Industrial Minerals


Sanab Ltd

June 2011

by Alex Feytis

Sanab entered the rare earths industry a few years ago thanks to growing demand for the material. Gladys Smith, director, discussed with IM about the potential of the RE sector and feminisation of the industry

Keywords: rare earths, Sanab

 

 Gladys Smith, director

The UK’s Sanab Ltd was created in 1993 by Gladys Smith, former head of the Minor Metals Department of a Peruvian mining company in London.

Sanab, which initially mainly dealt with metals, entered the rare earths market a few years ago as demand for these metals started rising. The company deals mainly with rare earths such as neodymium, cerium, yttrium, gadolinium, scandium, and dysprosium in addition to supplying minor metals such as cadmium, tellurium, bismuth, selenium, indium, and gallium.

Having good relationship with producers mainly in China, Sanab buys its raw materials in the country in addition to dealing with suppliers from other countries around the world. The majority of the world’s rare earths production is concentrated in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.

Sanab sells its products around the world to various sectors including magnets, electronics - flat screens, mobile phones,...