Industrial Minerals


China cuts rare earths mining rights by half

17 July 2012

by Laura Syrett

Officials claim move will help consolidate and streamline the industry

Keywords: China, rare earths, mining rights, consolidation, Ganzhou, WTO, regulation

Chinese officials said yesterday that mining rights for the country’s rare earths industry were to be cut by half in a shift to encourage the establishment of bigger national producers.

According to reports by Bloomberg, rare earth mining rights in Ganzhou, a prefecture-level city in southern China’s Jiangxi province, were reduced to 44 from 88.