Summit Atom Rare Earth, a joint venture between Japanese firm, Sumitomo, and the Kazakhstan government-owned company, Kazatomprom, has announced that it will generate 1,500 tons of rare earths metals in 2012 to deliver the materials for worldwide electronics market.
Summit Atom Rare Earth’s announcement is a follow up of the announcement made by China that the country will considerably reduce its exports of rare earths metals in order to fulfill its domestic requirements. China is the traditional exporter of rare earth metals that account for 97% of the global supply.
According to Summit Atom Rare Earth, the company will produce uranium tailings from a non-operational facility in Aktau, a western city in Kazakhstan. The products manufactured from the facility will be exported to Japan and Europe. The second phase will involve a hunt for ore deposits and resources in Kazakhstan and nearby countries.
According to Reuters, the requirement for dysprosium, mainly utilized in magnets, has attained an annual growth of 15% over the past 10 years.
Robert Mackay, Chief Executive Officer of Stans Energy based in Canada, stated that the company is building the Kutessay II mine in Kyrgyzstan to manufacture rare earths metals such as yttrium, neodymium and terbium. However, the company will start small scale production only after 18 months and large scale production within 24 to 30 months, he added.