China launched the crackdown on the rare earth sector in 2009, with authorities claiming that illegal activities drove down global prices and made it impossible to cover the huge environmental costs of production.
With metals ringing off the new year on a weak note, both price- and demand-wise, BMO Metals says the main questions for 2019 revolve around China and whether its government is doing enough to slow the country's economic contraction.
The founder of the US private security company aims to raise as much as $500 million to invest in deposits of metals such as cobalt, lithium and copper.
Under the contract, Albemarle had agreed to provide as much as 25 percent of its annual production at a discount to companies seeking to produce battery metals within Chile.
Study shows mining has sparked "unparalleled inorganic compound diversification" like rabbittite at Lucky Strike, Utah and a handful found on smelter walls