Cold-call phone scams have switched from traditional sales staples, such as unlisted shares in obscure companies, to novel new get-rich investment options such as land, wine, and lumps of rare earth metals.

The Independent reports that the sale of rare earth elements by unregulated "boiler room" companies in England has become the latest trend in investment phone scams.

Around 25 to 30 such companies currently operate in the UK, none of which are subject to regulation or oversight by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

One company in the Midlands offer credulous investors a "green energy bundle" of rare earth metals via cold-call phone marketing.

For 6,744 British pounds retail investors can buy one kilo of dysprosium, one kilo of yttrium and two kilos of lanthanum and neodymium, which purchasers are informed over the phone will surge in value.

Yet based on current market prices the bundle, assuming 99% purity free of oxides, is worth only 900 pounds, equivalent to a 7.5 times price mark-up.

One investor in Bradford was targeted by cold-call investment company Rare Earth Metal Exchange Ltd firm after receiving a substantial inheritance, the public details of which had been data-mined and sold.

The company convinced the investor to spend 45,000 pounds on five kilos of rare earth metal dyprosium which she was informed would surge in value over the next twelve months.

The investor received only one kilo of the metal, while the total value of her purchase was only around 3,500 pounds.

The new wave of scams capitalize upon the vital importance of rare earth metals for modern hi-tech industries, and the increasing media attention they receive due to China's stranglehold on global supply.

The FSA states, however, that there is no "convincing evidence that there is a viable market for investors to make money," with Jonathan Phelan, head of the FSA's unauthorized business department, pointing out that these kinds of industrial metals are traded between specialist firms.

The FSA has achieved modest success in returning money to investors defrauded via unregulated phone scams, yet has called for the government to introduce new legislation to prohibit such activities and protect the unwary.

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The government aims to identify by the first quarter potential mining tenements for the Philippines’s venture into rare earth elements (REE) production, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said on Wednesday.

“In fact, we have already found potential areas to explore and these areas are also close to copper-gold mines. Notably, Palawan and Nueva Vizcaya are the best places to start,” said MGB Director Leo Jasareno.

REE are the raw materials for producing electronics and other modern-day gadgets.

The MGB earlier said P20 million has been set aside for the REE venture.

The Philippines’s bid to develop REE production comes after China capped exports of the commodity more than a year ago.

Manila sought help from state-run China Geological Survey for the exploration program, but no such assistance was forthcoming after tensions between the two countries heightened because of competing claims over portions of the West Philippine Sea, believed a treasure trove of oil and gas reserves.

“So far, we have received no word from them,” Jasareno said.

China, which controls about 97 percent of the world’s rare elements, has reduced its export quota to gain control over global prices of the commodity.

Prices of the metals however have gone down over the past several months, with China’s biggest producers cutting production to halt the slide.

Also called the “metals of the future,” REE are used in the production of weapons guidance systems and other space age technologies.

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A GOVERNMENT agency will be conducting geological survey in mountainous areas within the first quarter of 2013 to identify areas containing deposits of rare earth elements.
  
“We are in the initial phase of identifying areas containing rare earth deposits,” Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo L. Jasareno said in a telephone interview yesterday. “We are not yet concerned with identifying mining tenements, we are just identifying areas with rare earth deposits,” Mr. Jasareno added.

The government has initially allotted P20 million for the project.

The Philippines wants to determine if it has enough rare earth deposits to support commercial production.

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The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said the government has budgeted P20 million to look for rare earth elements starting this quarter.

 “We have already found potential areas to explore and these areas are also close to copper-gold mines, Palawan and Nueva Vizcaya are the best places to start looking for the elements ” MGB director Leo Jasareno said.

Rare earth metals are a group of elements that are used in a wide range of products, including hard disk drives and hybrid cars. Their properties, notably as light-weight magnets, make them key to the ongoing miniaturization of electronics gadgets and the growth of green technologies.

China recognized the importance of these elements decades ago and now supplies almost all the rare earth materials in the world.

The government is now looking for these metals following China’s decision to cap exports to the global market.

Earlier, Jasareno said that before the standoff on Scarborough Shoal, experts from the China Geological Survey (CGS) were expected to arrive in the country to explore for rare earth elements.

China produces nearly 95 percent of the world’s rare earth materials, a group usually classified as 17 elements and sometimes are called “21st Century gold” for their importance in such high-tech applications as laser-guided weapons and hybrid-car batteries.

Further limits on Chinese exports of rare-earth elements also threaten to raise costs for companies in an array of industries, including cellphone production, oil refining and high-technology batteries.

In December 2011, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced an initial cut of 27 percent in its rare earth elements exports quota for 2012 as part of the crackdown on illegal mining of the rare earth oxides.

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KUALA LUMPUR: A convoy of cars carrying protesters drove across Malaysia on Monday in the latest demonstration against an Australian rare earths plant that activists claim will produce dangerous radioactive waste.

It came as demonstrators launched a hunger strike in the capital Kuala Lumpur in protest at the plant run by Lynas Corp, which began processing rare earths last month after a delay of more than a year due to strong opposition.

The Australian miner hopes the $800-million plant can help break the Chinese stranglehold on the market for rare earths, used in everything from missiles to mobile phones, but the project has been dogged by controversy from the start.

Some 100 activists in 20 cars wearing green T-shirts began their protest from the headquarters of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, located just outside the capital Kuala Lumpur.

At least 150 cars are expected to join the convoy during the six-hour journey to the Lynas plant in eastern Pahang state, organisers said.

"It is our struggle to bring down this corrupt regime and evict Lynas from Malaysia," said activist Wong Tack, chairman of the "Himpunan Hijau" movement which is spearheading the anti-Lynas campaign.

He was referring to the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition which has backed the Lynas facility in the industrial area of Gebeng. Anti-Lynas campaigners have vowed to support the opposition in elections due by the end of June.

The protest will culminate with a rally and a candlelit vigil outside the Lynas plant, said Wong.

In central Kuala Lumpur, more than 30 people including children began a 100-hour hunger strike to oppose the Lynas refinery.

"We must protect our environment," said one participant, Tan Wen Shi, a 15-year-old student.

Residents and activists say the plant will release radioactive gases and solid waste such as radium and lead, as well as small amounts of uranium.

But Lynas has insisted that any radioactive waste would be low-level and not harmful and that it would be safely disposed of.

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SIERRA BLANCA, TX-- Jan 2, 2013 - Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp.  ("Texas Rare Earth"), a heavy rare earths exploration company, today announced that the Company and insiders have collectively purchased over 1.5 million shares of common stock or over 4% of the shares of common stock outstanding based on 36.6 million shares of common stock outstanding as of December 27, 2012.

Overview of Common Share Purchases:

    Texas Rare Earth repurchased 576,923 shares of common stock from a private investor at a price of $0.23 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $132,692 on December 27, 2012; the Company plans to cancel the acquired shares from treasury thereby reducing the shares of common stock outstanding to approximately 35.9 million;
    Three directors purchased 423,077 shares of common stock at $0.23 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $97,308 in a private transaction with a private investor on December 28, 2012;
    Between October 5th and December 3rd, 2012, directors purchased 559,025 shares of common stock in the open market and in block transactions at an average price of $0.384 per share for a total purchase price of $214,600; and
    The Company had approximately $5.54 million in cash on hand on January 1, 2013 which management believes is sufficient to advance our business plan through 2014.

Dan Gorski, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The board and entire management team believes that at our current valuation our company is undervalued and made a decision to enhance shareholder value by investing in ourselves and repurchasing our common stock. On multiple occasions over the past 3 months insiders have taken the opportunity to buy stock as it presented itself. As we begin 2013, we are optimistic about the strategy we have set forth based on our business plan and believe we have sufficient capital to execute on this plan through 2014."

The repurchase of shares of common stock on December 27, 2012, was made pursuant to a privately negotiated stock repurchase agreement. The purchase of shares of common stock by directors on December 28, 2012, was made pursuant to a privately negotiated transaction with the same private investor. The per share repurchase price and the purchase price for the shares was determined through arms-length negotiations with the private investor.

The stock repurchase agreement and the related transactions were approved by our board of directors. The repurchase price was paid through cash on hand from our available surplus. Other than the private repurchase as described above, our board of directors has not authorized any stock repurchase program or plan, and we have no current plans to effect any open-market purchases of our common stock or other repurchases of our common stock.

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Cavan Ventures Inc. announced that it has completed a first phase ground program at its Pythonga rare earth property in Quebec.

The program, completed in Q4 2012, consisted of channel sampling, limited line cutting, limited radiometric survey, surface delimiting for future stripping and prospecting under the guidance of C.D.G.C. inc. from St-Lazare, Qc.. A total of 42 samples has been sent to ALS Minerals lab located in North Vancouver, BC. and the Company is eagerly awaiting results.

Cavan’s President, Peter Swistak, said:

    "We are extremely encouraged from what we have seen so far and based on previous results and look forward to an exciting 2013."

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Rare earth stocks struggled in 2012 as prices for the metals plunged due to weak economic growth and new supplies from non-Chinese producers. The Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX), which tracks the performance of companies engaged in activities related to the producing, refining and recycling of rare earth and strategic metals and minerals, has fallen 11.8 percent in 2012.

Rare earth prices have plummeted 77 percent from their high in 2011. Due to a slowdown in foreign demand China, the world's largest exporter of rare-earths, has decided to lower their 2013 export quotas. It's reported that China's Ministry of Commerce set the first round of 2013 rare earth exports at 15,501 tons, which is 27 percent below 2012.

"If overseas demand picks up next year, the government may increase its second-batch quota," said Wei Chishan, a Shanghai-based analyst with SMM Information & Technology Co.

South Korea has diversified its sources of rare earth minerals in order to diminish reliance upon monopoly supplier China, which currently accounts for over 90% of global production.

Global Times reported last month that South Korea's customs data indicates that rare imports from China had plunged to 54.4% of the total for the period from January to November 2012, as compared to almost eighty percent during the same period in 2011.

Despite South Korea's fraught relationship with former colonial power Japan, the company raised imports from the archipelago nation to 27.9% of the total, as compared to 7.8% in 2011.

China's dominance of global rare earth supplies has become an increasingly sensitive issue for leading industrialized economies, as they serve as key ingredients in a slew of hi-tech, strategically vital industries, including renewable energies, consumer electronics and defense.

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Eager to escape the price drops that hit most commodities in 2012, investors are looking to fill their 2013 portfolios with safe bets. While the majority will likely turn to gold or other precious metals, rare earths could be in for a rally in 2013 especially if prices rebound and the market ends up supply-constrained.

Coming off record highs, prices for rare earth elements (REEs) plunged in 2012. Factors behind the price implosion include: weak economic growth in the major rare earth consuming nations, including Japan and the US; slow growth in China, which along with being the world’s largest producer of rare earths, is also the largest consumer; additional supply from non-Chinese producers like US-based Molycorp, which earlier this year re-opened its REE processing facility in California; an increase in Chinese annual REE export quotas; and Chinese domestic overproduction.

Despite the price pullback, potential investors should realize that prices are still well above the levels recorded prior to the price surge of 2011.

While a substantial increase in global REE production has been forecast – considering ramped-up production from Molycorp  and Lynas’ rare earth processing facility in Malaysia - there has also been a high level of uncertainty surrounding the sector’s supply future, as China came under increased scrutiny regarding its export policies this past summer. If the global economy is to see any upside over the next 12 months, supply uncertainty, ergo higher prices, could very well work in the favor of producers as countries scramble to lock in REE supplies.

If that happens, a number of well-placed juniors currently trading at substantial discounts to their actual worth are ready to fill any supply gap. Here is a look at three juniors that are poised to take advantage of a short-term market upswing: