Friedland targets China rare earths dominance

MINING billionaire Robert Friedland has warned that western governments have been “sleepwalking” into a rare earths crisis as he prepares to develop one of Australia’s first major scandium projects.Sunrise Energy Metals, where Friedland serves as co-chair and largest shareholder, raised $30m last week to begin pre-construction activities at its Parkes mine, 350 kilometres west of Sydney, said the Financial Times in an article on November 25. Production is scheduled to commence in 2028, with downstream processing expected in the US, the newspaper said.Scandium, one of 17 rare earth elements, strengthens aluminium alloys for automotive and aerospace applications whilst serving as a critical component in smartphone chips for radio-frequency selection. The metal also improves electrical conductivity in hydrogen fuel cell technology.“The Chinese are playing their hand strongly,” Friedland told the Financial Times, noting Beijing’s export restrictions had triggered a scramble for alternative supplies. China’s grip on rare earths processing has enabled it to use the sector as leverage in trade negotiations.The project represents one of the first initiatives following October’s agreement between Washington and Canberra to invest $1bn each in rare earths production. Sunrise has secured an offtake deal with Lockheed Martin to supply up to 25% of its scandium output to the American defence contractor.Scandium has historically been extracted from mining tailings but the Parkes operation will use conventional open-pit extraction methods. The company’s shares have surged nearly 900% over six months to a market value of A$537m.Sunrise CEO Sam Riggall acknowledged the geopolitical push for non-Chinese metals would reduce supply chain disruption but cautioned it would prove “expensive and probably inflationary”.The post Friedland targets China rare earths dominance appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com