Tesla delivers bad news for cobalt price, boost for rare earths

Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP), the Western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth oxides, today announced that, subject to market conditions, it intends to offer $200 million principal amount of its Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 (the “Notes”) in an offering exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933. The Notes are being offered only to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933. In addition, Molycorp intends to grant the initial purchasers of the Notes an option to purchase an additional $30 million principal amount of the Notes.

Baotou Steel Rare Earth (Group) Hi Tech Co, the world's largest rare earth producer, will consolidate 35 local miners this month and further unify the distribution and processing of the 17 elements. The Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the site of 97% of China's reserves, has drafted a plan to concentrate all resources under Baotou. The move follows the announcement last week that the state-owned firm will set up the country's first rare earth products exchange to further regulate the market. China accounts for upwards of 95% of global supply. To combat China's domination of the market the US recently declared rare earth to be a strategic resource for the country.

Seymour Ventures' wholly owned subsidiary Rare Earth Industries Ltd. (REI) is pleased to announce that it has commenced the exploration work program on the Mt. Bisson and Xeno rare earth properties, located in the Omineca Mining Division, approximately 50 kilometers NW of Mackenzie in central BC. REI has the right to earn a 60% interest in the properties from Paget Minerals by spending $1,050,000 over three years to develop the property, including $350,000 in 2011. The initial discovery of rare earth element mineralization on the Mount Bisson property was made by Halleran in 1986 with total rare earth element (TREE) contents as high as 13.5 wt.% in grab samples from the Laura occurrence.

Shares in Africa-focused Globe Metals and Mining shot up on Monday after it released positive rare earth exploration results. Chinese state-owned firm East China Minerals Exploration and Development Bureau last month became the largest shareholder in Globe when it bought a 53.7 per cent stake.

A Conference Board of Canada report says high energy and metals prices "are prompting resource companies to invest billions in iron ore projects, nickel processing and offshore oil developments" in Newfoundland and Labrador, generating the largest growth in real GDP this year of all the Canadian provinces." The board's Provincial Outlook - Spring 2011 report issued Wednesday also forecasts that Saskatchewan "will benefit from tax breaks and a hot mining industry."

China's rare earths exports in April were 53% down on a year earlier and 12.6% from the March figure, yet export value per tonne rose ten-fold, customs data showed on Monday. China, which controls about 97% of rare earth output, has angered customers in Japan, the United States and Europe by clamping down on production and sale of the 17 rare earth elements, citing a need to clean up highly polluting production processes and to stop illegal exports.

Colorado Rare Earths announced today that initial sampling during claim staking has returned high levels of the Heavy Group Rare Earth Elements (HREE). The results, based on grab samples from the Company’s claims at Iron Hill, a.k.a. Powderhorn, and Wet Mountains locations in Colorado, were analyzed by Actlabs, www.actlabs.com, of Ontario, Canada. A United States Geological Survey report, released in December 2010, “The Principal Rare Earth Elements Deposits of the United States,” identified the Iron Hill Complex and Wet Mountains Area as the only two rare earth elements deposits located in Colorado.

The Montreal Gazette reports on an Ernst & Young report released this week that points to opportunities for rare earth companies in Canada and elsewhere, as a result of REE export restrictions imposed by China: China’s clampdown on exports of rare earth metals used widely in smartphones and other electronic products, is opening up huge opportunities for the Canadian and international mining industry, consultants Ernst & Young said Wednesday.

The Canadian province of Quebec plans to develop its huge frozen northern reaches into a powerhouse of mining and renewable energy, targeting C$80 billion ($83 billion) of private and public investment. Quebec's 25-year "Plan Nord," launched on Monday, envisages funding for infrastructure, mines and the development of renewable energy, taking advantage of an improving investment climate as the earth warms and polar ice melts.