By Leah Germain and Martin Foster, in Tokyo
Molycorp Inc., the key US rare earths producer, has welcomed a new partnership between the US and the Japanese government that seeks to diversify the global supply for rare earth metals.
On 30 April, President Barack Obama met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to discuss the development of a joint critical minerals and development project – an alliance between the two countries, where they will share new technology used in the production and recycling of rare earths.
“Diversifying the supply of rare earths is a critical goal...