Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Wind turbine manufacturers are scrambling to find alternatives to a key element used in direct-drive permanent magnet generators (PMGs), thanks to skyrocketing prices and diminishing supplies of crucial rare earths.
China currently provides 94% of the world’s rare earths, including neodymium and dysprosium, which are used in the magnets for direct-drive wind turbine motors. However, the Chinese government has put new restrictions on rare-earth mining that have resulted in lower supply levels, according to a report from research firm Roskill Information Services (RIS).
Comments
Wdyafo
Look into Great Western Minerals, Molycorp and Lynas. Great Western already has permits in place, Molycorp has big bucks behind them but still needs permits and Lynas is just having construction issues but should have taken care of.
China has been warning us all year by suggesting the world find another source for Rare Earths because they are going to be using all they can mine. If we don’t move quicker that we are, China will leap past us in all green based energy and weapons.