[LINK] China Blocks Vital Exports to Japan - or not?

[Fernando Cassia]

On Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 1:12 AM, Tom Koltai <tomk at unwired.com.au> wrote:
> Whether or not China is blocking vital exports, There is a lesson for
> Australia in China's management of their raw rare minerals....
> i.e.: the para that states:
>> > But no ban has been  imposed on the
>> > export to Japan of semi-processed alloys that combine rare earths
>> > with other materials, the officials said. China has been trying to
>> > expand its alloy industry so as to create higher-paying jobs in
>> > mining areas, instead of exporting raw materials for initial
>> > processing.
> What a shame that we don't insist to our trading partners that the raw
> ore must be processed prior to export.
> Think of the jobs that we could create.

Am I the only one who sees the risk of relying on "rare" minerals for
advanced, and at the same time disposable technology?. If all those
rare minerals end up on landfills, what are we going to use when we
run out of them? Dig landfills and re-mine them for recycling?.

Certainly this is not sustainable...

"rare earth minerals" are called "rare" for a reason...

:-(

FC