be a major production boom in Greenland’s lucrative rare earth mineral industry. Klesit said, however, that it would simply be unfair, “to protect others’ interests more than protecting, for instance, China’s.”

Rare earths are essential for the manufacturing of consumer electronics. Experts say that China controls an estimated 97 percent of the current market, which has led to a dispute with Europe, Japan and the United States, who have taken the matter up with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Now, major Chinese mining firms have reportedly reached an agreement with Greenland officials to exploit the region’s huge potential for the minerals, which are now becoming more accessible due to accelerated ice melt in recent years.

Kleist also downplayed concerns about Chinese plans to import labour for forthcoming operations: “I do not see thousands of Chinese workers in the country as a threat,” he said.

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With the publication of a highly optimistic financial assessment, the developers of the rare earth elements mine at Bokan Mountain on Prince of Wales Island have outlined a permitting and construction schedule leading to production start-up and 170 year-round jobs by 2016.

Support jobs could triple that total, according to Ken Collison, a long-time mine builder and chief operating officer of Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

“We’re in the birthing stages of a new American industry and we think that Alaska can be the headquarters,” said Ucore President and CEO Jim MacDonald.

Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ucore issued the Preliminary Economic Assessment, or PEA, for the Bokan Mountain project, located 37 miles southwest of Ketchikan, on Jan. 15.

The PEA indicated an 11-year mine life based on proven resources with a net present value of $586.4 million at a 10 percent discount rate, pre-tax; an internal rate of return of 43 percent; a payback period of 2.3 years and a capital cost of $224.6 million, including a complete on-site rare earth oxide separation plant, and a contingency provision of $25.4 million.

MacDonald acknowledged that the internal rate of return is “exceptionally high,” but said it was a mark of confidence in the PEA and the project mineral content.

“I think it’s indicative of the fact that the project is very robust,” MacDonald said.

Collison said on Dec. 12 that proven reserves are, “less than one-tenth of what we’re capable of.”

Much as China captured the rare earth elements, or REE, industry by offering the raw material and manufacturing, MacDonald suggested Alaska could recover a U.S. share.

“There’s no reason to think that as the industry developed in Alaska they couldn’t, potentially, attract manufacturing that requires rare earth elements in the chain. There’s a chance here for the state of Alaska to capture an entire industry,” MacDonald said.

Ucore is raising project financing through what amounts to futures sales, but is also working with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority on a request for state support through infrastructure construction and possibly other avenues.

Formally known as a National Instrument 43-101, a preliminary economic assessment is a detailed technical analysis of a mineral project’s economics required under Canadian law.

All 15 rare earth elements are present at Bokan and total annual production is projected to be 2,250 tons, but dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, “are our headline products,” MacDonald said.

In the oxide form the mine will produce, the three are currently selling, respectively for $700, $1,230 and $38 per kilogram, according to Ucore’s online REE posting.

Projected annual production includes 95 tons of dysprosium oxide, 14 tons of terbium oxide and 515 tons of yttrium oxide. All are critical to electronics manufacturing in defense, automotive, aerospace and other high-tech applications.

Cutting-edge refining technology including magnetic separators and solid phase extraction, or SPE, that is undergoing final testing this year will send 75 percent of the 1,500 tons per day of raw ore production back underground. So-called nuisance materials, including thorium, uranium and iron, will be converted to a concrete paste to backfill empty mine shafts.

Ucore plans to use a nitric acid leach in the SPE process because 75 percent of the acid can be recycled, unlike more commonly used sulfuric acid, MacDonald said.

As extraction operations open subsurface space, surface tailings will steadily disappear. The mine could be the first in the world to leave no surface tailings facility after closure, MacDonald suggested.

To finance the project, Ucore’s “aspiration, and we think it’s a realistic one,” MacDonald said, is to avoid the need for equity financing by completing agreements with “off-take partners.”

“The potential formula is whatever percentage of critical REEs the partner signs for, they will be asked to participate at a commensurate level in terms of financing the mine,” MacDonald explained.

Last fall, Ucore signed an information sharing agreement with the U.S. Defense Logistical Agency in the Department of Defense, which is expected to become an off-take partner. The information agreement means DOD “will be getting access to information before it becomes public,” MacDonald said.

Dysprosium is a critical material for production of unmanned drones and other remote-control weapons systems.

Hybrid and electrically powered cars have 40 points under the hood requiring REEs, and MacDonald said major U.S. automakers are likely to become off-take partners.

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KETCHIKAN — An Alaska company has set its sights on developing a rare-earth element mine by 2016 on southeast Prince of Wales Island.

Ucore Rare Metals’ proposed Bokan Mountain Project could begin construction in 2014 with the proper permits, The Ketchikan Daily News reports.

CEO Jim McKenzie said China has dominated the rare-earth elements market, and the Alaska project gives the U.S. a chance to keep up. Rare-earth elements are the types of elements used in technology such as radar systems, satellites, renewable energy systems and consumer products like cell phones and TVs.

“We view the rare-earth space as sort of a race,” McKenzie said. “Obviously, China is withdrawing product from international markets fairly aggressively, and the U.S. needs this product.”

The company estimates that building a mine and processing facility would cost about $221 million and take about 21 months to complete. Based on current resource estimates, the mine could operate for 11 years with a processing rate of 1,500 tons per day.

There are 70 known occurrences of rare-earth elements in the state. Alaska boasts what is believed to be one of the most significant rare-earth prospects in North America.

Critical minerals, which include rare-earth elements, are those that are needed for use but subject to possible supply restrictions. Alaska bills itself as an excellent place to explore, with geology conducive to deposits.

China holds a virtual monopoly as a global supplier of rare-earth elements, with an estimated 48 percent of the world’s proven reserves. It has threatened to withdraw its supply of rare-earth elements to ensure a supply for domestic manufacturing.

UCore retained control of the Bokan Mountain site in southeast Alaska in 2006, initially because of its interest in uranium, though it also was aware of a rare-earth deposit on the property. The rare-earth project is now Ucore’s primary focus.

McKenzie and other Ucore officials acknowledge that permitting processes for mines contain no guarantees for schedules or outcomes.

“When it comes to permitting, you can’t hold that to a specific agenda,” McKenzie said. “You can pursue it in good faith and hope for the best.”

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SIERRA BLANCA, TX - Jan 24, 2013 - Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp. ("Texas Rare Earth"), a heavy rare earths exploration company, today announced that the Company has engaged a representative to assist in locating possible strategic alternatives for its Round Top project, to include its beryllium deposit, from entities in Asia. The hiring of the representative is in response to a preliminary indication of potential interest from a multi-billion dollar resource firm located in Asia.

Dan Gorski, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Given the interest level in our unique Round Top project, the Board felt it necessary to engage a representative to further explore potential interest from Asia. Demand for heavy rare earth elements is expected to continue to outstrip supply in the years to come. Given that the vast majority of such elements are used in the Asian regions, it is logical that interest from the region could be quite robust."

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