GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — Magnetics 2013 has announced an industry-leading line-up of magnetics experts who will be addressing current market conditions and what's ahead for end-users and the magnetics industry in the years to come. There are rising concerns over cost and foreign control of the current supply of rare earth resources, which has motivated a search for new sources outside of China and for non-rare earth permanent magnets. Magnetics 2013, taking place February 7-8 in Orlando, Fla., will address rare earth (RE) supply chain issues, permanent magnet (PM) alternatives and RE-free magnet options for motor applications, the latest in magnetic materials R&D from leading National Laboratories, and the latest advancements in design and testing.

“The area of rare earths has been a hot topic for the last couple of years. This year’s line up at Magnetics 2013 offers our most diverse coverage to date of the rare earths crisis including supply and demand as well as PM alternatives,” said Heather Krier, conference program manager and editor of Magnetics Business & Technology magazine. “This is a once-a-year opportunity for professionals involved in magnetics technologies to not only get the latest information on the global issues of rare earths, but to learn the latest advancements in magnetic applications, technology and materials.”

Magnetics 2013 is offering informative pre-conference workshops on February 6th to complement its in-depth conference program. The workshops, which have limited seating to ensure each attendee receives individual attention, will sell out.

The conference offers new low rates until January 10th. Special discounts for OEMs are also available.

Magnetics 2013 is co-located with Motor & Drive Systems 2013.

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KUANTAN: Lynas Corporation is expecting the production of commercial rare earth products in a few weeks.

This follows the successful commissioning of its kiln to produce mixed rare earth sulphate.

“The process has achieved a recovery rate of more than 90% of contained rare earth oxides.

“The mixed rare earth sulphate is now being fed into the solvent extraction units for ultimate production of individual rare earth products,” Lynas said in a statement on its website yesterday.

It added that the production would be intensified in the next three months.

Lynas executive chairman Nicholas Curtis hailed this as another significant milestone for the company.

“The safe and efficient operation of the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) is now a reality.

“We are providing real-time data that assures people the plant is entirely safe for our local communities and the environment.

“We are excited to start creating value at the LAMP and we look forward to sharing that value with all our key stakeholders, including the communities in which we operate,” Curtis said in the statement.

The statement also said Lynas was now producing sufficient quantities of solid residue to start the production of synthetic gypsum and aggregate co-products.

It said this would enable co-product samples to be produced for testing and market trials for commericial distribution.

During a site visit last month, Lynas Malaysia managing director Datuk Mashal Ahmad said the company had spent RM10mil to build a synthetic aggregate plant to recycle the residue.

Lynas was issued a temporary operating licence effective from Sept 3 last year and announced that it had commenced operations on Nov 30.

Rare Earth Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinatungsten.com
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Australia’s Lynas Corporation yesterday commissioned its controversial rare earth plant in Malaysia.

The first delivery of commercial rare earth product is expected in the next few weeks.

In a statement released yesterday Lynas said they have successfully begun cracking and leaching rare earth extraction units and production will continue to ramp up over the next three to four months.

“This is another significant milestone for Lynas,” said Lynas executive chairman Nicholas Curtis.

Following the announcement the company’s shares rose 14 per cent.

It was a good day for rare earth companies around the world yesterday with Molycorp and Great Western Minerals also seeing their share prices rise by 9.8 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.

At full production Molycorp, Lynas and Great Western are expected to end China's grip on the rare earth market of which China currently controls more than 95 per cent of the global supply, mining.com reported.

In November Australian Mining reported Lynas had received its first shipment of about 100 containers of rare earth concentrate at the Malaysian plant. At the time the company expected the first kiln feed to take place just a couple of days later.

However, the company has been embroiled in legal action launched by the Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas group which aimed to block Lynas from acquiring a temporary operating licence for the new facility.

“The safe and efficient operation of the LAMP is now a reality, and we are providing real-time data that assures people the LAMP is entirely safe for our local communities and the environment,” Curtis said.

Protests took place outside the company’s Sydney head office in November last year amid concerns from the Greens that radio active waste produced at the Malayasian plant would be shipped back to Australia.

Rare Earth Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinatungsten.com
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China is responsible for more than 95% of the global supply of rare earths and over the weekend the country's Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), announced that the first production quota for rare earths this year will be set at 46,900 tonnes.

Another quota will be announced later this year and the allotment is broadly in line with recent output caps.

2012 output has not been disclosed, but production totaled 93,800 tonnes in 2011, according to Bloomberg. The MLR also set production for tungsten concentrate at 43,500 tonnes and antimony at 37,680 tonnes.

In December China pegged 6-month export quotas at 15,501 tonnes, also broadly in line with the 2012 figure.

The export quotas – which Japan and the US took all the way to the World Trade Organization dispute resolution body – appears to have become a meaningless exercise.

China only exported some 13,000 tonnes of rare earths through authorized channels during the whole of last year, a mere 40% of the allowed export.

A crackdown on illegal mining, consolidation of the industry under a few large producers, mothballing mines – China's number one producer recently decided to extend its production halt to three months – and the quotas have not helped to put a floor under REE prices which have continued to fall from 2011's stratospheric levels.

The value of many of the 17 elements used in a variety of industries including green technology, defence systems and consumer electronics are down more than 80%.

While mid-2012 prices looked as if it will begin to stabilize, values continue to soften.

Abundant, less valuable REEs have experienced the sharpest reversals.

Lanthanum oxide – used in ceramics and fuel catalysts – for example rose from a price of just $8.71/kg in 2008 to average $117/kg in the third quarter of 2011. By the third quarter of 2012 it was down to $19.54/kg.

As of 7 January 2013 it’s fallen further to $11/kg. Inside China that same kilogram costs $7.54.

This price behaviour can be seen across the board: cerium oxide, used to polish TV screens and lenses, is trading at $12 from an all-time high of $118 in the September 2011 quarter. In 2008 the price for cerium oxide was $4.56.

Praseodymium, used as an alloy in aircraft engines and welder goggles, was available from China in 2009 for $18/kg. After peaking in the second half of 2011 along with all the other rare earths it was still priced at $163/kg during the first quarter of 2012. Monday's benchmark price was $85, down from $105 last September.

The price of a kilogram of samarium oxide increased dramatically from a mere $3.40/kg in 2009 to average $103/kg in 2011. Used in jet fighter electrical systems among other applications, samarium actually increased in value from the first to the second quarter of 2012, from $73/kg to $82/kg.

Now it has plummeted to $25/kg free-on-board while the domestic price in China is only $7.70 for samarium.

Heavy, scarcer REEs have generally held up better, but some have experienced price declines of more than 50%.

Neodymium oxides, used in windmills, continue to slump – from $338/kg in Q3 2011 to $105.31/kg in Q3 2012 to $80/kg today.

A hybrid vehicle ingredient, dysprosium, rocketed from a price of $118.49/kg in 2008 to average $1,449/kg in 2011. It peaked at an astonishing $2,300 by September of that year.

Dysprosium, also used in conjunction with vanadium and other elements in making laser materials, has now given up more than $1,500 per kilogram and now goes for $630/kg. Inside China it is worth only $385/kg.

The reversal in europium oxide – the priciest REE – which is used in medical imaging and the nuclear and defence industries – has been most startling.

The price of europium increased almost 10-fold from $492/kg in 2009 to average $4,900/kg in the third quarter of 2011. In the first quarter of 2012, importers still had to pay $3,623/kg and stayed above $2,000 for most of the year.

The price is now $1,600 a kilogram. Chinese domestic europium is almost half that at $867/kg.

Rare Earth Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinatungsten.com
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