rare earth Photo:VCG

China will grant rare-earth mining rights through an orderly process, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said at an industry forum on Monday, the Shanghai Security News reported.

Chang Guowu, the MIIT official, said that China will bolster exploration of the Bayan Obo mine in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, as well as maintain a focus on medium and heavy rare-earth resources, to improve the supply of rare-earth minerals.

Chang noted that China is rich in rare-earth resources and has a complete industry system to facilitate extraction and processing. However, China still has shortcomings in the green development of rare-earth resources, key technological innovation and high-end product application.

 "The whole industry must work together to keep the price of rare-earth products within a reasonable range, expand the scale of rare-earth applications, and promote the coordinated development of upstream and downstream industries," Chang said.

The announcement followed a decision by China to establish a global rare-earth giant based on the merger of rare-earth assets from several state-owned enterprises, according to media reports.

On Sunday evening, China Northern Rare Earth (Group) announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with China Rare Earth Holdings. The two aim to cooperate in rare-earth trade and deep processing, and provide the most favorable cooperation conditions for each other to promote the sound operation of the project.

During a meeting on Saturday, Peng Hao, chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), noted that the integration of rare-earth and coal assets are in full swing.

Shares of rare-earth stocks closed higher on Monday on China's A-share market. Innuovo Technology was up 9.98 percent , while Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development and Lizhong Sitong Light Alloys Group Co rose 9.94 percent and 9.92 percent, respectively.

From January to November, China's output of rare-earth materials totaled 191,000 tons, up 20.5 percent year-on-year, according to the Rare Earth Industry Association.

Global Times