Kazakhstan to produce 15 rare earth metals next year
27.09.2011Kazakhstan is joining the growing global competition to produce rare earths with an initial target output of 1,653 tons, a senior Kazakh official said Monday.
State nuclear producer and exporter Kazatomprom will amass a “bulk concentrate” of around 15 rare earth metals at a plant run by the Summit Atom Rare Earth Company (SARECO), a joint venture with Japan’s Sumitomo, Kazatomprom Director of Strategic Development Sergey Dara said.
The product will be exported to Japan and elsewhere where they will be used in mobile phones, laptops and other high-tech equipment.
The nuclear agency, which is also tasked to oversee rare earths, will soon set up a separate venture with Toshiba called KT Rare Metals Company to produce rare metals, the Dow Jones news agency reported Dara as also saying.
The facility will initially operate out of Kazatomprom’s Ulba Metallurgical Plant located in the eastern Kazakh industrial city of Usk Kamenogorsk.
Global demand for rare earths, which stands at around 145,000 tons, is expected to double by 2016.
China, which accounts for 97 percent of global production, has slashed exports to focus on meeting fast rising domestic demand, creating a huge shortfall on world markets.
