Chile antitrust watchdog probing Tianqi buy of lithium miner stake

Crossland Uranium Mines (ASX:CUX) plans to issue a report next month on an illuvial heavy mineral rare earth element resource at its 50% owned Charley Creek project in Northern Territory. A 16.7 tonne quantity of alluvial material has been obtained from the Cockroach prospect for testwork to investigate a heavy mineral process flowsheet and to generate samples of heavy mineral product for initial marketing and additional process development tests. Crossland says that the Charley Creek alluvials should be low cost sources of heavy mineral concentrates with high concentrations of REE and/or zircon.

A government panel is working on a strategy to encourage discovery of rare earth elements in India, Economic Times has revealed: "The committee will look into the current availability of rare earth and energy critical elements and decide the strategy for production to ensure long-term raw material security. It will also encourage the recovery of ECEs which can be found as byproducts in the production of other minerals."

Sinocast reports China's market for rare earths has begun to see negative effects of its crazy growth this year with an increasing number of downstream players finding it difficult to make deals despite price cuts. Prices of certain elements such as cerium used to polish TV screens and lenses are down 10% over the summer after months of break-neck price hikes. Reuters reports China is in the midst of a crackdown on illegal miners and processors and the busy black market trade that have sprung up, but has struggled to impose a REE production cap, with actual annual output exceeding official quotas by 40% to 50% since 2007.

Isolated North Korea is desperate to earn some hard currency and look for rare earths in its borders with China.

Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Wealth") (TSX VENTURE:WML)(FRANKFURT:EJZ) announces the completion of the first phase of diamond drilling at its Rodeo de los Molles ("Rodeo") Rare Earth Element ("REE") Project in San Luis Province, Argentina. The Phase I drilling consisted of 26 drill holes (975.5 metres) targeting outcropping, high-grade REE mineralization confirmed by channel saw sampling results (see Wealth News April 11, 2011 and July 7, 2011).

Rare earths miner Molycorp on Thursday swung into profit in the second quarter as it ramped up production at Mountain Pass, California, once the world's largest supplier of the sought-after elements used in anything from iPods to stealth helicopters. Net income came to $48.8 million compared with a loss of $23.3 million a year ago. Revenue came in just shy of $100 million, compared with only $1.9 million a year ago. Commenting on the results the company said global demand for rare-earth elements remains "very high" and supply outside China, which controls more than 95% of world output, is tight.

IAMGOLD's net earnings attributable to equity shareholders were $478.9 million ($1.28 per share) in the quarter, including the gain of $402.6 million from the sale of the Tarkwa and Damang mines. "In January, we said our plan was to divest our minority interest in the Tarkwa and Damang mines for proceeds in excess of $600 million and by the end of June we had closed the sale for gross proceeds of $667 million. During that period, we also confirmed a near 700% increase in mineral resources at our niobium mine and increased our dividend by 150," said Steve Letwin, IAMGOLD's President and CEO.

NTVKenya reports that a rare earth company in Kenya is facing angry opposition from residents who want the company to stop exploration work. The project is located on the south coast, 85 kilometers from Mombasa. The exploration license was issued to Cortec Mining Kenya, a South African company that was incorporated in Kenya last year.

A small Quebec company says it has uncovered one of the world's most significant deposits of neodymium reports the Montreal Gazette. GeoMegA Resources believes its Montviel property about 500 kilometres northwest of Quebec City, has a huge potential for quick development thanks to the size of the deposit and closeness to infrastructure. Two other companies are active in the region with Commerce Resources announcing significant discoveries on Thursday following its winter drill program at its Eldor rare earth project (pictured) at what it says is ranked as one of the largest REE deposits outside of China. On Friday Vancouver-based Canada Rare Earths announced it acquired a 69.55 km2 rare earth property 350 kilometers south of Montviel adding to its assets adjacent to that of GeoMegA.