China announces quota for mining rare earth metals and tungsten ore this year

China announced the first quotas for the production of rare earth metals (REM) and tungsten ore for 2020.

The first batch of quotas for the extraction of rare-earth metals was set in the amount of 66 thousand tons, which is almost half the size of the quota for the entire 2019, a joint statement by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Industry and Informatization said.

Including 56.425 thousand tons accounted for light rare-earth metals, 9.575 thousand tons - medium and heavy rare-earth metals, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The first batch of quotas for tungsten ore production is 52.5 thousand tons. In 2019, a similar indicator was 49.835 thousand tons.

The second batch of quotas for the extraction of rare-earth metals and tungsten ore will be announced in the second quarter of this year, according to a document from the departments.

China is one of the world's leading suppliers of rare earth metals. REM - a group of 17 elements, including scandium, yttrium and lanthanides. In terms of total prevalence in the earth's crust, they are ten times higher than metals such as molybdenum and tungsten, but the capital costs of their extraction are relatively high. REMs are used in nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical and glass industries, and they are also widely used in the production of high-tech products: from flat-screen TVs to laser devices and hybrid cars.

However, over-mining of such minerals over several decades has seriously damaged the environment. In order to curb environmental degradation and protect natural resources, the Chinese government decided to reduce the production of rare-earth metals, tightened the standards for emissions of pollutants in the workplace and intensified the fight against illegal mining.

Source: http://www.finmarket.ru/