Total Amount Control Index for Rare Earth and Tungsten Mining in Inner Mongolia Issued

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice to release the 2020 total control index for rare earth and tungsten mining and issued the total control index of Inner Mongolia. The reporter learned from the Ministry of Natural Resources. China will continue to control the global supply of rare earths after the government increased mining of the key materials used in products from electric car batteries to smartphones.

A rare-earth is one of a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides, as well as scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare-earth elements because they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties but have different electronic and magnetic properties. Rarely, a broader definition that includes actinides may be used, since the actinides share some mineralogical, chemical, and physical characteristics.

The two ministries would increase the production of the 17 minerals to 140,000 tonnes this year from 120,000 tonnes last year. The total amount of rare earth and tungsten mines in 2020 will operate in accordance with the relevant regulations on the management of specific minerals for protective mining.

In 2020, the total amount of rock and mineral rare earth mines in the country is 120,850 tons, of which the amount of rock and mineral rare metal mines issued to Inner Mongolia is 73,550 tons, accounting for about 61% of the national mining volume. The total amount of national tungsten concentrate mining is 105,000 tons, the comprehensive utilization index is 26,850 tons, the tungsten concentrate mining volume issued to Inner Mongolia is 800 tons, and the comprehensive utilization index is 1,200 tons.

The notice requires that provincial-level natural resources departments, industry, and information technology departments should decompose the indicators to reach cities, counties or enterprises within a specified time. The total amount of rare-earth mining control indicators should be centrally assigned to the mining enterprises of the rare metal group.

After the indicators are decomposed in Inner Mongolia, the provincial natural resource authority shall organize the natural resource authority of the city and county level where the mine is located to sign a letter of responsibility with the mining enterprise to clarify the rights, obligations, and liabilities for breach of contract. Mining rights holders must earnestly implement the rare earth mine monthly report and tungsten mine quarterly report system.

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