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S.Africa rare earths mine hopes for boost from US-China feud
STEENKAMPSKRAAL, South Africa, Aug 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – It’s old, doesn’t
look like much and is located well out the way in an arid part of western
South Africa.
But the Steenkampskraal Mine may be about to become piping hot mining
property thanks to some of the world’s highest-grade deposits of rare earth
metals.
“Steenkampskraal will become a very important source of rare earths for the
global industry,” Trevor Blench, chairman of Steenkampskraal Holdings
Limited, said during a recent tour.
The mine, located about 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Cape Town, used
to produce thorium, a component of nuclear fuel, in the 1950s and 60s.
But now it’s been found to also have monazite ore which contains extremely
high grade rare earth minerals including neodymium and praseodymium —
elements vital to cutting-edge industries.
Manufacturing uses range from tinted welding goggles to industrial magnets,
strong alloys for aircraft engines, military hardware, hybrid cars, consumer
electronic devices, medical equipment and even the flints in cigarette
lighters.
– Nothing like it –
China produces the largest share of so-called “tech minerals”, with a
domestic output of 120,000 tonnes in 2018.
That’s vastly more than the United States, which relies on China for about
80 percent of its rare-earth imports.
But now Beijing has threatened to cut off the supply as trade frictions
mount, prompting US President Donald Trump on July 22 to give the Pentagon an
executive order to find other sources of the crucial elements.
Rare earth elements are a group of 17 minerals unique for their magnetic,
catalytic and electrochemical properties.
For the first time since 1985, China last year became a net importer of
some rare earths for its industrial needs, while the government cracked down
on illegal exploration and production.
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Global sales of electric cars, which need the minerals, jumped by 68
percent in 2018 to 5.12 million, with China selling over a million vehicles,
according to the International Energy Agency.
“China may, as a result of its own requirements, just export less and less
to the rest of the world,” Blench said.
Steenkampskraal Mine could just be the answer to growing demand, he
suggested.
– ‘Abundance of rocks’ –
“About 14 percent of this rock is rare earths. That is an extraordinarily
high grade and we don’t know anything like it on the planet,” Blench said,
holding a small but heavy reddish brown rock.
Worldwide, many mines have around six percent or less rare earths in their
ore.
No mines for rare earth elements currently operate in South Africa, but the
government confirms the presence of yet-to-be tapped tech minerals.
“South Africa is certainly on par with any other country that would lay a
claim to being able to supply rare earths elements to meet this increasing
demand,” said mineralogist Deshenthree Chetty at Mintek, a government mineral
and metallurgy research department.
She added that it would be “a great deal for our country to be able to
supply, and we are in a position to do so, as long as those markets are
favourable.”
“We have an abundance of rocks in which rare earth elements are found,”
Mosa Mabuza, CEO of the Council for GeoScience, which surveys mineral
deposits, told AFP.
Steenkampskraal has secured all the licences required to start mining. It
plans an initial production of 2,700 tonnes a year once funding of $50
million (45 million euros) has been secured, with further plans to expand.
– Expect competition –
But the road to global success risks being rocky for the South Africans,
cautioned Diego Oliva-Velez, a commodities analyst with Fitch Solutions in
London.
The rare earth sector in South Africa is largely undeveloped, and could
easily fall behind the US, Australia, India, Russia and Vietnam which all
have “significantly larger proven reserves of rare earths”, he said.
Steenkampskraal’s reserves are also mostly so-called “light rare earths”,
which are comparatively abundant.
“Steenkampskraal will have to compete with many other producers in this
area globally,” said Oliva-Velez.
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