2009-12-26 23:56:51frank
[中国] 環保產品所需的原素，開採卻嚴重破壞環境－－重稀土金屬
前(2007)年年底Bill要離開深圳前我們一起聊天，那年全球原物料價格狂飆，原因之一是中國經濟發展，需要許多資源。他告訴我：「鄧小平曾說過：『中東有石油，中國有稀土』」，孤陋寡聞的我不知什麼是稀土，還以為是海峽兩岸名稱不同，所以我才沒聽過。
以下是摘自維基百科的資料：
稀土金屬是是元素周期表中鈧、釔和鑭系元素等化學元素的共同的俗稱。
性質：多數呈銀灰色，晶體結構多為HCP或FCC。
主要有氟碳鈰、獨居石、鈰鈮鈣鈦礦等。
根據稀土元素原子電子層結構和物理化學性質，以及它們在礦物中共生情況和不同的離子半徑可產生不同性質的特徵，十七種稀土元素通常分為二組：
輕稀土包括：鑭、鈰、鐠、釹、鉕、釤、銪、釓。
重稀土包括：鋱、鏑、鈥、鉺、銩、鐿、鑥、鈧、釔。
美國記者真是如此悲天憫人的關心中國開礦破壞生態嗎？
Earth-Friendly Elements, Mined Destructively
Zeng Guohui, 41, visiting an abandoned mine where he used to shovel ore from which rare-earth elements were extracted.
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: December 25, 2009
GUYUN VILLAGE, China — Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare earths. The world’s dependence on these substances is rising fast.
Just one problem: These elements come almost entirely from China, from some of the most environmentally damaging mines in the country, in an industry dominated by criminal gangs.
Western capitals have suddenly grown worried over China’s near monopoly, which gives it a potential stranglehold on technologies of the future.
In Washington, Congress is fretting about the United States military’s dependence on Chinese rare earths, and has just ordered a study of potential alternatives.
Here in Guyun Village, a small community in southeastern China fringed by lush bamboo groves and banana trees, the environmental damage can be seen in the red-brown scars of barren clay that run down narrow valleys and the dead lands below, where emerald rice fields once grew.
Miners scrape off the topsoil and shovel golden-flecked clay into dirt pits, using acids to extract the rare earths. The acids ultimately wash into streams and rivers, destroying rice paddies and fish farms and tainting water supplies.
On a recent rainy afternoon, Zeng Guohui, a 41-year-old laborer, walked to an abandoned mine where he used to shovel ore, and pointed out still-barren expanses of dirt and mud. The mine exhausted the local deposit of heavy rare earths in three years, but a decade after the mine closed, no one has tried to revive the downstream rice fields.
Small mines producing heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium still operate on nearby hills. “There are constant protests because it damages the farmland — people are always demanding compensation,” Mr. Zeng said.
This abandoned mine in Guyun Village in China exhausted the local deposit of heavy rare-earth elements in three years.
“In many places, the mining is abused,” said Wang Caifeng, the top rare-earths industry regulator at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China.
“This has caused great harm to the ecology and environment.”
There are 17 rare-earth elements — some of which, despite the name, are not particularly rare — but two heavy rare earths, dysprosium and terbium, are in especially short supply, mainly because they have emerged as the miracle ingredients of green energy products. Tiny quantities of dysprosium can make magnets in electric motors lighter by 90 percent, while terbium can help cut the electricity usage of lights by 80 percent. Dysprosium prices have climbed nearly sevenfold since 2003, to $53 a pound. Terbium prices quadrupled from 2003 to 2008, peaking at $407 a pound, before slumping in the global economic crisis to $205 a pound.
China mines more than 99 percent of the world’s dysprosium and terbium. Most of China’s production comes from about 200 mines here in northern Guangdong and in neighboring Jiangxi Province.
China is also the world’s dominant producer of lighter rare earth elements, valuable to a wide range of industries. But these are in less short supply, and the mining is more regulated.
Half the heavy rare earth mines have licenses and the other half are illegal, industry executives said. But even the legal mines, like the one where Mr. Zeng worked, often pose environmental hazards.
A close-knit group of mainland Chinese gangs with a capacity for murder dominates much of the mining and has ties to local officials, said Stephen G. Vickers, the former head of criminal intelligence for the Hong Kong police who is now the chief executive of International Risk, a global security company.
Mr. Zeng defended the industry, saying that he had cousins who owned rare-earth mines and were legitimate businessmen who paid compensation to farmers.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a draft plan last April to halt all exports of heavy rare earths, partly on environmental grounds and partly to force other countries to buy manufactured products from China. When the plan was reported on Sept. 1, Western governments and companies strongly objected and Ms. Wang announced on Sept. 3 that China would not halt exports and would revise its overall plan. But the ministry subsequently cut the annual export quota for all rare earths by 12 percent, the fourth steep cut in as many years.
Congress responded to the Chinese moves by ordering the Defense Department to conduct a comprehensive review, by April 1, of the American military’s dependence on imported rare earths for devices like night-vision gear and rangefinders.
Western users of heavy rare earths say that they have no way of figuring out what proportion of the minerals they buy from China comes from responsibly operated mines. Licensed and illegal mines alike sell to itinerant traders. They buy the valuable material with sacks of cash, then sell it to processing centers in and around Guangzhou that separate the rare earths from each other.
Companies that buy these rare earths, including a few in Japan and the West, turn them into refined metal powders.
“I don’t know if part of that feed, internal in China, came from an illegal mine and went in a legal separator,” said David Kennedy, the president of Great Western Technologies in Troy, Mich., which imports Chinese rare earths and turns them into powders that are sold worldwide.
Smuggling is another issue. Mr. Kennedy said that he bought only rare earths covered by Chinese export licenses. But up to half of China’s exports of heavy rare earths leave the country illegally, other industry executives said.
Zhang Peichen, deputy director of the government-backed Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute, said that smugglers mix rare earths with steel and then export the steel composites, making the smuggling hard to detect. The process is eventually reversed, frequently in Japan, and the rare earths are recovered. Chinese customs officials have stepped up their scrutiny of steel exports to try to stop this trick, one trader said.
According to the Baotou institute, heavy rare-earth deposits in the hills here will be exhausted in 15 years. Companies want to expand production outside China, but most rare-earth deposits, unlike those in southern China, are accompanied by radioactive uranium and thorium that complicate mining.
Multinational corporations are starting to review their dependence on heavy rare earths. Toyota said that it bought auto parts that include rare earths, but did not participate in the purchases of materials by its suppliers. Osram, a large lighting manufacturer that is part of Siemens of Germany, said it used the lowest feasible amount of rare earths.
The biggest user of heavy rare earths in the years ahead could be large wind turbines, which need much lighter magnets for the five-ton generators at the top of ever-taller towers. Vestas, a Danish company that has become the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturer, said that prototypes for its next generation used dysprosium, and that the company was studying the sustainability of the supply. Goldwind, the biggest Chinese turbine maker, has switched from conventional magnets to rare-earth magnets.
Executives in the $1.3 billion rare-earths mining industry say that less environmentally damaging mining is needed, given the importance of their product for green energy technologies. Developers hope to open mines in Canada, South Africa and Australia, but all are years from large-scale production and will produce sizable quantities of light rare earths. Their output of heavy rare earths will most likely be snapped up to meet rising demand from the wind turbine industry.
“This industry wants to save the world,” said Nicholas Curtis, the executive chairman of the Lynas Corporation of Australia, in a speech to an industry gathering in Hong Kong in late November. “We can’t do it and leave a product that is glowing in the dark somewhere else, killing people.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/business/global/26rare.html?ref=business
稀土戰 採兩手策略
【經濟日報╱記者／林天良】 2009.10.26 04:45 am
中國大陸最大家電集團海爾集團負責人張瑞敏昨（25）日來台，將向友達等公司採購面板。不過，面板所用的釔、釹、銦等稀有金屬幾乎全來自大陸，北京當局若禁止這些稀土金屬出口，全球面板工業將被迫停工。
已故中國領導人鄧小平1992年南巡時曾說：「中東有石油，中國有稀土。」擁有全球一半以上稀土礦藏的內蒙包頭市，去年人均GDP 1.02萬美元，只有產油大國卡達的七分之一。
全球半數礦藏 盡在內蒙
全球沒有一項戰略物資像稀土一樣那麼集中在一個國家手中，去年全球稀土總產量約14萬噸，中國就占了97%。中國是全球最大稀土礦藏地及產地，也是唯一能供應17款稀有金屬的國家。
大陸工信部9月放出可能進一步緊縮稀土出口，甚至禁止某些稀土金屬出口，已把工業大國嚇出一身冷汗，一場稀土大戰即將爆發。
稀土不是土，是儲量較少的一類金屬的統稱，大致分成輕稀土（鑭、鈰、鐠、釹、釤、銪、釓）與重稀土（鋱、鏑、鈥、鉺、銩、鐿、鎦、鈧、釔）二大類，合計17種稀有金屬。
這些金屬若添加到鋼鐵、陶瓷、玻璃裡，將使這些材質發生很大的變化，從電池、觸媒轉化器、面板、硬碟等民生產品，到雷達、聲納、導彈等最尖端的國防武器，都會用到稀土。
非法出口嚴重 行情大跌
電動車、新照明設施、醫療器材等未來明星產業，幾乎都要靠稀土來改善產品未來性能，一輛豐田雙燃料車Prius就用了超過10公斤的鑭、釹等稀土金屬。稀土運用愈來愈廣泛，但稀土近年行情低迷不振，大陸最大稀土供應商包鋼稀土公司23日股價只剩前年同期的六成。
很多西方人不解，北京當局近年不斷限縮稀土金屬的出口，卻對若干大陸地方政府、企業大批濫採，並非法出口，造成稀土行情低迷，不採取更有效的對策。
很多稀土金屬開採過程中具劇毒，一些地方政府在環保監控上較鬆，使這些稀有金屬目前行情未充分反映出該有的環境成本，打得外國稀土業者毫無招架之力。
中國有色集團今年本想收購外國稀土大廠澳洲Lynas，引起日、美、歐盟等國關切，在澳洲政府強力介入後，限制陸資持股比率及董事席次，北京當局才知難而退。但北京當局想掌控全球稀土資源的雄心，更讓工業大國有所警惕。
操作策略積極 確保料源
身為軍事、經濟大國的中國操控稀土的策略，絕對比石油輸出國組織（OPEC）操作石油來得更積極，從北京當局不斷頒布的稀土政策顯示，確保充裕的稀土原料，發展先進環保科技產業，如面板、電動車等新產業。
北京當局「兩手策略」：一手用低價打擊外國稀土業；另一手透過限制出口，掐住外國科技業的咽喉。為取得廉價稀土資源，外國高科技業將被迫考慮赴中國設廠，進而使中國獲得更先進的技術，友達、奇美電等台灣面板廠赴大陸設廠，恐是遲早的事。
【2009/10/26 經濟日報】@ http://udn.com/
http://www.udn.com/2009/10/26/NEWS/MAINLAND/MAI4/5214197.shtml
2009-11-16
資源戰爭！市佔率95％ 中國挾稀土要脅
〔編譯鄭寺音／法新社北京十五日電〕汲汲於搜刮能源的中國，遍尋全球原油與天然氣之際，也壟斷了用來製造iPod、風力發電廠與油電混合汽車的稀土金屬市場。媒體盛傳，中國國務院考慮進一步加緊限制、甚至禁止稀土元素出口，外國公司與政府因此開始擔心，新規定落實後將使其無法取得可製造油電混合車甚至飛彈的金屬，廠商也不得不遷廠到中國。
效法ＯＰＥＣ嚴控出口
所謂的稀土金屬，指的是十七種罕見的化學元素，全球至少九成五產於中國。號稱中國「改革開放總設計師」的鄧小平曾說過：「中東有石油，中國有稀土」，北京很早就看出這類金屬的價值，現在中國也效法「石油輸出國家組織」（ＯＰＥＣ）處理石油的態度，嚴加控管這類重要的天然能源供應。
稀土是高科技產品原料
美國的稀土金屬分析家立普頓表示：「中國的目的是要在本土創造工作機會，讓商品都在中國製造，我們需要在這裡（美國）製造這些金屬…如果不做，中國會在二○一五年前，成為全球唯一使用稀土製造器材的國家。」
全球一半的稀土來自內蒙古礦區，其餘源於中國南方數個較小礦區以及俄羅斯、印度與巴西等地，中國藉著限制出口，不讓稀土流出國外，而在中國尋求哄抬價格，確保稀土供應自身所需，並藉著吸引外國公司進入中國、在中國境內創造數百萬個工作機會，中國當局今年對稀土出口的限制愈趨嚴格。
美國經濟預測機構「全球透視」分析師任賢芳說：「中國政府希望，這些限制促使加工稀土金屬的技術移轉到中國，不過此以能源換取技術的策略是否對中國有利，還有待觀察。」澳洲稀土金屬獨立顧問金斯諾斯指出，稀土供應會在二○一二到一四年前趨於緊縮，「現在是危機時刻，未來幾年，我們會處於出口與製造配額減少的情況，除非能在中國以外地區取得料源，不然會有更多公司必須遷廠中國。」
俄、印、巴西及澳洲與美國等地稀土，可在二○一四年前製造約五萬噸產量，但五年內稀土需求預料會加倍到約十八萬公噸，由於中國不把稀土賣給外國買家，分析家擔心，中國以外地區製造的稀土，將無法因應全球需求。
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/nov/16/today-int2.htm
擔心北京控制稀土金屬市場 澳尋對策
【大紀元9月3日訊】（大紀元記者沙亞當斯澳洲悉尼報導）世界上最富的稀土礦床之一澳大利亞的萊納斯公司（Lynas Corporation）由於擔心中共控制稀土金屬產業，最近正欲將稀土金屬提煉廠轉到它國以求擺脫控制。澳大利亞科研協會地球科學小組成員之一亨德森（R.A. Henderson）日前接受大紀元時報（英文版）記者沙亞當斯（Shar Adams）採訪時表示，中國或許可以暫時操縱稀土金屬市場，但要壟斷將非常困難。
據悉，澳大利亞的萊納斯公司（Lynas Corporation）擁有西澳的維爾德山，被認為是世界上最富的稀土礦床之一，最早是在中國處理其稀土金屬。然而，隨著中國加大對這部份資源的重點控制，萊納斯開始變得緊張起來，說：「中國增強政府對稀土金屬產業的控制，增加了我們工廠的項目風險。」萊納斯於是開始與馬來西亞工業發展協會（MIDA）談判，準備在馬來西亞彭亨州的關丹（Kuantan）新建一家稀土金屬提煉工廠。
馬來西亞工業發展協會提供富有吸引力的條件，包括12 年免稅期的好處，但中國有色金屬礦業成為大股東，交易於是付之東流。最近中國有色金屬礦業欲向萊納斯注資2億5200萬澳元，並提供低息銀行貸款，如果成交，中國將擁有萊納斯51.6%的股份，佔據8個董事會席位中的4個。澳洲政府外資審查委員會原定於9月2日決定是否批准此項交易，現推遲到10月初。
中國正試圖更進一步巨額購買澳洲稀土金屬公司的股份。澳洲第二大稀土礦業公司阿拉弗資源（Arafura Resources）被中資糾纏，中國東方勘探佔有25%的股份。
亨德森教授說，稀土金屬非常重要，市場需求將減弱中國對這類資源的控制。他告訴大紀元說：「要封鎖這些金屬是很困難的，如果價格走高其他生產商就會進來。」
稀土金屬對21世紀的產業，包括電腦、激光、衛星通信、移動電話以及環境技術整個領域至關重要。中國內蒙古地區礦山的稀土金屬儲量相當可觀。
隨著技術領域對稀土金屬需求的增加，中共已經表示，將減少某些稀土金屬的出口。中國工業和信息技術部8月份出臺了一份題為「稀土產業發展計劃」的報告草案，並提交給中國國務院審批，準備在2010年實施。
報告概述了進一步收緊目前3.5萬噸稀土金屬的出口量，並完全禁止一系列特殊金屬的出口，其中包括鏑（Dy）、鋱（Tb）和釔（Yt）。亨德森教授說，中國也許能夠操縱市場一段時間，但需求增加將刺激更多廠商加入，也就會使得中國難以維持其控制。
澳大利亞稀土金屬出口到其他國家，特別是美國、俄羅斯、南非。稀土金屬的提煉過程會造成環境污染並具輕微放射性，成本昂貴。但在過去20年，中國無視提煉過程中污染及放射性問題，得以壓低成本擴大生產，迫使其他競爭者退出市場，從而贏得95%的市場獨佔局面。
儘管中國欲綁住部份競爭對手的手腳，但另一些卻沒有示弱。日本為維持在環保技術，特別是混合動力汽車方面的巨大投資，而嚴重依賴稀土金屬。中國限制包括至關重要的鏑元素在內的稀土金屬出口計劃草案已造成日本產業及政府的大震動。
日本已經開始尋找替代來源。據瞭解，豐田公司已轉向加拿大和越南尋求稀土資源，日本住友商事（Sumitomo）也已加速與哈薩克最大核能電力公司的合資計劃，以確保中國以外的稀土金屬供應來源。 (http://www.dajiyuan.com)
美東時間: 2009-09-03 07:27:58 AM 【萬年曆】
本文網址﹕http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/9/9/3/n2645637.htm
2009.9.1
環保車量產 稀土元素面臨短缺
〔編譯管淑平／綜合報導〕全球暖化衝擊下，油電混合車被視為車市節能環保的新王道。然而，這類車省了燃料，部分元件卻需要使用稀土元素金屬，可能使得稀土元素供不應求而面臨短缺。
除非新開發出大型供應源，否則預估數年內，化學元素週期表上的15種稀土元素全球年需求量將超過供應量4萬噸。這樣的情況也可能讓豐田Prius、本田Insight和福特Focus等油電混合車供應穩定度，受到供應源限制出口影響。
短缺衝擊最大的稀土元素是釹，釹是製造油電混合車的電動馬達，以及風力渦輪發電機所使用的強力輕量磁鐵的重要合金成分，另外還需要較少量的鋱、鏑等同一家族稀土元素，以維持釹在高溫下的磁性；同系另一稀土元素鑭，則是製造油電混和車電池的重要成分。
油電混合車和風力發電機產量，預料都將隨著綠色運輸、綠色能源成為全球主流趨勢而大幅攀升。豐田在美國的油電混合車市佔率達70%，以Prius賣得最好，光是2009年就預定在美賣出10萬輛、明年增加到18萬輛。該公司預估，2010年起Prius年銷量為100萬輛。
獨立期貨商品顧問、戰略性金屬專家李夫頓表示，Prius是「世界上稀土元素最大使用者。」他說，每一輛Prius的電動馬達製造過程需要用1公斤的釹、每顆電池需用10到15公斤的鑭，這個數字未來還可能因豐田打算提升這款車的節能效率而加倍。
中國是全球最大稀土元素來源，但多半用於自己國內工業，豐田等車廠因而得另尋可靠來源。美國加州一處稀土元素礦場將在2012年重新開採；此外，豐田也對加拿大西北地區索爾湖開發中的稀土元素礦床很感興趣。
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/sep/1/today-int1.htm
以下是摘自維基百科的資料：
稀土金屬是是元素周期表中鈧、釔和鑭系元素等化學元素的共同的俗稱。
性質：多數呈銀灰色，晶體結構多為HCP或FCC。
主要有氟碳鈰、獨居石、鈰鈮鈣鈦礦等。
根據稀土元素原子電子層結構和物理化學性質，以及它們在礦物中共生情況和不同的離子半徑可產生不同性質的特徵，十七種稀土元素通常分為二組：
輕稀土包括：鑭、鈰、鐠、釹、鉕、釤、銪、釓。
重稀土包括：鋱、鏑、鈥、鉺、銩、鐿、鑥、鈧、釔。
美國記者真是如此悲天憫人的關心中國開礦破壞生態嗎？
Zeng Guohui, 41, visiting an abandoned mine where he used to shovel ore from which rare-earth elements were extracted.
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: December 25, 2009
GUYUN VILLAGE, China — Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare earths. The world’s dependence on these substances is rising fast.
rare earth metals 稀土金屬：全世界已知有約9261萬噸稀土礦，其中有一半以上儲藏在中國。內蒙古包頭市的白雲鄂博混合礦儲量巨大，是目前世界第一大稀土礦。中國是唯一能夠提供全部17種稀土金屬的國家，居世界第一。
Just one problem: These elements come almost entirely from China, from some of the most environmentally damaging mines in the country, in an industry dominated by criminal gangs.
Western capitals have suddenly grown worried over China’s near monopoly, which gives it a potential stranglehold on technologies of the future.
In Washington, Congress is fretting about the United States military’s dependence on Chinese rare earths, and has just ordered a study of potential alternatives.
Here in Guyun Village, a small community in southeastern China fringed by lush bamboo groves and banana trees, the environmental damage can be seen in the red-brown scars of barren clay that run down narrow valleys and the dead lands below, where emerald rice fields once grew.
emerald n. 1. 祖母綠;綠寶石 2. 翠綠色[U]
a. 1. 翠綠色的 2. 綠寶石製
a. 1. 翠綠色的 2. 綠寶石製
Miners scrape off the topsoil and shovel golden-flecked clay into dirt pits, using acids to extract the rare earths. The acids ultimately wash into streams and rivers, destroying rice paddies and fish farms and tainting water supplies.
fleck n. 1. 斑點,雀斑 2. 微粒;小片 vt.飾以斑點
paddy n. 1. 米 2. 稻田 rice paddy 稻田,水田
paddy n. 1. 米 2. 稻田 rice paddy 稻田,水田
On a recent rainy afternoon, Zeng Guohui, a 41-year-old laborer, walked to an abandoned mine where he used to shovel ore, and pointed out still-barren expanses of dirt and mud. The mine exhausted the local deposit of heavy rare earths in three years, but a decade after the mine closed, no one has tried to revive the downstream rice fields.
ore n.礦;礦石;礦砂
expanse n. 廣袤;廣闊的區域
expanse n. 廣袤;廣闊的區域
Small mines producing heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium still operate on nearby hills. “There are constant protests because it damages the farmland — people are always demanding compensation,” Mr. Zeng said.
dysprosium 【化】鏑(稀土類元素)
terbium 【化】鋱(稀土族元素,符號Tb)
terbium 【化】鋱(稀土族元素,符號Tb)
This abandoned mine in Guyun Village in China exhausted the local deposit of heavy rare-earth elements in three years.
“In many places, the mining is abused,” said Wang Caifeng, the top rare-earths industry regulator at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China.
“This has caused great harm to the ecology and environment.”
There are 17 rare-earth elements — some of which, despite the name, are not particularly rare — but two heavy rare earths, dysprosium and terbium, are in especially short supply, mainly because they have emerged as the miracle ingredients of green energy products. Tiny quantities of dysprosium can make magnets in electric motors lighter by 90 percent, while terbium can help cut the electricity usage of lights by 80 percent. Dysprosium prices have climbed nearly sevenfold since 2003, to $53 a pound. Terbium prices quadrupled from 2003 to 2008, peaking at $407 a pound, before slumping in the global economic crisis to $205 a pound.
China mines more than 99 percent of the world’s dysprosium and terbium. Most of China’s production comes from about 200 mines here in northern Guangdong and in neighboring Jiangxi Province.
China is also the world’s dominant producer of lighter rare earth elements, valuable to a wide range of industries. But these are in less short supply, and the mining is more regulated.
Half the heavy rare earth mines have licenses and the other half are illegal, industry executives said. But even the legal mines, like the one where Mr. Zeng worked, often pose environmental hazards.
A close-knit group of mainland Chinese gangs with a capacity for murder dominates much of the mining and has ties to local officials, said Stephen G. Vickers, the former head of criminal intelligence for the Hong Kong police who is now the chief executive of International Risk, a global security company.
close-knit 1. 緊密結合著的 2. 嚴謹的
Mr. Zeng defended the industry, saying that he had cousins who owned rare-earth mines and were legitimate businessmen who paid compensation to farmers.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a draft plan last April to halt all exports of heavy rare earths, partly on environmental grounds and partly to force other countries to buy manufactured products from China. When the plan was reported on Sept. 1, Western governments and companies strongly objected and Ms. Wang announced on Sept. 3 that China would not halt exports and would revise its overall plan. But the ministry subsequently cut the annual export quota for all rare earths by 12 percent, the fourth steep cut in as many years.
Congress responded to the Chinese moves by ordering the Defense Department to conduct a comprehensive review, by April 1, of the American military’s dependence on imported rare earths for devices like night-vision gear and rangefinders.
Western users of heavy rare earths say that they have no way of figuring out what proportion of the minerals they buy from China comes from responsibly operated mines. Licensed and illegal mines alike sell to itinerant traders. They buy the valuable material with sacks of cash, then sell it to processing centers in and around Guangzhou that separate the rare earths from each other.
itinerant a. 1. 巡迴的;遊歷的 2. 流動的
n. 1. 巡迴者 2. 行商
n. 1. 巡迴者 2. 行商
Companies that buy these rare earths, including a few in Japan and the West, turn them into refined metal powders.
“I don’t know if part of that feed, internal in China, came from an illegal mine and went in a legal separator,” said David Kennedy, the president of Great Western Technologies in Troy, Mich., which imports Chinese rare earths and turns them into powders that are sold worldwide.
Smuggling is another issue. Mr. Kennedy said that he bought only rare earths covered by Chinese export licenses. But up to half of China’s exports of heavy rare earths leave the country illegally, other industry executives said.
Zhang Peichen, deputy director of the government-backed Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute, said that smugglers mix rare earths with steel and then export the steel composites, making the smuggling hard to detect. The process is eventually reversed, frequently in Japan, and the rare earths are recovered. Chinese customs officials have stepped up their scrutiny of steel exports to try to stop this trick, one trader said.
According to the Baotou institute, heavy rare-earth deposits in the hills here will be exhausted in 15 years. Companies want to expand production outside China, but most rare-earth deposits, unlike those in southern China, are accompanied by radioactive uranium and thorium that complicate mining.
thorium 【化】釷(放射性金屬元素,符號Th)
Multinational corporations are starting to review their dependence on heavy rare earths. Toyota said that it bought auto parts that include rare earths, but did not participate in the purchases of materials by its suppliers. Osram, a large lighting manufacturer that is part of Siemens of Germany, said it used the lowest feasible amount of rare earths.
The biggest user of heavy rare earths in the years ahead could be large wind turbines, which need much lighter magnets for the five-ton generators at the top of ever-taller towers. Vestas, a Danish company that has become the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturer, said that prototypes for its next generation used dysprosium, and that the company was studying the sustainability of the supply. Goldwind, the biggest Chinese turbine maker, has switched from conventional magnets to rare-earth magnets.
Executives in the $1.3 billion rare-earths mining industry say that less environmentally damaging mining is needed, given the importance of their product for green energy technologies. Developers hope to open mines in Canada, South Africa and Australia, but all are years from large-scale production and will produce sizable quantities of light rare earths. Their output of heavy rare earths will most likely be snapped up to meet rising demand from the wind turbine industry.
“This industry wants to save the world,” said Nicholas Curtis, the executive chairman of the Lynas Corporation of Australia, in a speech to an industry gathering in Hong Kong in late November. “We can’t do it and leave a product that is glowing in the dark somewhere else, killing people.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/business/global/26rare.html?ref=business
【經濟日報╱記者／林天良】 2009.10.26 04:45 am
中國大陸最大家電集團海爾集團負責人張瑞敏昨（25）日來台，將向友達等公司採購面板。不過，面板所用的釔、釹、銦等稀有金屬幾乎全來自大陸，北京當局若禁止這些稀土金屬出口，全球面板工業將被迫停工。
已故中國領導人鄧小平1992年南巡時曾說：「中東有石油，中國有稀土。」擁有全球一半以上稀土礦藏的內蒙包頭市，去年人均GDP 1.02萬美元，只有產油大國卡達的七分之一。
全球半數礦藏 盡在內蒙
全球沒有一項戰略物資像稀土一樣那麼集中在一個國家手中，去年全球稀土總產量約14萬噸，中國就占了97%。中國是全球最大稀土礦藏地及產地，也是唯一能供應17款稀有金屬的國家。
大陸工信部9月放出可能進一步緊縮稀土出口，甚至禁止某些稀土金屬出口，已把工業大國嚇出一身冷汗，一場稀土大戰即將爆發。
稀土不是土，是儲量較少的一類金屬的統稱，大致分成輕稀土（鑭、鈰、鐠、釹、釤、銪、釓）與重稀土（鋱、鏑、鈥、鉺、銩、鐿、鎦、鈧、釔）二大類，合計17種稀有金屬。
這些金屬若添加到鋼鐵、陶瓷、玻璃裡，將使這些材質發生很大的變化，從電池、觸媒轉化器、面板、硬碟等民生產品，到雷達、聲納、導彈等最尖端的國防武器，都會用到稀土。
非法出口嚴重 行情大跌
電動車、新照明設施、醫療器材等未來明星產業，幾乎都要靠稀土來改善產品未來性能，一輛豐田雙燃料車Prius就用了超過10公斤的鑭、釹等稀土金屬。稀土運用愈來愈廣泛，但稀土近年行情低迷不振，大陸最大稀土供應商包鋼稀土公司23日股價只剩前年同期的六成。
很多西方人不解，北京當局近年不斷限縮稀土金屬的出口，卻對若干大陸地方政府、企業大批濫採，並非法出口，造成稀土行情低迷，不採取更有效的對策。
很多稀土金屬開採過程中具劇毒，一些地方政府在環保監控上較鬆，使這些稀有金屬目前行情未充分反映出該有的環境成本，打得外國稀土業者毫無招架之力。
中國有色集團今年本想收購外國稀土大廠澳洲Lynas，引起日、美、歐盟等國關切，在澳洲政府強力介入後，限制陸資持股比率及董事席次，北京當局才知難而退。但北京當局想掌控全球稀土資源的雄心，更讓工業大國有所警惕。
操作策略積極 確保料源
身為軍事、經濟大國的中國操控稀土的策略，絕對比石油輸出國組織（OPEC）操作石油來得更積極，從北京當局不斷頒布的稀土政策顯示，確保充裕的稀土原料，發展先進環保科技產業，如面板、電動車等新產業。
北京當局「兩手策略」：一手用低價打擊外國稀土業；另一手透過限制出口，掐住外國科技業的咽喉。為取得廉價稀土資源，外國高科技業將被迫考慮赴中國設廠，進而使中國獲得更先進的技術，友達、奇美電等台灣面板廠赴大陸設廠，恐是遲早的事。
【2009/10/26 經濟日報】@ http://udn.com/
http://www.udn.com/2009/10/26/NEWS/MAINLAND/MAI4/5214197.shtml
資源戰爭！市佔率95％ 中國挾稀土要脅
〔編譯鄭寺音／法新社北京十五日電〕汲汲於搜刮能源的中國，遍尋全球原油與天然氣之際，也壟斷了用來製造iPod、風力發電廠與油電混合汽車的稀土金屬市場。媒體盛傳，中國國務院考慮進一步加緊限制、甚至禁止稀土元素出口，外國公司與政府因此開始擔心，新規定落實後將使其無法取得可製造油電混合車甚至飛彈的金屬，廠商也不得不遷廠到中國。
效法ＯＰＥＣ嚴控出口
所謂的稀土金屬，指的是十七種罕見的化學元素，全球至少九成五產於中國。號稱中國「改革開放總設計師」的鄧小平曾說過：「中東有石油，中國有稀土」，北京很早就看出這類金屬的價值，現在中國也效法「石油輸出國家組織」（ＯＰＥＣ）處理石油的態度，嚴加控管這類重要的天然能源供應。
稀土是高科技產品原料
美國的稀土金屬分析家立普頓表示：「中國的目的是要在本土創造工作機會，讓商品都在中國製造，我們需要在這裡（美國）製造這些金屬…如果不做，中國會在二○一五年前，成為全球唯一使用稀土製造器材的國家。」
全球一半的稀土來自內蒙古礦區，其餘源於中國南方數個較小礦區以及俄羅斯、印度與巴西等地，中國藉著限制出口，不讓稀土流出國外，而在中國尋求哄抬價格，確保稀土供應自身所需，並藉著吸引外國公司進入中國、在中國境內創造數百萬個工作機會，中國當局今年對稀土出口的限制愈趨嚴格。
美國經濟預測機構「全球透視」分析師任賢芳說：「中國政府希望，這些限制促使加工稀土金屬的技術移轉到中國，不過此以能源換取技術的策略是否對中國有利，還有待觀察。」澳洲稀土金屬獨立顧問金斯諾斯指出，稀土供應會在二○一二到一四年前趨於緊縮，「現在是危機時刻，未來幾年，我們會處於出口與製造配額減少的情況，除非能在中國以外地區取得料源，不然會有更多公司必須遷廠中國。」
俄、印、巴西及澳洲與美國等地稀土，可在二○一四年前製造約五萬噸產量，但五年內稀土需求預料會加倍到約十八萬公噸，由於中國不把稀土賣給外國買家，分析家擔心，中國以外地區製造的稀土，將無法因應全球需求。
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/nov/16/today-int2.htm
擔心北京控制稀土金屬市場 澳尋對策
【大紀元9月3日訊】（大紀元記者沙亞當斯澳洲悉尼報導）世界上最富的稀土礦床之一澳大利亞的萊納斯公司（Lynas Corporation）由於擔心中共控制稀土金屬產業，最近正欲將稀土金屬提煉廠轉到它國以求擺脫控制。澳大利亞科研協會地球科學小組成員之一亨德森（R.A. Henderson）日前接受大紀元時報（英文版）記者沙亞當斯（Shar Adams）採訪時表示，中國或許可以暫時操縱稀土金屬市場，但要壟斷將非常困難。
據悉，澳大利亞的萊納斯公司（Lynas Corporation）擁有西澳的維爾德山，被認為是世界上最富的稀土礦床之一，最早是在中國處理其稀土金屬。然而，隨著中國加大對這部份資源的重點控制，萊納斯開始變得緊張起來，說：「中國增強政府對稀土金屬產業的控制，增加了我們工廠的項目風險。」萊納斯於是開始與馬來西亞工業發展協會（MIDA）談判，準備在馬來西亞彭亨州的關丹（Kuantan）新建一家稀土金屬提煉工廠。
馬來西亞工業發展協會提供富有吸引力的條件，包括12 年免稅期的好處，但中國有色金屬礦業成為大股東，交易於是付之東流。最近中國有色金屬礦業欲向萊納斯注資2億5200萬澳元，並提供低息銀行貸款，如果成交，中國將擁有萊納斯51.6%的股份，佔據8個董事會席位中的4個。澳洲政府外資審查委員會原定於9月2日決定是否批准此項交易，現推遲到10月初。
中國正試圖更進一步巨額購買澳洲稀土金屬公司的股份。澳洲第二大稀土礦業公司阿拉弗資源（Arafura Resources）被中資糾纏，中國東方勘探佔有25%的股份。
亨德森教授說，稀土金屬非常重要，市場需求將減弱中國對這類資源的控制。他告訴大紀元說：「要封鎖這些金屬是很困難的，如果價格走高其他生產商就會進來。」
稀土金屬對21世紀的產業，包括電腦、激光、衛星通信、移動電話以及環境技術整個領域至關重要。中國內蒙古地區礦山的稀土金屬儲量相當可觀。
隨著技術領域對稀土金屬需求的增加，中共已經表示，將減少某些稀土金屬的出口。中國工業和信息技術部8月份出臺了一份題為「稀土產業發展計劃」的報告草案，並提交給中國國務院審批，準備在2010年實施。
報告概述了進一步收緊目前3.5萬噸稀土金屬的出口量，並完全禁止一系列特殊金屬的出口，其中包括鏑（Dy）、鋱（Tb）和釔（Yt）。亨德森教授說，中國也許能夠操縱市場一段時間，但需求增加將刺激更多廠商加入，也就會使得中國難以維持其控制。
澳大利亞稀土金屬出口到其他國家，特別是美國、俄羅斯、南非。稀土金屬的提煉過程會造成環境污染並具輕微放射性，成本昂貴。但在過去20年，中國無視提煉過程中污染及放射性問題，得以壓低成本擴大生產，迫使其他競爭者退出市場，從而贏得95%的市場獨佔局面。
儘管中國欲綁住部份競爭對手的手腳，但另一些卻沒有示弱。日本為維持在環保技術，特別是混合動力汽車方面的巨大投資，而嚴重依賴稀土金屬。中國限制包括至關重要的鏑元素在內的稀土金屬出口計劃草案已造成日本產業及政府的大震動。
日本已經開始尋找替代來源。據瞭解，豐田公司已轉向加拿大和越南尋求稀土資源，日本住友商事（Sumitomo）也已加速與哈薩克最大核能電力公司的合資計劃，以確保中國以外的稀土金屬供應來源。 (http://www.dajiyuan.com)
美東時間: 2009-09-03 07:27:58 AM 【萬年曆】
本文網址﹕http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/9/9/3/n2645637.htm
環保車量產 稀土元素面臨短缺
〔編譯管淑平／綜合報導〕全球暖化衝擊下，油電混合車被視為車市節能環保的新王道。然而，這類車省了燃料，部分元件卻需要使用稀土元素金屬，可能使得稀土元素供不應求而面臨短缺。
除非新開發出大型供應源，否則預估數年內，化學元素週期表上的15種稀土元素全球年需求量將超過供應量4萬噸。這樣的情況也可能讓豐田Prius、本田Insight和福特Focus等油電混合車供應穩定度，受到供應源限制出口影響。
短缺衝擊最大的稀土元素是釹，釹是製造油電混合車的電動馬達，以及風力渦輪發電機所使用的強力輕量磁鐵的重要合金成分，另外還需要較少量的鋱、鏑等同一家族稀土元素，以維持釹在高溫下的磁性；同系另一稀土元素鑭，則是製造油電混和車電池的重要成分。
油電混合車和風力發電機產量，預料都將隨著綠色運輸、綠色能源成為全球主流趨勢而大幅攀升。豐田在美國的油電混合車市佔率達70%，以Prius賣得最好，光是2009年就預定在美賣出10萬輛、明年增加到18萬輛。該公司預估，2010年起Prius年銷量為100萬輛。
獨立期貨商品顧問、戰略性金屬專家李夫頓表示，Prius是「世界上稀土元素最大使用者。」他說，每一輛Prius的電動馬達製造過程需要用1公斤的釹、每顆電池需用10到15公斤的鑭，這個數字未來還可能因豐田打算提升這款車的節能效率而加倍。
中國是全球最大稀土元素來源，但多半用於自己國內工業，豐田等車廠因而得另尋可靠來源。美國加州一處稀土元素礦場將在2012年重新開採；此外，豐田也對加拿大西北地區索爾湖開發中的稀土元素礦床很感興趣。
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/sep/1/today-int1.htm
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