CHINA S medium and heavy rare earth reserves could last 15 to 20 years at the current rate of production, possibly requiring imports, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Saturday.
Domestic rare earth deposits dropped to 27 million tons by the end of 2009, or just 30 percent of the world s total known reserves, from 43 million tons, or 43 percent of the world total, in 1996, Chao Ning, section chief of foreign trade at the ministry said at a Beijing conference.
We cannot rule out the possibility that China may need to rely on imports sometime in the future for these minerals, instead of supplying the world, Chao said.
China reduced its quota for rare-earth exports to 7,976 tons for the second half, compared with 22,283 tons for the first half and 28,417 tons for second half of last year, according to data from the ministry.
China cannot afford to continue to carry the burden of supplying the world, from a strategic, environment and economic point of view, Chao said.
China is not the only country that has these deposits, but it has been carrying the lion s share of the supply for more than a decade, at the cost of quickly depleting its own resources and hurting its environment, Chao said.(SD-Agencies)
