China has discovered a huge deposit of rare earth ion absorption in the southern province of Yunnan, considered the largest of medium and heavy rare earths and which reinforces strategic position of the country in this key sector.
The Geological Survey of China, as reported this Friday by the local newspaper The Paperestimated that the deposit contains 1.15 million tons of potential resources, of which more than 470,000 tons correspond to critical elements such as praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium.
This finding adds to the discoveries made since 1969when the first deposit of this type was identified in the province of Jiangxi (center).
These materials are fundamental for industries such as the manufacturing of electric vehicles, renewable energy, national defense and advanced technologies.
In addition, they complement light rare earth resources, mostly located in regions such as Bayan Obo, in Inner Mongolia (north), and Maoniuping, in Sichuan (center).
Last December, China announced restrictions on exports to the US of gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite, key metals for the manufacture of semiconductors or batteries, among others, for both civil and military use.
China is the world’s largest producer of several of these elements, with more than 95% of gallium and 67% of germanium.
A few months earlier, in August, it announced the imposition of restrictions on the export of antimony, a metal used in various industrial sectors such as the manufacture of batteries and flame retardants, and other strategic elements; and, in October, adjustments to its export control policies related to graphite products in pursuit of the “national security”.
#China #finds #largest #rare #earth #deposit #country #million #tons