China's monopoly on rare earths may soon be broken

It's a rare fight. The US, Europe and Japan have lodged a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization over China's export of rare earths ? or lack of it.

China produces 95 per cent of the global supply of the 17 metals, which are used in technologies from cellphones to wind turbines, but it has set up quotas restricting exports.

Despite their name, rare earths can be mined on most continents, although the cost of extraction has been too high to be economical. China's quotas may have helped push up demand ? and prices ? enough to make extraction cost-effective.

Several companies are now starting to extract rare earths outside China. In 2010, US company Molycorp reopened the Mountain Pass mine in California for the first time in eight years. Australia's Alkane Resources has a pilot plant in New South Wales, and hopes to start large-scale mining by the end of 2013.

Shifting mining outside of China could be a good thing, says David Manning of Newcastle University in the UK. Rare earths are often mixed up with radioactive uranium and thorium, which must be carefully disposed of, and toxic acids are used during processing. "It would be very good for mining to take place in countries where regulations are strict and can be enforced," he says.

China is now imposing stricter regulations. As of last year, only companies that comply are allowed to export rare earths. "They are heading in the right direction," says Paul Lusty of the British Geological Survey.

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eastman kodak eastman kodak richard cordray shannon de lima joe torre west virginia university michele bachmann