rare earth element shortage

China defends rare earth stance; smuggling exceeding legal exports

By Eileen De Guire / March 25, 2013

Satellite photo of China’s Bayan Obo Mining District. Credit: NASA; Wikipedia. A few days ago—at the European Raw Materials Conference—China’s Zhang Lirong reiterated his nation’s position that despite WTO actions, restrictions, which…

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Other materials stories that may be of interest

By / February 5, 2013

What an active field! Oxygen tolerance of an in silico-designed bioinspired hydrogen-evolving catalyst in water (PNAS) Certain bacterial enzymes, the diiron hydrogenases, have turnover numbers for hydrogen production from water…

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New Critical Materials Hub to take broad approach to rare earths, other strategic materials

By / January 17, 2013

The launch of the DOE’s $120 million Critical Materials Institute (nee “Hub”), the fifth energy innovation-oriented “integrated research center” initiated by the Obama administration, strikes me as mainly a balanced…

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Peter distills his picks for the top 5 posts for 2012

By / December 31, 2012

My list is much more straightforward than Eileen’s. I find that restraint and discipline comes with age. Mostly. (Eileen adds—See Peter’s fifth story. We’re even!) Anyway, I crafted my list…

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Ceramics and glass business news of the week

By / August 10, 2012

Here’s what we are hearing: Trek Inc. strategic partnership with M4 Sciences enables ultraprecision machining Trek Inc., a designer and manufacturer of high-voltage amplifiers and electrostatic voltmeters has established a…

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Other materials science stories that may be of interest

By / August 7, 2012

Check ’em out: Five years after I-35 collapse, big leap in bridge sensors (Futurity) Five years after the deadly I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, advances in sensors are making warning…

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Other materials science stories that may be of interest

By / July 23, 2012

Take a break and take a look: China cuts rare earth mining rights by half to aid consolidation (Bloomberg/Businessweek) – China, the supplier of 90 percent of the world’s rare…

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Supply chain issues drive rare earth economics

By Eileen De Guire / April 27, 2012

Access to rare earths needs to be addressed at all points in the supply chain, experts say. Credit: The Bulletin, ACerS. In March the US, Japan and European Union filed…

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Other materials stories that may be of interest

By / April 3, 2012

ÉireComposites’ new large-blade tooling uses alternating layers of ceramic cement and carbon fiber/PEEK, with embedded heating elements. Credit: ÉireComposites. Check ’em out: Direct influence of residual stress on the bending…

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Mix of forces ease Chinese rare earth tensions for now

By / February 29, 2012

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao discussed rare earth supplies in their Feb. 2, 2012 meeting. Credit Xinhua; Xie Huanchi. There have been long-standing and well-known strains between…

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