Rare Earth Metals

[MWM]

Molycorp's (MCP) Ship Might Have Set Sail... Straight for Rougher Waters

August 17, 2012 8:29 AM EDT

Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) investors have had to dig deep recently as shares have continued to tumble lower on news bits, analyst comments, and macro pressure.

Though Molycorp shares are about 81 percent lower than an annual high of $58.74 hit last September, there appears to be little hope for a change in perception. At least, from a near-term perspective.

From a surprise loss issued with second-quarter 2012 results on August 3rd, shares have been unable to get back above the 29 percent drop realized the following session and closed below that level for the first time in eight sessions yesterday.

Weakness Thursday came from a $60 million common stock private placement.

News of the dilution might not come as too much of a surprise to those following the stock. With its quarterly report on August 3rd, Molycorp cautioned that it might move to secure additional funding without giving a specific amount. Following the report, JPMorgan cut its rating on Molycorp from Neutral to Underweight, dropping its price target 41 percent to $11.50 in the process.

August 13th also carried some bad news for Molycorp, with S&P cutting its rating on Molycorp debt from B to CCC+ and placed the ratings on CreditWatch with developing implications.

Today, Dahlman Rose echoed the sentiment following disclosure of the actual offering size Molycorp will be conducting, downgrading shares from Buy to Hold. Dahlman questioned why Molycorp would opt for a dilutive capital raise instead of choosing to finance via lines of credit. On the $450 million size, Dahlman even went as far as to ask whether the Mountain Pass project would be completed on time and within costs.

However, due to strong belief in a rebound for the rare earth industry, Dahlman skipped slapping a Sell rating on Molycorp. The firm commented: "We believe that China will continue to consolidate companies and curtail production. Further, we believe the dramatic fall in prices has decreased substitution and will likely spur research and development in the area, which should lead to higher long-term demand. Finally, we believe that the problems that are occurring at Molycorp should help to prop up prices, as we question whether the company can produce rare earth oxides at anywhere near the $2.77/kg price that management has forecast."

On the call, Dahlman lowered EPS expectations for Molycorp in FY12 and FY13, from $1.70 and $3.50 down to 80 cents and $1.20, respectively.

Shares of Molycorp are down another 7 percent or so in early trading Friday.

[adam6]

Generally, I have a web site appropriate now that's centered on helping individuals get money for their junk automobiles. Correct now,
When you take your car to the junk it and sell it, how much do they give you?

[gharma]

Yep, had not seen the teens since not too long after last year's IPO. So how far to a round-trip does the 2011 IPO of the year (to some) travel ?

[MWM]

MCP getting cheap...

[Belgianshareholder]

LBSR found REE's at Hay Mountain....

http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=52420737&symbol=LBSR

A surprising presence of rare earth elements (REE) has been defined over a large area. This was completely unexpected and justifies further study. The REEs we assayed for are among the 17 REEs now known, are strongly anomalous, and are scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, and cerium. The other 13 known REEs were not included in our assay process. In due course we will re-assay the samples for these additional REEs. Rare earth elements are critical to various civilian and military hardware and are commercially important. (Wikipedia: "Rare Earth Elements")

The REEs are clearly related to a satellite image anomaly as well as geochemical anomalies of: iron, uranium, thorium, copper, silver, gold, lead, zinc, nickel, gallium, mercury, potassium, manganese and molybdenum. These elements are commonly associated with REE occurrences. This anomaly covers almost 9 square miles.

We are not sure of the meaning of the presence of these Rare Earth Elements (REEs) but the association of the elements named in 3 above justifies further studies.

We do not believe the REEs are part of the porphyry system because they are separated in a different area for the most part.

[Spartacus77]

Here we go:


Great Western Minerals Group Valuation Actually Is Great (Part I Of IV)
April 17, 2012 by: The Strategist | about: GWMGF.PK, includes: CODI, LYSDY.PK, MCP, NEMFF.PK


Exactly one year and one day ago, we published a research piece sharing our bearish views on Great Western Minerals Group (GWMGF.PK) and the response from both the retail and institutional investor community was overwhelmingly negative. We're happy to point out that since we initially published on Great Western Minerals Group (GWMGF.PK), the stock has declined approximately 50%, but after spending the last two months reviewing our thesis, we conclude that Great Western Minerals offers one of the most compelling investment opportunities in the rare earth sector today. We thereby are upgrading Great Western Minerals Group (GWMGF.PK, GWG) from a SELL to a BUY with a $1.05 price target.

Our analysis has led us to the conclusion that despite the lack of NI 43-101 complaint documents on Steenskampskraal and what is overall just a rather poor level of transparency, there exists a very valuable business in the Great Western Minerals franchise through their Less Common Metals subsidiary based in the Merseyside region of Great Britain. LCM is worth multiples of the current market capitalization of Great Western Minerals Group.

Great Western owns two downstream facilities (Less Common Metals "LCM" & Great Western Technologies "GWTI") plus a majority stake in Steenskampskraal, a formerly producing thorium deposit in South Africa. The company also owns several exploration assets. As we go through this analysis, long time readers will find that our skepticism over Steenskampskraal has not changed so much as we have recognized the value in Less Common Metals.

This research report has four segments

1.Macro analysis of REE downstream supply chain segment
2.Steenkampskraal, GWTI, Exploration Properties
3.Less Common Metals (LCM)
4.Valuation & Conclusions
Getting Macro on Rare Earth Downstream Operations

The rare earth element industry segmentation can best be described by the upstream (mining to concentrate), midstream (concentrate to oxides), the downstream (metals, alloys), and finished products (magnets, FCC, polishing powder, lasers, etc.).

With each progressive step downstream, the process becomes relatively less capital intensive with more weight shifting towards intellectual property. For example, our research indicates it costs less than $20 million to purchase, ship, install, and permit a furnace capable of producing 2,000 metric tonnes of NdFeB alloy per annum; David Kennedy of Great Western Minerals said on the April 11th investor call that each 600 tonne NdFeB furnace is costing LCM less than $5 million. Given the margins involved in this portion of the supply chain, the obvious question is why isn't every junior rare earth mining company planning to integrate downstream and leverage this low capital, high return opportunity?

The answer to that question can best be described by the "no inside photos" request Less Common Metals made of our editor when he visited the facility on February 17, 2012. If we desired a photo of something we saw, the management team would send us a photo that did not expose any intellectual property, because the metal, alloy, and magnet segments of the rare earth supply chain involve very complex proprietary processes. While we were there, LCM management informed us that they were currently in the process of testing their new NdFeB alloy strip cast product against customer requirements. Naturally this process takes time, because if the end product is flawed and not up to customer specifications, then a company will find its customer list shrink significantly.

When a rare earth industry executive, consultant, expert, analyst, or insider describes any lack of skilled engineers or knowledge regarding REEs outside of China, (the "intellectual deficit"), they are referring almost entirely to the downstream portion of the supply chain. This plays a key role in our analysis of Great Western Minerals Group. The only two rare earth element supply chain companies we have researched with either the existing intellectual property required to produce rare earth metals & alloys, or the human capital necessary to build such intellectual property are Molycorp (MCP) and Great Western Minerals Group. At Molycorp, the "key man" for the downstream operations is Dr. John Burba. At Great Western Minerals, the "key men" for the downstream operations at Less Common Metals are co-founder David Kennedy and current manager Ian Higgins.

Other then Less Common Metals and Molycorp Tolleson we have not found a neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) alloy production facility outside of China or Japan not controlled by Chinese or Japanese interests. We would note tongue-in-cheek that Molycorp acquired Tolleson from Japanese interests with an assurance that the seller would still receive product, (the beauty of having a secure feedstock controlled by the same ownership cannot be overstated given events of the previous few years). In general, when we discuss rare earth elements we talk about China v. ROW. When we talk about the downstream segment of the supply chain, we need to talk about China & Japan v. ROW, because those countries are the sole exceptions to "intellectual deficit".

Given that most downstream operations in Japan, as far as we can tell, are controlled by end consumers, it is difficult to find information on that segment of the market. The same can be said for operations located in China. We also view the China and Japan downstream operations as serving their domestic manufacturing segments on almost an exclusive basis.

We will be touching on rare earth metals, NdFeB alloys, SmCo alloys, and rare earth magnets here in that particular order.

Metals

We come away from this research with even a stronger conviction that domestic Chinese prices reflect the new long term rare earth prices due to environmental reforms and consolidation of the Chinese rare earth industry. Environmental issues with Chinese rare earth processing are frequently mentioned in the press, but we think a picture is worth a thousand words on the topic:



The photograph above was taken of a Chinese electrolysis cell in Inner Mongolia producing didymium metal.

What we are looking at is mixed neodymium/praseodymium oxide that is fed into a crucible, which sits in a fluorine bath. This is where it starts to get ugly. Because there is no hood, there is fluorine gas emitting into the atmosphere. Inhaling fluorine gas is, to put it mildly, not healthy. In fact, the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry in 2003 said, "Exposure to high concentrations of fluorine can cause death to lung damage". Not to overstate the point, but we would also add that this electrolysis cell was charged up to twelve volts according to the individual who provided us with the photo. This is the picture we internally call "the picture of 1,000 horrors". We were informed that the amount of protective gear worn by the workers at this metal-making facility was minimal and would not fly in the western world.

This is part of the discussion about China recognizing the need to implement environmental reforms in their domestic rare earth supply chain. It has not been cheap labor that has enabled China to corner the market on rare earth element supply. It has been the toleration and acceptance of business practices such as those captured in the photo of 1,000 horrors. The long term health costs and impact of these practices on the environment has not been reflected in the price of rare earth products, but now these practices are no longer viewed as acceptable in China.

This photo is a powerful example of why we remain comfortable with our previously published price deck and our view that domestic Chinese prices reflect the new long-term real prices for rare earth oxides. The reality here is that the metal making process exhibited in the photo is absurdly cheap, and in fact, it goes to show that China has in essence been subsidizing the consumption of rare earth elements by the developed world by accepting burdens and costs that have not been reflected in the market price.

When we were at Less Common Metals, we got to see one of the electrolysis cells the company received but has not yet started operating. LCM declined to provide us with a photo of the cell, but our editor saw it with his own eyes. We will not go through the detailed engineering of the metal making process (in part because we are not even 90% sure we have the process down perfectly), except that we saw the cell is built to include a hood to contain the fluorine gas and we were told the company is testing suction methods to pull the metal out of the crucible in accordance with regulations that make it impossible to extract the crucible out of the fluorine bath (which makes sense if you want avoid releasing fluorine gas into an enclosed populated factory setting).



The photo above is a crucible sitting in a furnace we saw at LCM.

Our basic understanding of the metal making process is as follows. The separated rare earth oxide is placed within the crucible and a tungsten tipped piece of metal is dipped into the crucible such that an electric current can pass through the crucible via the tungsten tip and the electric coils around the crucible. This electrolysis forms a molten metal that then needs to be removed and cools into solid metal. Basically, LCM is testing how to use a suction process to extract the molten metal out of the crucible to cool it.

Each one of these electrolysis cells LCM is installing can produce 3 tonnes of metal a month, which translates to over 100 tonnes of potential neodymium iron boron alloy production per annum for each cell feeding metal to a given alloy furnance.

On the metals front, we have identified Molycorp (Silmet) and Less Common Metals as the only companies outside of China and Japan with rare earth metal making capabilities not committed to end products.

NdFeB Alloys

Given our conversations with rare earth industry insiders, the general consensus is that 2010 demand for NdFeB alloy was 70,000 metric tonnes with 55,000 metric tonnes within China, 13,000 metric tonnes in Japan, and 2,000 metric tonnes in Europe with zero growth in 2011 due to the significant price increases. We would also add that potentially 10,000 metric tonnes of demand inside of China was going towards "frivolous" applications such as using the magnets in toys, etc.

Working off that 60,000 metric tonnes figure (yes, we are removing frivolous applications, and using a 7% per annum growth rate (below consensus for rare earth magnets through 2020). We estimate there is a need for 24,000 tonnes of incremental NdFeB by the end of 2016 which will require just under 8,000 tonnes of neodymium oxide production. We estimate Molycorp through Phase II capacity has the means to produce just over 16,000 metric tonnes of this incremental NdFeB alloy. When we include the potential NdFeB alloy production from neodymium oxide produced by Lynas and the capacity at Less Common Metals, we are left to conclude that no junior rare earth mining company outside of Great Western Minerals will bring a rare earth primary deposit into production prior to the end of 2015 and prior to the end of 2016 unless its economics are based on its heavy rare earth element content. This does not include the poly-metallic Dubbo project being developed by Alkane Resources which must stand on its zirconium and niobium revenue merits.

We have come to the conclusion that the NdFeB alloy market is the driver of the rare earth element market in general. Cerium as a polishing powder is well and good, and if XSORBX is a success, water filtration looks like a promising demand outlet for cerium. Lanthanum has its role in the energy industry and in nickel metal hydrate batteries, but we do need to acknowledge that at the peak of rare earth price mania in summer 2011, WR Grace announced they had re-done some of their formulas to remove the need for rare earths. Samarium is used in samarium cobalt alloys, but that is pretty much it on that level. Europium is used in lighting as a phosphor (guess where the red in your television comes from). Yttrium is used in light bulbs. Dysprosium is used in lighting. But dysprosium's primary use is in neodymium iron boron magnets that will be used in high temperature environments. Praseodymium has practically no use at all except where it is used in NdFeB alloy. And neodymium of course is used in NdFeB alloy.

Strip Cast Alloy v. Book Mold Alloy

It is great to be able to produce NdFeB alloy, however its production process is critical in determining the quality. There are basically two processes by which NdFeB alloy is produced. The first is the book mold process; in the simplest description of this process, raw materials are basically poured into crucible within a vacuum furnace and then cools into a mold.

The second method is called strip casting, and since we are not engineers we are not going to try to explain to you the difference. But what we can say is that in our discussion with several individuals involved in the rare earth sector, there has been universal agreement that strip casting offers a significantly superior product. The reason is that the strip cast process generates a more consistent grain size which is critical for magnet makers because the first step for turning alloy into magnets involves grinding down the alloy into a powder. If the grain size and distribution of raw materials is not consistent, the alloy is basically worthless to the magnet maker and must be re-cast. As a result, we will find that quality of production process is critical in the rare earth downstream since mistakes will significantly reduce profitability.

SmCo Alloy

Less Common Metals produces 220 tonnes per annum of Samarium Cobalt alloy which represents well over 20% of the market outside of China (market size is 700 tonnes outside of China, 700 tonnes within China). Given the product outlined product mix for LCM in 2016 (4000 metric tonnes NdFeB alloy (3700 tonnes strip cast) and 280 tonnes of SmCo alloy and nonmagnetic alloys), our focus in this piece is primarily on the NdFeB alloy side of the equation.

We would note however that in high temperature environments, rare earth experts have explained to us that SmCo magnets outperform NdFeB magnets. One expert has pointed out to us though that the reason SmCo only represents 10% of the rare earth permanent magnet sector is not because of a lack of samarium or cobalt supply, but because the use of those magnets is specialized.

A Quick Word on Rare Earth Permanent Magnets

The rare earth permanent magnet portion of the supply chain is not in the current plans for Great Western Minerals. The reason for this is simply that they would then be competing with their LCM customer base. But since this is our most extensive public commentary on the downstream component of the rare earth supply chain, we will take the opportunity to discuss the magnet side of things.

The Molycorp-Neo Material Technologies (NEMFF.PK) merger, upon completion, leaves no question that Molycorp will have the vertical integration taken care of. As this report will explain, Great Western Minerals is basically a mine and separation plant away from having a smaller scale version of what Molycorp is constructing minus the magnet component. But beyond Molycorp, we see no mining entity outside of China integrating all the way down to the magnets. And this is practical considering the high costs involved in terms of research and development and the scarcity of personnel. So what we are looking at in Molycorp is one vertically integrated entity.

In Great Western Minerals, we have a provider of NdFeB and SmCo alloy to magnet makers requiring those alloys. There are both end consumers with internalized magnet production and standalone rare earth magnet manufacturers who stand to benefit from the finalization of a second source of alloy outside of China and Japan. The reality here is that while the supply side of the rare earth market is very consolidated, the demand side is very diverse. Unless an end consumer is a major consumer, like say Toyota (who has a tentative JV with Matamec (MHREF.PK) on the Kipawa deposit), it is not economic for the consumer to integrate upstream to secure their rare earth requirements. This is creates a market opportunity for standalone and mine-linked magnet, alloy, and metal producers.

In the United States, there are three of these standalone REPM manufactures which Jack Lifton mentioned in his recent piece following the announcement of the Neo Material Technologies and Molycorp deal and they are Arnold Magnetic Technologies, Thomas and Skinner, and Electron Energy Corp.

These three companies are representative of what remains of the downstream rare earth sector outside of China and Japan that is not currently captive within end consumer businesses other than what Great Western Minerals currently has plus what Molycorp is both expanding and building. These are critical entities because for several end consumers of rare earths, it simply is not pragmatic or economic to construct internal magnet manufacturing capabilities.

We are very pleased that, thanks to the most recent corporate presentation of Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI) who acquired Arnold Magnetic Technologies in early March, Arnold Magnetic generated approximately $18 million in EBITDA in 2011 on $130 million in revenue which is remarkable considering Chinese export quotas.6 We can only wonder what the performance capabilities of this business could be with a secure supply of alloy for its NdFeB and SmCo magnet manufacturing capabilities.

It is for this reason, while acknowledging that Neo-Molycorp is the largest M&A deal in rare earth industry history on a financial basis and is an industry dynamic shifting deal, we consider the takeover of Arnold by CODI to be the REE deal of the quarter. We would point out that in 2009 Molycorp wanted to do a magnet joint venture with Arnold Magnetic Technologies. We do not know why that deal fell through, but it is intriguing why, with obvious synergies and an established global magnetic footprint, Molycorp did not win the auction for Arnold. We do not know who was bidding beside Compass, but it is rather obvious that Molycorp, thanks to synergies, would have been able to offer a superior bid if involved in the process. The deal would have given Molycorp by our estimate, practically what the Neo deal gave them minus the rare earth separation expertise, since Arnold has offices in China, produces SmCo magnets, and according to the company website produces both "fully dense" and "polymer or resin bonded" NdFeB magnets. CODI got all of that for a price tag of less than 10% of what Neo Material Technologies cost Molycorp.

But back from the divergence into reflecting on rare earth M&A, the big questions we see in the rare earth magnet world beyond security of supply are the following: dysprosium and economic breakevens. The first question simply pertains to the fact that the dysprosium content required in some of these NdFeB magnets facing extreme temperature cycles does not sync up with the supply of dysprosium and does not reflect the ratio of neodymium/praseodymium to dysprosium production ratio in the long run. As one industry executive put it to us, "the typical NdFeB alloy is 27% Nd or Nd/Pr and 4% Dy while the typical mine (as in everything not South China ionic adsorption clay) REE distribution worldwide supports a 29% Nd or Nd/Pr and 2% Dy composition."

As it has been explained to us, the key issue with dysprosium is that the dysprosium needs to be placed in certain locations in a permanent rare earth magnet structure. The problem is getting the dysprosium located correctly, and as a result, an excess of dysprosium is used to ensure necessary location (since otherwise the magnet is useless for its intended application). The key to the technology of lower dysprosium requirements is then to improve the ability to apply dysprosium as needed such that it is no longer necessary to use it in excess to ensure it is correctly located within the magnet structure. We know that was probably a painful paragraph for engineers to read, but bear with us here. We will address the dysprosium supply dynamic in depth in the future.

On the issue of economic breakevens, Boulder Wind & Power holds the view that NdFeB is not economic in wind turbines if neodymium oxide is over $100/kg. We are not aware of what sort of dysprosium content is involved in calculating this figure, but this $100/kg Nd oxide breakeven figure for the wind turbine sector appears to have permeated the market sentiment as we have seen almost all analysts and PEA price decks begin using $75-$80/kg Nd oxide.

We would point out that Boulder Wind & Power is working on a new wind turbine design that would operate at low enough temperatures where the inclusion of dysprosium in the permanent magnets would no longer be required. The company anticipates this new design will be commercially available in a 3 MW model in the 2013-2014 timeframe.

As good at this sounds for those bearish on neodymium prices long term, we have to point out that the hybrid/electric car market in 2025 is going to require 2.5 times the amount of neodymium oxide as the wind turbine market will under the high penetration scenario outlined in the DOE Critical Metals Strategy 2011 report. (DOE Critical Metals Strategy 2011 page 88) Under the low penetration scenario in the same report, the hybrid/electric car market will require over five times the amount of neodymium as the wind turbine market in 2025.

Given this dynamic, we must conclude that rare earth permanent magnet usage in vehicles will establish the maximum sustainable price for neodymium oxide from the demand side perspective. In an October piece on the rare earth industry, Jon Hykawy of Byron Capital Markets wrote regarding motor selection in hybrid and electric vehicles, "even at peak Nd prices, the PMSM is the superior choice, assuming that Nd is readily available". (Jon Hykawy, Rare Earths: No Problems, No Shortages?, Byron Capital Markets, 10/24/2011, p.5) Just to put that into context, the peak neodymium oxide price during rare earth mania was over $350/kg outside of China and over $200/kg inside of China versus an April 2012 price of $92/kg inside of China.

The usage of rare earths in wind turbines will be dependent upon whether or not a supply of neodymium can be economically supplied at the economic breakeven price for REPM inclusion in wind turbines. If enough junior rare earth projects can produce attractive returns for investors at the wind turbine economic breakeven for neodymium oxide plus revenue from other rare earth element production while fully satisfying demand in the hybrid/electric vehicle segment, then the long term price of neodymium oxide, and therefore NdFeB alloy and NdFeB magnets will be set at that level. If not, the long term price will reflect the demand for hybrid/electric vehicles versus the supply of neodymium and dysprosium.

As a result, we view future rare earth permanent magnet demand (and specifically NdFeB magnets) to be a function of a secure supply of neodymium and dysprosium far more than a function of rare earth oxide prices. One expert put it to us simply that Toyota will use rare earths in their cars if they are confident they can access supply, and we think that sums it up rather nicely. The future of rare earth permanent magnets in less than ten words, "if there is secure supply, there will be demand".

Conclusions

We cannot emphasize enough our conviction that Mark Smith and Molycorp are going to be proven right about them and Lynas (LYSDY.PK) being the only new mines online by the end of 2015 even though Steenkampskraal may end up being the sole exception (as explained in this report, we remain skeptical). Do note that we may have to include Alkane Resources' (ALKNY.PK) Dubbo project as a potential entry in 2015, but we will not do so until we see definitive off-take agreements in place for the project's HREE and LREE mixed concentrate products. On that mark, and as a sneak peek of what to expect from us in the near future, our trip to PDAC was very helpful in getting a sense of which rare earth juniors can be the "third/fourth/fifth" ROW rare earth mines.

The important thing to remember about the metal, alloy, and magnet making components of the rare earth supply chain is that it is simply a "value add" industry. The input costs are raw materials (rare earth oxides, iron, cobalt, boron), labor, R&D, and capital. The business is simply processing the raw material inputs into the necessary metal, alloy, or magnet product to very specific customer requirements.

The beautiful thing here is that the business of metal, alloy, and magnet production is not affected by variable rare earth oxide prices since the variability can be passed through to the customer. The key risk is a steady supply of rare earth oxides to produce product.

This requires us to think about Great Western Minerals and its flagship Less Common Metals subsidiary differently than we think about other rare earth companies outside of China and Japan.

Disclosure: I am long MCP, GWMGF.PK, CODI, TAS.

Additional disclosure: The facts in this newsletter are believed by the Strategist to be accurate, but The Strategist cannot guarantee that they are. Nothing in this newsletter should be taken as a solicitation to purchase or sell securities. These are Mr. Evensen’s opinions and he may be wrong. Principals, Editors, Writers, and Associates of The Strategist may have positions in securities mentioned in this newsletter. You should take this into account before acting on any advice given in this newsletter. If this concerns you, do not listen to or consider our opinions. Investing includes certain risks including potential loss of principal. The commentary of The Strategist does not take into consideration individual investment objectives, consult your own financial adviser before making investment decisions.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/502471-great-western-minerals-group-valuation-actually-is-great-part-i-of-iv

[Spartacus77]

IBC Advanced Alloys Supplies Beralcast® Parts for

European Space Agency's Automated Transport Vehicle



Ultra-lightweight Beralcast® alloys used for key European space program



WILMINGTON, MA - March 20th, 2012 - IBC Advanced Alloys Corp.(TSX-V: IB OTCQX: IAALF) ("IBC" or the "Company") reports that its proprietary Beralcast® ultra-lightweight aluminum-beryllium advanced castings are being supplied for the European Space Agency's ("ESA") Automated Transfer Vehicle ("ATV"). ESA's third ATV, a transport vehicle for supplies and propellant, is scheduled for launch on March 23, 2012 and is expected to dock with the International Space Station five days later.



IBC's Engineered Materials divisionis the world's only producer of precision aluminum beryllium investment castings known as Beralcast® alloys.The Beralcast® range of alloys and composites has a consistently high stiffness to weight ratio which allows aerospace, automotive and high tech engineers greater design flexibility and more options for significant performance gains. The Beralcast® family of alloys are ideally suited to commercial, electronic and military aerospace applications requiring complex, lightweight high modulus parts.



ACAL BFI France is supplying IBC's Beralcast® parts to Astrium (a division of EADS) for the manufacturing of the ATV space transport vehicle, specifically brackets made with Beralcast® 363 being used to hold the thrusters in the front attitude control system of the ATV. Marie-Joëlle Poret of ACAL BFI France said "We would like to thank IBC for its support and for providing all remaining high quality bracket castings for this key program".



Ray White, President of IBC Engineered Materials, reports that, "the brackets are thruster mounts for the front attitude control system, and are perfect examples of where Beralcast® 363 excels. Competitive aluminum-beryllium materials made from powdered metal would be extremely expensive with long manufacturing lead times. Beralcast® was cast to the precise shape required, which saves time and money."



Anthony Dutton, President and CEO of IBC said, "We are proud that Beralcast® products are being utilized for such an innovative aerospace application. IBC's Engineered Materials team provided a top quality product, which can also be adapted for many other market sectors including aerospace, defence, automotive and electronics." Dutton continued, "our Company's ESA work complements our ongoing Unmanned Airborne Vehicle (UAV) project for the US Military and we are looking forward to continuing our work with both of these organizations to develop new high performance aerospace applications using the Beralcast®family of alloys."

[Spartacus77]

Molycorp Is A Compelling Buy After Thursday's Game Changing Neo Materials Deal I would agree, I really like Neo a great canadian company.

What's going on here?
It's also weird that IB has no volume today?


IIROC Trading Halt ? GWG
5 hours ago by CNW Group
The following issues have been halted by IIROC:

Company: Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.

TSX-Venture Symbol: GWG

Reason: At the Request of the Company Pending News Halt Time (ET): 8:04

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) can make a decision to impose a temporary suspension of trading in a security of a publicly listed company, usually in anticipation of a material news announcement by the company. Trading halts are issued based on the principle that all investors should have the same timely access to important company information. IIROC is the national self-regulatory organization which oversees all investment dealers and trading activity on debt and equity marketplaces in Canada.

[MWM]

6 Reasons Molycorp Is A Compelling Buy After Thursday's Game Changing Neo Materials Deal
March 12, 2012 by: Ganaxi Small Cap Movers | about: MCP

Colorado-based rare earth resource company Molycorp's (MCP) C$1.3 billion deal announced Thursday to buy Toronto-based rare earth processing and marketing company Neo Material Technologies is a game changer for MCP, moving it closer to the ultimate vision of developing the entire rare earth value chain, from raw material to high-value rare earth magnets. Also, as a bonus, the deal also gives MCP global reach via access and market intelligence for the Chinese rare earth market that currently accounts for 70% of the worldwide rare earths market demand.

We have written extensively before about MCP, including at the end of Q3, arguing mostly on the basis of fundamentals and the supply/demand dynamics. The deal Thursday, however, gives us greater conviction that the MCP story is a story of long-term value and not merely a momentum play that has played out, as many have argued. The following are six good reasons we like MCP here, and why we believe it is going higher:

1. Valuation: MCP is cheap, especially on a P/E relative to growth basis. Even after Friday's steep 19% rally on the deal, its shares still trade at a cheap 7 forward P/E and 2.6 P/B, while earnings are projected to rocket up from $1.27 in 2011 to $4.34 in 2013, at an average annual growth rate of 84.9%. Its North American peers, all Canadian rare earth resource companies, including Rare Element Resources (REE), Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AVL), Tasman Minerals Ltd. (TAS), and Quest Rare Minerals Ltd. (QRM), are all currently generating losses.

Furthermore, the deal to acquire Neo Materials at 4.7 times EBITDA is the cheapest by a diversified metals producer on record, and at a 40 percent discount to the median 7.8 multiple for acquisitions of at least $500 million made by diversified metals producers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

2. Vertical Integration: The deal transforms MCP from mostly a rare earth resource company into a more vertically-integrated rare earth company, by adding Neo Materials' rare earth processing and worldwide marketing capabilities to the company. Thus, after the deal, the combined company will have the processing and marketing capacity to match the expansion in production capacity planned at Mountain Pass, and also with Neo Materials' technology know-how, it will have the ability to produce more types of magnets.

The deal is the third one announced in the past year, but the most significant, as earlier deals to acquire Estonia-based AS Silmet and Arizona-based Santoku America were much smaller. Furthermore, the deal is different and a game changer also in the sense that it gives MCP access to new markets (see below).

3. New Markets: Neo Materials has a global presence, but especially important is its network of R&D centers, sales and administration offices, and rare earths production centers in China. The company derives 38% of its revenues from China and 26% from Japan, thereby giving MCP the ability to compete in the Chinese market that currently accounts for 70% of the worldwide demand for rare earths, and is also the fastest growing market.

This will be particularly beneficial as MCP expands production at it Mountain Pas facility in phase 2 to almost 40,000 tons. Furthermore, MCP gains new bonded magnet powder technology and high purity rare earth processing capabilities, that will help them increase market share.

4. More Extensive Product Portfolio: The deal expands MCP portfolio of rare metals to include gallium, rhenium, and indium, that are used in advanced electronics, photovoltaic, aerospace, catalytic converters, and lighting industries.

5. Synergies: MCP in its presentation after the deal indicated that the deal would be accretive to MCP's 2012 earnings and cash flow, adding $201 million in net income to MCP's projected $118 million in projected net income for 2012 pre-synergies, with the number of shares increasing from 84 million currently to 113 million shares. Furthermore, the two companies have already identified preliminary synergy benefits that they consider low-hanging fruit, that would add $100 million in EBITDA per year starting in 2013, primarily related to MCP's ability to send feedstock to Neo Materials' facilities in Asia.

6. National Stockpile: This maybe a long shot, but on top of MCP's compelling valuation, there is also the possibility that the company could benefit it Washington decides to go ahead with creating a strategic materials stockpile of rare earths for national defense purposes, giving them a large captive customer as well as pushing up demand and prices for rare earths in the worldwide market. We believe that such a move does not appear too much out-of-the-question, especially given China's stranglehold on the market and the geopolitical rivalry emerging between the U.S. and China.

Furthermore, in the aftermath of the deal, speculators also snapped up shares on Friday of MCP's peers, hoping that a deal might lead to further consolidation in the industry; TAS was up the most on Friday, at almost 25%, REE and QRM were both up about 20%, and AVL up over 5%. MCP has engaged in a number of acquisitions over the last couple of years, so that is not completely out of the question, nor is it that at some point MCP itself might look like an attractive acquisition candidate to a larger mining company if it continues to trade at depressed valuations.

Credit: Historical fundamentals including operating metrics and stock ownership information were derived using SEC filings data, Zacks Investment Research, Thomson Reuters and Briefing.com. The information and data is believed to be accurate, but no guarantees or representations are made.

Disclosure: I am long MCP.

[Spartacus77]

Look at the volume on this already today

I cannot overemphasize that GW is “The Right Size” venture for its primary targeted market, which is the fabricators of rare earth permanent magnets of the dysprosium modified neodymium-iron-boron type. I believe it will be as it says it’s going to be a profitable 150-250 million dollar/yr revenue venture with a gross margin of 30%. It will grow from there, if it wants to, by increasing magnet alloy production fed by new discoveries or acquisitions of the correct critical metals it needs. GM is also “The Right Stuff.’

Picking off more than you can chew is an adolescent game and it always ends with someone kicking the s**t out of the one who aims too high.

Bet on the cautious guy who stops for water on his way up the mountain rather than the guy who thinks he can make it in a single leap.

Philosophy over. i’m more sold than ever on the GW model. I’m glad Mark Smith got the model right anyway.

Jack

[Spartacus77]

Rare-Earth Bust Prompts Molycorp’s Biggest Bet With Neo Material: Real M&A
By Tara Lachapelle - Mar 8, 2012 11:11 PM ET .LinkedIn Google +1 0 Comments
Print QUEUEQ..Molycorp Inc. (MCP), after losing two- thirds of its value in 10 months as demand for rare-earth metals imploded, is now seeking to boost shareholder returns with its biggest takeover yet.

The owner of the largest rare-earth deposit outside China yesterday agreed to buy Neo Material Technologies Inc. for C$1.3 billion ($1.3 billion) in cash and stock. At 4.7 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the deal is the cheapest by a diversified metals producer on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Molycorp’s stock rose in extended trading after the announcement.

Enlarge image
Molycorp Inc. CEO Mark Smith Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Mark Smith, chief executive officer of Molycorp Inc., said the acquisition “puts the upstream and the downstream together in a very significant way.”

Mark Smith, chief executive officer of Molycorp Inc., said the acquisition “puts the upstream and the downstream together in a very significant way.” Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Enlarge image
Rare-Earth Bust Spurs Molycorp’s Biggest Takeover Bet Jacob Kepler/Bloomberg
The open pit mine at Molycorp Inc.'s rare earths mining and processing facility stands in Mountain Pass, California, U.S.

The open pit mine at Molycorp Inc.'s rare earths mining and processing facility stands in Mountain Pass, California, U.S. Photographer: Jacob Kepler/Bloomberg
.While Molycorp is opening a rare-earth mine in the Mojave Desert to compete with Chinese producers that control more than 90 percent of global supplies, shareholders have lost money since it reached an all-time high in May as prices plummeted for the elements used in hybrid cars, fluorescent bulbs and guided missiles. With Neo Material (NEM), Molycorp will gain the ability to produce more types of magnets and increase sales to China, boosting profitability, Byron Capital Markets Ltd. said.

“It actually makes it a stronger story,” Jonathan Hykawy, a Toronto-based analyst at Byron Capital, said in a telephone interview. “Molycorp effectively has the pieces of the puzzle if this acquisition goes through to basically do the entire magnet industry. That’s a big, big, added slice of added cash flow that Molycorp really isn’t paying all that much for.”

Jim Sims, a spokesman at Molycorp, said in an e-mail that “both sides of the transaction believed that a fair price was achieved. We believe this transaction will provide for growth and increased shareholder value.”

Acquisition Detail
Neo Material will get C$8.05 in cash and 0.122 of a Molycorp share for each Neo Material share held, Greenwood Village, Colorado-based Molycorp said in a statement yesterday.

The offer is equal to C$11.19 a share based on yesterday’s price, and represented a 32 percent premium to Neo Material’s average in the 20 days before the deal was announced.

Relative to Neo Material’s Ebitda, the agreement was struck at a 40 percent discount to the median multiple of 7.8 times for acquisitions of at least $500 million made by diversified metals producers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Molycorp, which owns a 2,222-acre site located 60 miles southwest of Las Vegas that once met almost all of the world’s demand, will get Toronto-based Neo Material’s processing factories. It also will obtain its patented Magnequench range of metal powders used to make neodymium-iron-boron magnets, which can be found in electronic motors and sensors.

Periodic Table
The acquisition “puts the upstream and the downstream together in a very significant way,” Molycorp Chief Executive Officer Mark Smith said in a telephone interview. “This acquisition allows Molycorp to access 100 percent of the demand in the world now.”

The rare-earth elements are 17 chemically similar metals, such as lanthanum, neodymium and dysprosium. They are used in mobile devices, electric cars, wind turbines and targeting systems for tanks. IPads by Apple Inc. (AAPL), Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM)’s BlackBerrys, General Motors Co. (GM)’s plug-in Volt, Raytheon Co.’s Tomahawk cruise missiles, and Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius all use rare-earth metals.

In 2010, rare-earth prices soared after China, the world’s biggest supplier of the metals, imposed a quota on exports. Many “light” rare-earth elements, including lanthanum and cerium, rose 600 percent to 700 percent on average that year, according to Mackie Research Capital Corp.

Light Versus Heavy
While the surge helped Molycorp jump more than fivefold after its initial public offering in July 2010, the company lost $4 billion in market value in the past 10 months as concern over a global economic slowdown sapped rare-earth demand and caused companies to cut back on components made from the elements.

China shipped only 60 percent of its export quota last year, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said March 7.

While Morgan Stanley anticipates that lower prices will drive a revival in rare-earth demand and benefit producers such as Molycorp, Alpine Mutual Funds’ Brian Hennessey said its greatest need is access to “heavy” rare-earth metals, which command the highest prices.

Lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium and neodymium, the “light” rare earths, accounted for 60 percent of Molycorp’s sales from its mine near Mountain Pass, California, last year.

“I would not be surprised to see them acquire mines to get them into heavy rare earth,” Hennessey, a Purchase, New York- based analyst at Alpine, said yesterday before the deal was announced. “There most likely is going to be a surplus in many of the light rare earths that Molycorp is mining.”

Shareholder Value
Acquiring Neo Material’s processing business can still help boost profit margins and increase the company’s value among investors, according to Byron Capital’s Hykawy.

The $2.2 billion company trades at just 2.8 times analysts’ Ebitda estimates for 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s less than 97 percent of metals and mining companies globally with at least $1 billion in market value.

Shares of Molycorp rose 1.6 percent to $26.40 after regular U.S. trading hours.

“There’s been a lot of volatility on the name,” Scott Goginsky, a research analyst and portfolio manager at Milford, Pennsylvania-based Biondo Investment Advisors LLC, which oversees $450 million and owns shares of Molycorp, said in a telephone interview before the deal was announced. “Certainly at this price the stock is really cheap.”

[MWM]

MCP very nice acquisition imo

[Spartacus77]

China Looks to Stimulate Rare Earth Demand -- Molycorp and Great Western Minerals Look to Benefit
Last Update: 3/6/2012 8:20:48 AM


NEW YORK, NY, Mar 06, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Rare Earth stocks have handily outperformed the market this year. The Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX) is up more than 15 percent year to date -- easily exceeding the 6.2 percent jump in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. North American rare earth stocks took a slight hit last week, however, as reports surfaced that China may boost exports to bring prices back down. The Paragon Report examines investing opportunities in the Rare Earth Industry and provides equity research on Molycorp, Inc. (MCP) and Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. (GWG) (pinksheets:GWMGF). Access to the full company reports can be found at:

www.paragonreport.com/MCP

www.paragonreport.com/GWG

Last week Bloomberg reported that China may almost double exports this year and meet quotas set by the government as lower prices stimulate demand. A late 2011 Ministry of Commerce statement said that Chinese exports were 49 percent of the government-allotted quota in the first 11 months of last year because the slowing global economy hurt demand.

"Export quotas may be met this year as overseas demand recovers," Wang Caifeng, a former official overseeing the rare earth industry with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in an interview in Beijing. "High prices last year had deterred purchases and led to inventories depletion. Smuggling also hampered exports through illegal channels."

The Paragon Report provides investors with an excellent first step in their due diligence by providing daily trading ideas, and consolidating the public information available on them. For more investment research on the rare earth industry register with us free at www.paragonreport.com and get exclusive access to our numerous stock reports and industry newsletters.

China's decision last year to cut exports boosted prices and sparked concern among overseas users about access to supplies. Now, China is encouraging its companies to develop rare earth mines abroad to help ease pressure on domestic producers.

According to Wang Caifeng, China has the technical expertise and human resources required by overseas company in mine development and processing.

[Spartacus77]

Rare Earth Metals Is a Stock-Pickers Market: Jason Burack and Mo Dawoud
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Rare Earth Metals Is a Stock-Pickers Market: Jason Burack and Mo Dawoud

Source: The Critical Metals Report Editors (2/28/12)

http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/12678

In the wake of a 2011 roller coaster ride in the rare earth market, the sector still holds promise for astute investors, argue Wall St. for Main St. co-founders Jason Burack and Mo Dawoud. In this exclusive Critical Metals Report interview, the pair name the six major REE projects that could rocket back up out of 200-odd juniors competing in this space.

The Critical Metals Report: As co-founders of Wall St. for Main St., the two of you have been watching the rare earth elements space for years. How do you define the term?

Jason Burack: The rare earth elements (REEs)-mostly lanthanides and actinides-are elements with unique chemical and electrical properties. These elements are contained in host rocks with a unique mix of the 17 uncommon elements that can be found on the bottom of the periodic table. These elements are actually abundant around the earth's crust, but are spread out rather than concentrated the way gold, copper and lead are concentrated in vein deposits. For that reason, the majority of REEs are uneconomical for extraction, thus making them rare.

Mo Dawoud: What is new is an increased level of demand. In the last decade, REEs have been used to improve new electronics and green energy technology, including flat-screen televisions, mobile phones, hybrid vehicles, defense missiles, petroleum refineries, wind turbines and much more. If it wasn't for neodymium, dysprosium and terbium, we would still be walking around with Gordon Gekko's cell phone because these materials are key ingredients in neodymium-iron-boron magnets. Small quantities of these materials allow manufacturers to make phones, tablets and mp3 players smaller, thinner and lighter, while maintaining computer power, memory and functionality.

TCMR: If manufacturers can't access these materials at reasonable prices, won't they just engineer them out of the products?

MD: Automakers are exploring ways to make hybrid cars without rare earth metals, but it would be difficult for them to create REE-free motors because they provide more power and efficiency than traditional ferric magnet alternatives.

JB: We believe uses for these metals will continue to rise. One expert in natural resource investing estimates that China has over 1,000 engineers and scientists dedicated to creating new products using rare earth metals!

Over the last decade, as global consumers have continued to buy REE-dependent products, demand has risen from 80,000 tons (t) to over 130,000t. Demand could go as high as 300,000t by 2015 by some aggressive estimates.

Much of the demand increase is coming from China as the country moves toward creating green energy and advancements in military and defense technology. In 2010, China's demand was 72,000t; by 2015, China's forecast demand is over 117,000t.

TCMR: How will growing demand and shrinking supply posed by China's shrinking export quota impact rare earth prices and, ultimately, equity opportunities?

JB: China owns 30% of the REE deposits and controls 97% of the world's REE production. The rare earth monopoly allows Chinese suppliers to manipulate prices. As the former leader of China, Deng Xiaoping once said, "The Middle East has oil and China has rare earths." China's leadership plans to make the most of that fact.

MD: Japanese and U.S. governments and manufacturers are, therefore, at the mercy of the Chinese government for REE supply. The U.S. government has claimed that a supply shortage would threaten national security because defense manufacturers use rare earths to make lasers, guided missiles systems and predator drones. Japanese automakers are now locking up supplies in Vietnam, Brazil and India.

Some manufacturers moved to China to gain access to supply, which was part of the country's strategic plan to bring more jobs and capital to the Chinese economy. Outside China, we think it will be difficult to close the supply gap, particularly for the heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). Unfortunately, there are not many mines outside of China that have a big deposit of the heavies going into production within the next three years. This will create a major supply shortage for metals like dysprosium and terbium going into 2015.

The supply forecast for light rare earth elements (LREEs) is more optimistic, mainly because a few mines are coming into production in the next few years. Molycorp Inc.'s (MCP:NYSE) Mountain Pass Mine is projected to be in full production in the second half of 2012 and Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.'s (GWG:TSX.V; GWMGF:OTCQX) Steenkampskraal Mine could be operational in 2013.

TCMR: I know prices increased dramatically in 2009 and 2010, but most have come back down since then. Was it a bubble?

JB: We believe the price dip was long overdue because the market moved way ahead after China cut exports. A violent correction was normal after such a long-time price increase. We do not believe this will mark the new low due to the high global demand and the potential supply shortage. The rare earths market still holds a lot of promise in the future for astute investors, but capital needs to be carefully allocated into the sector. This is a stock picker's market now. More than 200 juniors list themselves as REE plays today. However, based on current conservative 2015 demand projections, we think the market can only support at most five or six companies.

What this means is many of the junior companies furthest away from production will go bust or sell out through a joint venture (JV) for pennies on the dollar. We think a massive consolidation of the sector is very good for its long-term health.

MD: Many of the rare earths companies, including some in the second tier, have management teams that don't properly understand the context of the current macroeconomic situation. Some of these companies in our second tier have high quality deposits, but are still years away from production with many companies in the second tier not scheduled to go into production until 2015 at the earliest. Despite this reality, a number of companies are not adequately managing cash flow burn rates to weather the storm and they will need additional equity financing in 12 months or less at a depressed stock price.

JB: For example, Arafura Resources Ltd. ( ASX ) management totally misunderstood the macroeconomic environment and did a massive equity financing/dilution after the stock price had already had an immense correction. This is one of the main reasons it didn't make either tier or our watch list, although the company could be saved by a surprise takeover or funding from the Chinese. Prudent company financing should have been done before early 2011 when rare earths prices were soaring.

TCMR: What companies positioned themselves well during this window?

JB: Molycorp used debt, equity and preferred shares to fund through production at higher stock price valuations. The company announced on Feb. 23 that it earned $0.26/share for Q411. Gross profit margins dropped less than 7% total, which means management is doing a very good job operationally considering how much REE prices fell and how some input costs have increased during the Phase 1 production ramp up of Project Phoenix at Mountain Pass. The company is in very good shape to weather out the storm of lower prices. It is now generating good cash flows from small production and doesn't need to go back to the market for any more debt/equity financing unless it wants to make an acquisition of accretive, undervalued assets, as it did earlier in the year by buying the rare earths processing company Silmet. The company recently announced a JV deal with Daido Steel and Mitsubishi Corp. (MSBHF:OTN) to make value added, higher profit margin rare earth magnets in Japan starting in 2013. Once more market penetration occurs, Molycorp is projecting massive sales growth for 2012 and should be able to achieve pricing power on all of their Xsorbx water treatment products and start getting a premium for the product. It's a sound long-term strategy. Innovating with the rare earths to create higher profit margin products to sell is the best way to weather the storm of a worsening macroeconomic environment.

Questions remain concerning permitting, execution on the mine-to-magnet vertical integration strategy, processing capacity and exposure to the HREEs. But the company is the best positioned of the group in our opinion. If Molycorp succeeds, the sector will start to get more people willing to finance other projects. The company could even reinvest profits into other juniors.

MD: Over at Great Western's Steenkampskraal Mine, the all-important total rare earth oxide (TREO) grades are well above 10% TREO, some of the highest grades of any deposit in the world, which could translate into the most robust profit margins. Rock mined at Steenkampskraal is monazite, so in-demand HREE concentrations are high. The mine could be in production in less than 18 months. The company already has a license to store the thorium byproduct at the mine, and since the mine was operated decades ago before it was shut down, infrastructure is already present. The company owns two quality processing facility assets worth more than the current market cap. Management has already said demand is increasing so rapidly that another doubling of production capacity is possible after the first expansion is implemented in the next three years.

Great Western Minerals owns a few other promising REE deposits. It will be buying tailings from other South African miners. It has a deal negotiated with Aichi Steel, a subsidiary of Toyota Group, for Aichi to buy a large quantity of rare earth alloys and another long-term supply contract with German permanent magnet maker, Vacuumschmelze.

The downside is that the Steenkampskraal Mine is located in South Africa, which is politically unstable. However, Great Western's processing plants will comprise most of the profit and those facilities are located in the U.S. and U.K.

Also, although it is generating significant revenues, Great Western Minerals is still not profitable because it pays high input costs for processing materials. The company imports rare earth metals from China at great expense. Management has not done a good job of understanding the macroeconomic situation or of managing the cash levels at the company and because of this, management botched a financing in the last few months that it could have easily done at a much higher stock price earlier in the year and have diluted less. The company is not fully funded yet and is not completely self-sustaining. Cheaper materials from Steenkampskraal will generate higher profits. The company's other processing facility, Great Western Technologies in Michigan, is currently sitting idle because of a dearth of HREE materials.

Great Western Minerals is a long-term play. Financial statements are getting stronger with increasing gross profit margins due to the Less Common Metals processing plant. Great Western's stock price also benefited tremendously when the rare earth metals price rose from 2010 to July 2011. Since then, the stock price had a violent correction, mainly from declining rare earth prices and dilution. Investors will have to have a two- to three-year timeframe when investing with Great Western Minerals. The most important thing to watch is management execution. Can they can recover from the dilution? Will they bring the Steenkampskraal Mine to full production on time with no major setbacks? Will they reduce processing costs? And can they continue to expand profit margins? If management can execute, we would not be surprised if this stock goes up tenfold.

TCMR: What REE-related companies could benefit from demand for REEs' unique physical properties?

JB: Neo Material Technologies (NEM:TSX) is generating significant profits and free cash flow. The company makes higher, valued-added profit margin products in the form of permanent magnets. Not many firms are capable of making neodymium iron-boron magnets outside of China, Japan and Germany. The company has been using profits to acquire smaller magnet-making firms.

The company recently announced a share buyback program to counteract what it believes is severe undervaluing. Neo Material still buys some of its rare earth alloy materials from China to make magnets and is vulnerable to higher export tariffs/taxes on Chinese rare earth products or disruptions in supply. To better protect itself, the company needs to further diversify its supply.

Similar to Great Western Minerals, Neo Materials is also a long-term play for rare earth investors. However, if you invested in this stock over a year ago, then it should be paying off now. Financial statements continue to get stronger every quarter with 10 consecutive increases in quarterly revenue due to the increasing rare earth prices. The quarterly earnings per share ( EPS ) increased almost sixfold and operating income is at $109 million ( M ), compared to $19M last year. Long-term debt is at $197M, but the company is sitting on $319M in cash, so it can pay off debt in full at any time and still have enough cash to reinvest.

It will be interesting to see how management increases revenue with declining rare earth prices. Will buyers lock up supply at a discount or will demand taper off due to the bad macroeconomic environment? Since Neo Materials has no exposure to the beginning part of the vertical integration strategy, the company might want to use its cash to do private placement or a royalty deal with rare earth mining companies in exchange for rare earth oxides (REOs) and alloys at a discount. We will have to watch this one.

TCMR: Why isn't Lynas Corp. ( ASX ) included in the top tier?

MD: At one point, Lynas was ahead of Molycorp in terms of its production timeline. That time has passed. Lynas has a very good and very economic deposit at Mt. Weld with great grades and a nice mix of rare earths, but the company has some very serious issues it needs to address with more than words if it is going to be moved back into our top tier.

For starters, Lynas has received very credible allegations of cutting corners at its proposed Malaysian REO processing facility. The plant was put in Malaysia because of a large tax break and the plant was supposed to be online already. What most people do not understand about the rare earths sector is that the concentrate produced from mining is worth up to 80% less than the market will pay for processed REOs, which are easier to move up the value chain and into more advanced products.

Lynas is currently mining its Mt. Weld Deposit, but it can't make the concentrate from there into REO at the Malaysian processing facility. The environmental permit for Lynas to process there has been delayed by the Malaysian government for more than eight months. Additionally, production costs have risen twice already to well above original project economics. We do not like the trend we are seeing out of management.

Also, Australia now shows significant geopolitical risk. Last year, politicians attempted a mining super-profits tax. This year, Australian politicians successfully passed carbon cap-and-trade legislation tax that will hurt mining production costs. We are avoiding investing in the country entirely.

TCMR: What can we expect from the rest of the field in 2012?

JB: Because we are using a more conservative demand estimate for 2015, we believe there will be a forced shakeout/consolidation period in the rare earths market, similar to what is still happening in the uranium market. Volatility caused by the worsening macroeconomic situation, fluctuations in REE prices and the abundance of rare earth juniors too far away from production with little to no hope of getting the financing means more shakeout to come.

MD: That said, there are still many positive, bullish reasons why investors should still be willing to allocate capital to the rare earths space. The entire market is more than capable of growing at a 7% or more annual growth rate in terms of industrial demand for many years because of the growing acceptance of products that only rare earths currently make possible and the future products that will most likely come from continued innovation in rare earths.

However, investors really need to be discriminatory with their capital. Concentrate on the top tier in the sector. Then sprinkle some of the second-tier companies that aren't generating cash flow yet but have quality deposits or processing facilities. Those companies are Quest Rare Minerals Ltd. (QRM:TSX.V; QRM:NYSE.A) , Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AVL:TSX; AVL:NYSE; AVARF:OTCQX), Tasman Metals Ltd. (TSX.V: TSM; OTCPK: TASXF), Stans Energy Corp. (HRE:TSX.V) , Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (UCU:TSX.V; UURAF:OTCQX) , Lynas, and Rare Element Resources Ltd. (RES:TSX; REE:NYSE.A) .

Below the second-tier companies is a watch list of dark horse companies that could leapfrog or surprise and jump ahead of the second tier that we listed because these companies are selling at extremely low valuations and are potentially takeover targets or JV partners for companies like Molycorp and Great Western Minerals.

In our opinion, Molycorp and Great Western Minerals Group are going to end up consolidating the rare earth sector in the next three to five years-unless Lynas gets its act together and joins the ranks of one of the companies doing the consolidating. Neo Material Technologies has not hinted that they are interested in a fully vertical integrated strategy, but they have been acquiring firms higher up in the value chain in processing rare earth magnets. In 2013 going forward, we expect dividends in the common shares from Molycorp, Neo Material Technologies, and maybe even Great Western Minerals.

[Spartacus77]

The approval of Lynas Corp.’s (ASX:LYC) advanced materials plant (LAMP) in Gebang, Malaysia last week could start the clock ticking for many rare earth junior miners, as the facility, and others slated to come online in the next few years, is expected to increase non-Chinese output 10-fold by 2016 and a create a surplus of supply in rare earth markets.

The two year temporary license awarded on February 2 by Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) allows Lynas to begin processing rare earths imported from its Mount Weld property in Austalia. If Lynas complies with the terms of the license during this period, a permanent license may then be considered by the AELB.

Initial capacity at the $200 million plant will be 11,000 tonnes of rare earth oxide (REO) per annum when operations begin midway through the year, and this will eventually be ramped up to 22,000 tonnes per annum of REO.

But with 11,000 tonnes per annum of REO already one-third of current demand, first-movers such as Lynas could end up supplying the bulk of the rare earths market outside of China and squeezing out juniors who need strong rare earth prices to raise capital and to keep their projects commercially viable.

Improving supply could force many juniors out of the sector

With some experts forecasting production of REO outside of China to reach 60,000 tonnes per annum by 2016 and demand of just 55,000 tonnes per annum, rare earths markets could see a surplus of supply within 5 years that could restrain rare earth prices and trim the playing field down from the hundreds of companies that are currently operating in the industry.

In an interview with Mining Weekly on February 1, Jack Lifton of Technology Metals Research suggested that “clammed-up capital markets coupled with lower prices” would put close to 90 percent of publicly-listed rare earth juniors out of business over the next two years.

Riding soaring rare earths prices over the past two years following cuts to China’s output and export quotas, the number of junior miners in the rare earths sector ballooned.

A fallback in rare earths prices over the last half of 2011, however, was painful for many juniors who had been baking sky-high prices into their business models.

As the market continues to search for an equilibrium, Lifton believes that there will be at most 30 to 40 companies left by 2014.

“There are too many companies in the supply side and not enough on the demand side, so a lot of the supply side will be eliminated by the market effect that they will get no money,” remarked Lifton.

Great Western and Alkane nearing production

Among those that should be able to avoid being squeezed out of the market by entering into production within the next few years are Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. (TSXV:GWG) and Alkane Resources Ltd. (ASX:ALK).

According to Dudley Kingsnorth, Executive Director of Industrial Minerals Company of Australia, Great Western’s Steenkampsraal project in South Africa and Alkane’s Dubbo project in Australia, which is composed of more than a 25 percent mix of heavy rare earth elements (HREE), are two of a handful of projects that are more than likely to be fully operational by 2016.

Both companies have previously indicated they could begin initial production as early as 2012/2013, and although Kingsnorth’s projections are more conservative than those provided by the two companies, he believes Great Western and Alkane should be joining the ranks of active producers within the next four years.

[Spartacus77]

Great Western Minerals Group
Corporate Update – As at February 7, 2012

Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company") Corporate Holdings:

1 former producing mine: Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa. GWMG holds controlling interest in the mine through its 100% shareholding of Rare Earth Extraction Co. Limited ("Rareco").
2 rare earth processing plants: Less Common Metals Limited ("LCM") in Birkenhead, U.K. and Great Western Technologies Inc. ("GWTI") in Troy, Michigan.
5 rare earth exploration projects: 1 at the Steenkampskraal site, 4 in North America.
GWMG Corporate Focus:

GWMG continues to execute its strategic plan to become a "first mover", as a fully integrated rare earth producer and processor, supplying its own rare earth inputs into its production and value-added cycle. Management discusses the strategy on the Company's website at http://www.gwmg.ca/html/news/corporate_videos/index.cfm.

GWMG Corporate Coverage:

Three analysts cover GWMG:

Byron Capital Markets: Analyst – Jon Hykawy, Contact points:
[e-mail], 647-426-1656
Euro Pacific Canada: Analyst – Nick Agostino, Contact points:
[e-mail], 416-649-4273
Cormark Securities Inc.: Analyst – Edward Otto, Contact points:
[e-mail], 416-943-6748
Note: GWMG does not recommend nor endorse any research reports.

GWMG: Planning to be an "early mover" as a fully integrated rare earth producer and processor, with key strategic assets already in place or under development:

Exploration ? Mining ? Mixed Chloride Production ? Solvent Extraction Separation ? Alloy Manufacturing

Exploration:

Steenkampskraal – Completion of Phase 1 of Drill Program:
As announced on January 30, 2012 GWMG has completed the first phase of the exploration program at the Company's 474 hectare Steenkampskraal rare earth property in South Africa. The drill program had two primary goals; firstly, to provide information in support of a fully compliant National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate report for the area within the main mine site and secondly, to collect a representative mini-bulk sample for metallurgical testing. The program comprised 39 diamond drill-holes totaling 3,780 meters. This included 17 holes for resource delineation (1,932 meters) and 22 holes dedicated to metallurgical sampling (1,848 meters). Assay results will be reported as they are received from the laboratories.

Steenkampskraal – Launch of Phase 2 of Drill Program:
GWMG is pleased to announce that the Company has also launched a 3,000 meter exploration program that will include on-strike and down-dip drill-holes at the Steenkampskraal site to test the extension of the mineralized vein system. The drilling has commenced targeting the strike extension of the monazite vein mineralization immediately west of the current mine site.

Steenkampskraal – Regional Drill Program:
In 2011 GWMG made application for Prospecting Rights surrounding the Steenkampskraal site. That application, for Prospecting Rights for an area of approximately 1,000 square kilometers, was not accepted initially and the appeal remains in progress. The Company remains of the opinion that a number of monazite occurrences outside the Steenkampskraal mine site area warrant exploration work.

Red Wine – Labrador Canada:
GWMG's joint venture partner in the Red Wine exploration project, Search Minerals Inc. ("Search"), has made several announcements in recent months. On January 20, 2012, Search announced that its phase three drilling program had extended the rare earth element mineralization to 400 meters depth at the project. Previously, on January 16, 2012, Search announced the discovery of high-grade rare earth element mineralization in the Merlot Prospect at the Red Wine Property. The Merlot Prospect is part of the 50/50 Search Minerals-GWMG Red Wine joint venture.

Mining:

GWMG is pleased to announce an update on its extensive refurbishment of the Steenkampskraal mine shaft and ancillary surface facilities.

Shaft Refurbishment:
The first 125 meters of the decline have been refurbished with 50 meters remaining to be completed. GWMG is also pleased to announce that the design and implementation of the decline, based on the work to date, has been reviewed and approved by the Republic of South Africa Department of Mineral Resources, Mine Safety Authority.

Modern, high-volume underground ventilation continues to be improved with the installation of two new fans at the base of the underground workings. The ventilation distribution system is designed to substantially mitigate radon measurements in the working areas.

Mine Management:
GWMG has continued to expand its core of expertise to ensure the Steenkampskraal project is developed in a timely, safe and cost efficient manner. As announced previously, David Kennedy is now the Chief Executive Officer of Rareco. His responsibilities encompass all of GWMG’s operations in South Africa. Vincent Mora is Steenkampskraal Project Director and Kwaw Kabaah was appointed Mine Manager late in 2011. Willie Schreuder was recently named the second Minesite Manager while Witker Zimba was previously announced as Superintendent of the separation plant that will be constructed near the Steenkampskraal project by Great Western GQD Rare Earth Materials Co. Ltd., the joint venture company in which GWMG holds a control position. Brent Jellicoe was previously named Director, International Exploration for GWMG and is overseeing the Steenkampskraal exploration program.

The Steenkampskraal team also includes a Radiation Protection Officer and radiation protection staff. They are supported by a Monazite Processing and Radioactivity management team that includes two highly qualified Radiation Protection Specialists.

The total staffing at Steenkampskraal, including employees and contractors, totals approximately 70 persons on any given day of operations.

Mine Equipment and Infrastructure:
The headgear and the winder for the decline have been fabricated and are now at site. The foundations are being constructed for imminent installation of the head gear along with all transfer hoppers and steelwork.

The Steenkampskraal site now contains a full complement of ancillary buildings. This includes management offices, change houses and laundry service (in compliance with the South African National Nuclear Regulations). Other buildings now at site include mine workshops and storage facilities. As well, a geological office and core storage, workshops and numerous lay-down pads have been constructed, proving beneficial to the success of the Steenkampskraal exploration program. The infrastructure for satellite communications is now at site, enabling internet use, and creating greater efficiency.

Potable and mine recirculation water systems are now in place. The reverse osmosis plant has been successfully installed with a capacity of 18,000 litres per hour. This capacity is important to management's priority of continuous re-use of the available water resource, thereby minimizing overall water use at site.

Photographs of the continual progress being achieved at the Steenkampskraal mine site, on a month by month basis, are available on the GWMG website at
http://www.gwmg.ca/html/projects/mining/steenkampsraal_update/index.cfm.

Mixed Chloride Production:
The design of the mixed chloride plant, to be constructed at the Steenkampskraal mine site, is now complete. This work has been undertaken by DRA Mineral Projects (Pty) Ltd. ("DRA") of South Africa. DRA was chosen based on criteria that included its strong reputation for managing projects with a "zero harm" focus and upholding world class quality standards, systems and procedures, based on ISO standards. With the design phase complete, the costs and phasing of the construction of the mixed chloride production plant are now being updated and refined at significantly higher levels of detail and confidence.

Solvent Extraction Separation:
GWMG and Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group Ltd. ("GQD") of China established an incorporated joint venture for the design, construction and operation of a rare earth separation plant, to be located in the Steenkampskraal region, as announced on January 10, 2012. The signing of the joint venture agreement and the incorporation of Great Western GQD Rare Earth Materials Co. Ltd. followed the principles set out in the Heads of Terms between the two companies.

Throughout the discussions on the joint venture agreement, the two companies undertook a significant amount of design and environmental work in anticipation of successfully entering into the joint venture. GWMG and GQD are now actively engaged in the work required to move the separation plant through the final design, construction and operation stages.

Alloy Manufacturing:
The capacity of GWMG's wholly owned subsidiary Less Common Metals Limited received a significant boost, by approximately 50%, as announced on January 31, 2012. The addition of a new furnace located at Hooton Park, in close proximity to LCM's existing facilities, enables LCM to produce alloys in "flake" form, as opposed to the traditional ingots, in response to customer demand. LCM plans to add new furnaces in response to the increasing demand from its growing global customer base.

Photos of the new furnace and facility can be found on the GWMG website at
http://www.gwmg.ca/html/projects/processing/lcm-first-pour-2012/index.cfm.

Corporate:

GWMG has agreed to issue 2,072,484 shares at a deemed price of $.63 per share to settle amounts owing to Mr. Trevor Blench in connection with the acquisition of Rareco and the exercise of the option granted by Mr. Blench in 2010. The issuance of such shares is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.

[Spartacus77]

IBC Advanced Alloys Provides

2011 Utah Drill Program Update

Drill Program to Quantify Upstream Beryllium Assets

in Juab County, Utah

VANCOUVER, BC - February 7, 2012 - IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. (TSX-V: IB OTCQX: IAALF) ("IBC" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a progress report from its 2011 exploration program on the Company's Juab County, Utah properties.

The program consisted of 35 reverse circulation 60 degree inclined holes on 100 metre spacing on the Company's 371 claims adjacent to Materion's Spor Mountain beryllium mine. Field personnel currently are completing the logging and processing of the more than 100 tonnes (115 short tons) of samples recovered from the drilling operations. ALS-Minerals has been selected to provide geochemical analyses and quantitative beryllium analysis of the approximate 5,000 samples generated by the 2011 exploration program.



More than 750 samples from four of the exploration drill holes have been submitted to the laboratory for analysis with preliminary results expected in the near term. The Company expects to complete processing of drill samples and receive analysis of all samples by the end of May 2012. Microscopic examination of drill cuttings has shown that several of the drill holes encountered the Bell Hill Dolomite as well as large quantities of lavender-coloured fluorite that is usually associated with beryllium mineralization in this area.



Lee Rice, Vice President of Exploration for IBC stated, "The drilling program progressed very smoothly with good to excellent sample recovery thanks to the Layne Christensen Company drillers and equipment. Our initial examination of drill hole samples indicates that we have tested the complete suite of rocks in this depositional environment and that our hypothesis of deposition from hot ascending fluids rather than from descending meteoric waters appears to be confirmed."



About the property:

The Juab County property consists of 371 claims (approximately 7,630 acres) immediately adjacent to Materion Corporation's open-pit beryllium mining operations on Spor Mountain that have been in production since 1969. The 2011 exploration program consisted of 35 reverse circulation 60° inclined drill holes on 100-metre spacing along a line perpendicular to the prevailing northeast-trending fracture patterns in the metasedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks of the Fish Springs valley and completely traversing the Company's southern claim block. All drill holes reached a depth of 150 metres (492 feet) to test the concentration of beryllium ore minerals within economic open pit mining depths in both the valley fill tuff and volcaniclastic rocks as well as the underlying Bell Hill Dolomite metasedimentary unit which is unexposed in the area of the Company's claim blocks.

[Spartacus77]

Rare Earth Demand on the Upswing - North American and Australian Explorers Poised to Benefit
Last Update: 2/2/2012 8:20:34 AM


NEW YORK, NY, Feb 02, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Rare Earth stocks had a strong January. The Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF - which seeks to replicate the price and yield performance of foreign and domestic equity securities of publicly traded companies primarily engaged in a variety of activities that are related to the producing, refining and recycling of rare earth and strategic metals and minerals - skyrocketed an impressive 18.6 percent last month as favorable economic data raised hopes that demand for the 17 rare earth metals would strengthen. The Paragon Report examines investing opportunities in the Rare Earth Industry and provides equity research on Lynas Corporation Limited (pinksheets:LYSCF) (asx:LYC) and Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. (GWG) (pinksheets:GWMGF). Access to the full company reports can be found at:

www.paragonreport.com/LYSCF

www.paragonreport.com/GWG

A World Trade Organization (WTO) appeals panel confirmed Monday that China's export restrictions on raw materials such as bauxite and magnesium violated global trade rules. While rare earth metals were not part of Monday's WTO ruling, Reuters argues that the WTO ruling against China's restrictions on raw material exports could force changes to some of its rare earth policies.

A number of U.S. lawmakers urged the United States to use the WTO decision to launch a new case to force China to lift its rare earth export restrictions.

The Paragon Report provides investors with an excellent first step in their due diligence by providing daily trading ideas, and consolidating the public information available on them. For more investment research on the rare earth industry register with us free at www.paragonreport.com and get exclusive access to our numerous stock reports and industry newsletters.

Shares of Lynas Corporation had a strong January, surging roughly 34 percent. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Lynas warned against any move by Malaysia's political opposition to shut the company's $200 million rare earths processing plant, saying such action would deter other foreign investment in the country. Lynas is awaiting a temporary license to start operating the rare earths plant and is expected to receive a decision from the cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Razak next week.

The Paragon Report has not been compensated by any of the above-mentioned publicly traded companies. Paragon Report is compensated by other third party organizations for advertising services. We act as an independent research portal and are aware that all investment entails inherent risks. Please view the full disclaimer at http://www.paragonreport.com/disclaimer

SOURCE: Paragon Financial Limited

[Spartacus77]

This is getting ready to take off.



(1)Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company", TSX:V – GWG) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Less Common Metals ("LCM"), has successfully carried out the first full-scale melt with LCM's newly acquired furnace. The first pour was undertaken on Friday, January 27, 2012 at LCM’s new plant located in Hooton Park in Birkenhead, United Kingdom.

The installation of the new furnace, which began in November, 2011 and was completed by mid-January, 2012, was undertaken by a team comprised of engineers from the furnace supplier alongside LCM personnel. After extensive testing of the power, water, vacuum and control systems, the furnace was approved to commence melting trials of Neodymium-Iron-Boron alloys for permanent magnet applications.

The subsequent trials, which will continue into February, will focus on the production of alloys that fully conform to detailed customer specifications.



(2) During his 15 year career with Cameco Corporation, one of the world’s largest uranium companies, Mr. Kiss held increasingly senior positions including vice president, corporate development and power generation. Amongst a broad range of experiences, as senior legal advisor he participated in preparations for Cameco’s initial listings on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, as special project co-ordinator he oversaw the development of several significant domestic and international joint venture agreements and projects, and as marketing director, North America, he negotiated numerous long term supply agreements. He has also been directly involved in a wide range of acquisitions and varied joint venture arrangements

(3) Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company", TSX:V — GWG) is pleased to announce that the joint venture agreement ("Agreement") with Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group Ltd. ("GQD") of China for the construction of a rare earth separation plant in South Africa has been completed and signed




(4)These investigations have two primary goals; firstly, to provide information in support of a fully compliant National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate report and secondly, to focus on a possible expansion of the resource at Steenkampskraal through testing the down-dip extension of the main structure

[stockwrestler2]

check this out:

http://www.stockhouse.com/News/CanadianReleasesDetail.aspx?n=8412423


glta

[MWM]

Damn just noticed Stans!

[Spartacus77]

More capacity that is all customer driven, what an opportunity and they want more capacity as we speak, that's why the second will come about in 2012.

GREAT WESTERN MINERALS GROUP'S LCM SUCCESSFULLY
COMPLETES FIRST POUR WITH NEW RARE EARTH FURNACE

January 31, 2012 - Saskatoon, Canada: Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company", TSX:V – GWG) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Less Common Metals ("LCM"), has successfully carried out the first full-scale melt with LCM's newly acquired furnace. The first pour was undertaken on Friday, January 27, 2012 at LCM’s new plant located in Hooton Park in Birkenhead, United Kingdom.

The installation of the new furnace, which began in November, 2011 and was completed by mid-January, 2012, was undertaken by a team comprised of engineers from the furnace supplier alongside LCM personnel. After extensive testing of the power, water, vacuum and control systems, the furnace was approved to commence melting trials of Neodymium-Iron-Boron alloys for permanent magnet applications.

The subsequent trials, which will continue into February, will focus on the production of alloys that fully conform to detailed customer specifications.

GWMG President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Engdahl said, "The success of the first round of testing with LCM’s new furnace speaks highly of the level of expertise that resides within the team at LCM. The first pour with the new furnace is a significant step forward in the continued advancement of our "mines to markets" strategy as it increases our alloy production capacity by almost 50%. The newly acquired furnace positions our Company to further satisfy the requirements of our global customer base and, in the process, solidify the position of GWMG as a pre-eminent global supplier of rare earth products."

Photos and a brief video of the first pour with LCM's new furnace can be seen on the GWMG website at www.gwmg.ca/lcm-first-pour.

[Spartacus77]

Great Western Minerals Group Completes First Phase of Steenkampskraal Rare Earth Evaluation Program
Last Update: 1/30/2012 9:25:43 AM


SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, Jan 30, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company") (tsx venture:GWG) (otcqx:GWMGF) is pleased to announce that it has completed the first phase of the exploration program at the Company's Steenkampskraal rare earth property in South Africa.

These investigations have two primary goals; firstly, to provide information in support of a fully compliant National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate report and secondly, to focus on a possible expansion of the resource at Steenkampskraal through testing the down-dip extension of the main structure. The program included 39 diamond drillholes totaling 3,780 meters. This included 17 holes for resource delineation (1,932 meters) and 22 holes dedicated to metallurgical sampling (1,848 meters).

Within the resource evaluation component of the drill program, 17 HQ drillholes were completed. Four holes did not intercept obvious mineralization, likely due to the pinch and swell of the vein system. 125 of 143 samples of monazite and mineralized host rock have been shipped to SGS Lakefield in Canada ("SGS") for assay. Additionally, 133 of 173 underground channel samples of monazite and mineralized host rock collected from throughout the three levels of the mine, undertaken as a verification of Anglo American's work prior to the mine closure with the same survey control points, have been sent to SGS for assay. 353 representative samples collected from throughout the historical tailings dams and 78 representative samples from throughout the historical lower grade rock dumps were also shipped to SGS for assay.

Within the metallurgical mini-bulk sampling component of the program, 22 HQ drillholes were completed in 2011 providing 172 kilograms of monazite. An additional 534 kilograms of monazite were recently collected from underground in-situ mineralization through channel sampling in the historic mine workings. The combined 706 kilograms of representative material was shipped to Mintek of Johannesburg, South Africa ("Mintek") for metallurgical characterization as of today. As well, 350 kilograms of representative vein ore and host rock that was collected from underground sites will be shipped to Mintek today for XRF recognition trials. Previously, 2,087 kilograms of tailings dam and rock dump material had been sent to Mintek for metallurgical characterization in November 2011.

Assay results will be reported as they are received from the laboratories.

Brent Jellicoe, B.Sc., P.Geo, Director of International Exploration for GWMG, is the Qualified Person responsible for reviewing the contents of this news release.

[Spartacus77]

Jon Hykawy: Our absolute top pick in the space would be Saskatoon-based Great Western Minerals Group. This is a company that is still overlooked by a large portion of the investors interested in the rare earths space. It is a downstream manufacturer of advanced rare earth alloys, rather than a simple miner. The only reason that the company is reopening a mine in South Africa is because of uncertainty with respect to getting the supply of materials that they need to make magnet alloys. Without being able to reliably get neodymium and dysprosium from the Chinese – an issue that they saw years ago – the least expensive way for GWG to reliably get those materials was to reopen a mine.

But what people don’t really appreciate is the leverage that’s given to anybody participating in this downstream space. A company making good magnet alloys, which are necessary to make really high-quality rare earth magnets, can expect to sell those alloys for up to US$300/kg. This is an alloy that only contains about 30% neodymium. The rest of the material is relatively cheap iron and boron. So, even at the peak of neodymium pricing, these magnets contained about US$100 of neodymium. That means you’re selling US$100 of neodymium for US$300. That’s not bad leverage. But when Steenkampskraal reaches production, my estimates for Great Western would suggest that this sort of US$300/kg alloy could be produced by GWG for probably less than US$15/kg or US$20/kg.

And in no circumstance do we see the price for high-quality magnet alloys dropping below US$100/kg. So, if you’re looking at an $80 or $85 margin on one kilogram of magnet alloy, you’re not doing too badly. The cash flow that a company like GWG can generate is fairly robust.

SmallCapPower.com: What’s your 12-month target on GWG?

Jon Hykawy: Currently it’s $3.40, which looks a little extravagant compared to the trading range that it’s in but, frankly, it still only represents a $1 billion to $1.5 billion market cap, and this is a company that we believe, when it’s in full production, will generate cash flow of $300 - $400 million a year.

SmallCapPower.com: And your second pick?

Jon Hykawy: Our second pick actually is one that we’ve had a “sell” on for a long time, but the market has chosen to drive the stock down to the point where we actually believe there’s considerable value in it, and that’s Molycorp.

Molycorp, too, is a downstream producer. And, again, we think that is very important because if you follow the pricing through, what we see is that magnet-making is a very good multiplier for revenue. Molycorp just recently signed a joint-venture agreement with two Japanese companies that will see the partners take the lanthanum and cerium output from Molycorp’s Mountain Pass mine in California and sell that to partners interested in taking that material and putting it into the catalyst space.

But once Molycorp starts producing neodymium, it will then take that through its supply chain all the way to building magnets, adding value at each level. We could see Molycorp cash flowing at US$500 million a year once it’s in Phase Two of production. And that easily supports the target that we have on them, which is $40 at this point.

SmallCapPower.com: And your third pick?

Jon Hykawy: The third name we like is Matamec Explorations Inc. (TSX.V:MAT). It has been criticized lately for the deal that it did with Toyota Tsusho. But it is a very interesting name to us because of the very simple metallurgy that’s associated with their deposits. The deposits that comprise Matamec’s Kipawa project are relatively low-grade but have a high percentage of heavy rare earths. Once Matamec is in production, it will produce a larger volume of heavy rare earths than either Great Western Minerals Group or Molycorp. But Matamec likely won’t be in full production of finished concentrates until sometime in 2015.

But this pick is really about the metallurgy, which is very straightforward. All Matamec is doing is using a magnetic separation technique to upgrade their milled ore. They then take the rare earth concentrate and put it in sulphuric acid at room temperature for a couple of hours. The acid consumption is very low, and there’s no heat involved. That means the cost of their hydrometallurgy is very low. And so Matamec should eventually reap the advantages of selling valuable heavy rare earths with very low processing costs.

SmallCapPower.com: Do you believe that Matamec President Andre Gauthier secured enough in return for what he gave up to Toyota Tsusho?

Jon Hykawy: I’ve had discussions with him about that. I think it’s fair to say we believe that they could have received more. On the other hand, the argument that we’ve been given and one that we have to agree with is that the rare earths space includes about 400 names that are all trying to come to market and the rare earths industry can’t support 400 new projects. To reach production, a rare earths mine has to have four things: a tractable deposit; an economic deposit; a customer for its end-product, and the financing to build it. Without all of those, you don’t have a mine. What Matamec gained in signing its agreement with Toyota Tsusho – and doing the best deal that they believed they could do at the time – is access to financing and access to the customer. And that means that Kipawa is fully on track to become a mine. Not too many other companies in this space can say that. And you can’t quibble with the fact that you’ve still got a good investment return for shareholders. Our target on the company is $0.95 and carry a “buy” recommendation on it because, frankly, that’s what their portion of this project is worth.

[MWM]

http://reehandbook.com/intro.html

[Pro-Life]

noteworthy possible i-Box/i-Message material (ree handbook):

Posted by: iheartweimers
In reply to: FuturesJackal who wrote msg# 751 Date:1/12/2012 5:04:58 PM
Post #752 of 752

http://reehandbook.com/intro.html Good reference to file on hard drive or in cloud for future use if/when facts about individual REE are needed. Nobody memorizes this stuff.

[Pro-Life]

Quest with a monster day (news)... +25.49%:

Quest Reports Strong Summer Program Drill Results at Strange Lake, Intersects 144.4 Metres at 1.44% TREO, Strange Lake, Quebec
Date : 01/12/2012 @ 8:30AM
Source : MarketWire

http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=50721210&symbol=QRM

......

[MWM]

Great Western Minerals Group and Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group Sign Rare Earth Separation Agreement
Press Release: Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. – 2 hours 58 minutes ago

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwire -01/10/12)- Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company") (TSX-V: GWG.V - News)(OTCQX: GWMGF.PK - News) is pleased to announce that the joint venture agreement ("Agreement") with Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group Ltd. ("GQD") of China for the construction of a rare earth separation plant in South Africa has been completed and signed.

Pursuant to the Agreement, the newly created joint venture company, Great Western GQD Rare Earth Materials Proprietary Limited ("GWGQD") will immediately finalize the preliminary work already underway on the process design and environmental components of the separation plant and move toward construction of the facility.

A wholly owned subsidiary of GWMG will own mixed rare earth chlorides, which GWGQD will process under a tolling agreement. The Agreement provides that GWGQD will separate mixed rare earths into products usable by GWMG's wholly owned subsidiary, Less Common Metals Limited ("LCM"), and third party customers.

Under the terms of the Agreement, GQD receives 25% of the shares of GWGQD for its contribution to design and construction of the facility, and $7.5 Million of GWMG shares to be paid over three years contingent on the facility being fully commissioned and operating effectively, and fees and/or dividends for providing long term management support for the operation of the separation facility.

The separation plant will be constructed in close proximity to GWMG's Steenkampskraal operation where the previously operating mine is being refurbished and readied in anticipation of rare earth mining.

GQD is a highly respected processor of Rare Earth oxides and metals with over twenty years of operational experience in China during which time it has been a significant supplier of metals and oxides to LCM.

GWMG President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Engdahl said, "This agreement represents one of the single most significant milestones in the history of GWMG. We are exceptionally pleased to have concluded such an important agreement between our Company and GQD for the construction and operation of a rare earth separation plant. Our agreement with GQD, with its two decades of rare earth processing experience, means that we have successfully engaged a rare earth industry leader as a joint venture partner to execute the separation component of our Company's plan to be the most fully integrated rare earth processing company outside of China."

Mr. Bin Gong, Chief Executive Officer of GQD said, "The signing of this joint venture agreement between GQD and GWMG represents a landmark development in the rare earth industry. This agreement sets the foundation for our two companies to proceed to full development of a separation facility within our joint venture. While it may have taken us longer than expected to get to this point, the complexities of such a groundbreaking agreement should not be underestimated. However, we are now in a position to allow the joint venture to proceed with all haste. Everybody at GQD looks forward to a long and rewarding relationship with GWMG."

Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. is an integrated Rare Earths processor. Its specialty alloys are used in the battery, magnet and aerospace industries. Produced at the Company's wholly owned subsidiaries Less Common Metals Limited in Birkenhead, U.K. and Great Western Technologies Inc. in Troy, Michigan, these alloys contain aluminium, nickel, cobalt and Rare Earth Elements. As part of the Company's vertical integration strategy, GWMG also holds 100% equity ownership in Rare Earth Extraction Co. Limited, which owns a 74% equity interest in the Steenkampskraal Mine. In addition to an exploration program at Steenkampskraal, GWMG also holds interests in four active Rare Earth exploration and development properties in North America.

[MWM]

REE sure went on a tear!

[Spartacus77]

TCMR: What themes do you expect will dominate the REE space in 2012?

JH: There's an interesting beginning of the year shaping up. Chinese quotas will be announced in the early part of 2012. We don't expect dramatic changes in the supply. If anything, the quotas will likely be ratcheted down, but the driving argument there will be that we have not used all of the 2011 quotas. In fact, there still remains substantial export quota for use in 2011. We might even see the export quotas on lanthanum and cerium rise to some extent to try to bring those prices back into a more reasonable range and encourage their use.

The rare earth industry will build up outside of China in 2012. I expect the re-establishment of mining operations in South Africa at Steenkampskraal and the startup of operations at Molycorp. Hopefully, there will be the eminent approval of the Malaysian facility for Lynas Corp. Ltd (LYC:ASX) early in 2012. I think it's going to be a very interesting year.

TCMR: Fascinating. Thanks, Jon.

[Spartacus77]

We participated in the Great Western deal because Great Western is our top pick in the space, because we do believe there's a great deal of value there and because we would be happy to have our clients own a stock where we are fairly certain that the returns are not going to embarrass us.

TCMR: In a Dec. 1 research report on Great Western, you noted that the company's latest round of financing was not sufficient to complete mine construction and required processing plants. However, you expect additional non-dilutive financing. What form will that financing likely take?

JH: There are two possibilities. GWG's prospective partner, Aichi Steel of the Toyota Group, may provide financing in the form of debt. There's also the prospect for non-dilutive financing in the form of off-take agreements – cash payments up front for guaranteed supplies of material and even perhaps material at a discount later.

TCMR: Who are the likely players to come forward for those agreements?

JH: It could be an entity like Toyota Tsusho that will take the material and sell it within the Toyota group and to outside entities. It could be a group like Albemarle or a BASF, which needs lanthanum and cerium for its catalytic materials, but have been buying those materials from Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group Co. Ltd. (GQD) (which GWG has partnered with on a solvent extraction joint venture). Knowing that the quality of material out of GWG will be the quality of material that GQD has always produced, there may be a number of offtake partners emerging soon.

[MWM]

Yo, somehow I think u put me on ignore...

I can't respond to your pm...

[Spartacus77]

Avalon Rare Metals and Great Western Minerals on the Downturn as Rare Earth Outlook Weakens
Last Update: 1/4/2012 8:16:42 AM


NEW YORK, NY, Jan 04, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Rare earth demand took a sizeable hit in the late stages of 2011, causing uncertainty heading into the New Year. According to reports from Forbes, low demand during 2011 was caused by "high rare earths prices from both heavy and light rare earths metals, which despite their fluttering prices, remain historically high." The Paragon Report examines investing opportunities in the Rare Earth Industry and provides equity research on Avalon Rare Metals, Inc. (AVL)(AVL) and Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. (GWG) (pinksheets:GWMGF). Access to the full company reports can be found at:

www.paragonreport.com/AVL

www.paragonreport.com/GWG

Last week The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced its rare earth export quota for the first half of 2012. The ministry says that it will keep 2012 overseas sales quotas practically unchanged after exporters used only half the amount allotted for this year as buyers sought to cut usage and amid complaints over restrictions from trading partners.

Separately, the Ministry announced its decision to classify rare earth minerals into two categories: heavy and light rare earths. The change -- which was anticipated by analysts -- may prove to be a positive step for end users as the two groups have vastly different demand levels, Rare Earth Investing News reports.

The Paragon Report provides investors with an excellent first step in their due diligence by providing daily trading ideas, and consolidating the public information available on them. For more investment research on the rare earth industry register with us free at www.paragonreport.com and get exclusive access to our numerous stock reports and industry newsletters.

Last week, JPMorgan Chase & Co warned that rare earth prices could possibly remain low this year given China's pronouncement and expected higher production from Molycorp, Inc. and other rare earth producers.

Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. owns, explores, and develops metal properties in the United States, Canada, and South Africa. The company focuses on the exploration of rare earth metals (REE). The company recently announced that its margins on manufacturing / processing operations for the first nine months of 2011 represented an increase of 47% over the same year-to-date period of 2010.

[MWM]

Rare earths kind of dead for now...

I'd be buying AVL if I had to dip my toe in...

[Spartacus77]

Great Western Minerals Group CEO Scheduled to Address Rare Earth Issues on BNN
Last Update: 12/29/2011 9:06:43 AM


SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, Dec 29, 2011 (Marketwire via COMTEX) -- Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company") (GWG) (otcqx:GWMGF) is pleased to announce that GWMG's President and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Engdahl, is scheduled to appear on the Business News Network ("BNN") Commodities Show at 11:30 a.m. EST today, Thursday, December 29, 2011.

The scheduled topics for the BNN interview include the impact of the rare earth export quotas recently announced by the Government of China as well as a corporate update on GWMG.

[Spartacus77]

This should help!
China Cuts 2012 Rare Earth Export Quota By 27% In First BatchBEIJING (Dow Jones)--China has set the first batch of its 2012 rare-earth export quota at 10,546 metric tons, down about 27% from a year ago, with the full-year quota likely to stay largely flat on year, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

China controls about 95% of global rare earth supply and has been gradually reducing its export quota over the years to gain greater control over pricing, but even a reduced quota wasn't fully used up this year amid slowing global demand.

Beijing is also emphasizing environmental considerations in reducing the 2012 export quota, playing up its move to exclude from the quota companies that didn't meet its environmental standards.

Analysts had widely expected Beijing to slightly cut next year's export quotas amid a weaker global economy and unused quota capacity this year.

The world's top producer capped exports at 14,446 tons for the first batch this year, and 15,738 tons for the second.

For the first time, Beijing also split its 2012 quota into light and medium-to-heavy categories.

For 2012, it has approved the export of 9,095 tons of light minerals and 1,451 tons of medium-to-heavy category minerals. It also provided a list of pending approvals totaling 14,358 tons.

The ministry said the first batch, including approved and pending quotas, will account for 80% of the whole year's quota, indicating that the 2012 quota may total 31,130 tons.

The government usually issues rare-earth export quotas twice a year. The second batch is usually issued around July.

In arriving at its decision, the commerce ministry "is likely to have considered the fact that China's rare-earth inventories are relatively [high] and there's left over from the [2011] quota," said Jin Bosong, deputy director of the ministry's International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute.

The government capped the export quota at 30,184 tons this year, but only about half the quota, or 14,750 tons, had been shipped out in the first 11 months amid soft overseas demand, the ministry said.

Rare earth prices have been falling since June, amid softening global demand.

In an effort to play up its environmental credentials, the ministry said only 11 exporters have been granted export rights, adding that "the ministry set up a pending-approval list for applicants that need further environmental review."

[Spartacus77]

The market for hybrid vehicles is currently witnessing rapid growth with analysts expecting their demand to grow several folds during 2011-2015. The extensive adoption of these vehicles can be attributed to a number of factors. These include: a growing awareness among end users, government support, rapid technological advancements and a continuous increase in oil prices. Question marks, however, are currently hanging over the future growth of these vehicles – at least in the short term. A new study from IMARC Group, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms entitled “The Global Rare Earth Elements Market 2011-2015: Is the Hype Justified?” finds that hybrid vehicles largely depend upon four rare earth elements –Praseodymium, Neodymium, Terbium, and Dysprosium. Out of these four elements, the later three are expected to face a critical supply crunch in the near future.



Findings from the report suggest that NdFeB magnets are the enabling technology for today’s electric vehicles. The commonly used rare earth magnets of today combine 31% Neodymium with 68% Iron and 1% Boron. However, these magnets when used in hybrid vehicles have to be alloyed with up to 4.5% of Dysprosium by weight that dramatically improves its temperature handling capability. Terbium, even though more expensive and a lot rarer than dysprosium, can also accomplish the same thing. Praseodymium may also added to the magnet to enhance its field strength. The report expects that the demand of NdFeB magnets is expected to grow exponentially with an increasing demand of hybrid vehicles. This in turn is expected to drive the consumption of the rare earth elements - Neodymium, Praseodymium, Dysprosium and Terbium in the coming years.



Findings from the report also suggested that NdFeB magnet manufacturers are heavily dependent upon China for their rare earth supplies. In 2010, China accounted for 99% of the global Terbium production, 98% of the global Praseodymium production and 97% of both Neodymium and Dysprosium production. As a result of its increasing domestic demand, the Chinese government in recent years has significantly restricted the export of these elements. For instance, between May 2010 and August 2011, the domestic prices for Neodymium in China increased eightfold, this resulted in the Chinese government decreasing its export quota and ramping up its export taxes on rare earths leading to sky rocketing prices and a shortage of rare earth elements for the rest of the world.



Supply demand projections from the report suggest that with the opening of a number of non-Chinese mines during 2011–2015, the production of these four rare earth elements will significantly increase and diversify. However, excluding Preseodymium which is expected to be oversupplied by 17%, the report expects the demand of Dysprosium, Terbium and Neodymium to outpace their total supply by 71%, 10% and 9% respectively by 2015. The report suggests that the shortage of these three rare earth elements may have a major impact on the growth of the hybrid car market as they have limited substitutes and recycling options.

IMARC’s new report entitled “The Global Rare Earth Elements Market 2011-2015: Is the Hype Justified?” provides an analytical and statistical insight into the global rare earth elements market. The study that has been undertaken using both desk-based as well as qualitative primary research has analyzed five aspects of the rare earth elements market.

Key Aspects Analyzed in this Report:

Understanding the Mining Economics of Rare Earth Elements:
Focus of the Analysis:
• Rare earth mine valuation


• Stages and time taken to develop and start production at a rare earth mine
• The total costs involved in rare earth mining
• Mining and downstream processing of rare earth elements
• Rare earth element pricing

Understanding China’s Role in the Global Rare Earth Elements Market:
Focus of the Analysis:
• China’s role in the global supply and demand of rare earth elements
• Reasons for China’s dominance
• China’s current and future supply strategies

Comprehensive Situation Analysis of the Global Rare Earth Elements Market:
Focus of the analysis:


• Quantifying the historical sales and production of rare earth elements
• Identification and evaluation of current global rare earth mines
• Identification and evaluation of mines expected to begin production in the next five years
• Current and future consumption of rare earth elements
Evaluating the Supply and Demand of Various Rare Earth Elements:
Focus of the analysis:
• Quantifying the production of each element from current and future mines
• Quantifying the current and future demand of each element
• Historical, current and future prices of each element


• Evaluating the supply risks of each element and its importance for clean technology
• Identification of critically undersupplied and oversupplied rare earth elements

[Spartacus77]

China May Cut 2012 Rare Earth Export Quotas
19 Dec 2011
December 19 (CapitalVue) -- China may slightly reduce the export quotas for rare earth minerals next year due to slowing global economic growth and the unused rare earth quotas in 2011, the official China Securities Journal reported on Monday, citing Jin Baisong, vice director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation's foreign trade department.

The Ministry of Commerce recently released the first batch of 11 qualified enterprises for rare earth exports in 2012. Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech Co. Ltd. (600111.SH) was excluded from the list.

Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech had obtained rare earth export quotas of 2,965 tons and 3,220 tons over 2 batches in 2011.

The total quota of rare earth exports granted by the Ministry of Commerce to 31 enterprises in 2011 was 30,184 tons.

During the first 3 quarters of 2011, rare earth exports totaled only 12,000 tons, down 65 percent year-on-year.

Insiders estimate the unused quota of rare earth exports for 2011 to be 10,000 tons.

According to the report, Baotou Steel Rare-Earth was selling neodymium oxide for about RMB 80 ($12.64) per ton on Dec. 16. During the first half of the year, neodymium oxide prices had risen from RMB 23 per ton to about RMB 150 per ton.

[Spartacus77]

Tuesday, December 20, 2011
REE Applications Continue to Multiply While Supply Remains a Question Mark
Another day, another use found for rare metals, this time with aluminum.

No, not aluminum/scandium baseball bats. Not this time.

UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminum producer, has announced that its Engineering and Technology Center – together with the Siberian Federal University (SFU) – has created a technology to produce aluminum alloys containing rare earth metals and transition materials, according to commoditytonline.com

Although not overly specific, the company said it can now produce alloys for heavy-duty electric cables capable of transmitting 1.5 times more electricity than modern power transmission lines.

The company has also engineered the needed equipment to implement these new alloys into the power grid, “to produce special wire rod for cables … we plan to install such equipment to produce these high-tech and competitive products at the Irkutsk aluminum smelter first with the Bratsk and other RUSAL’s smelters following,’ RUSAL’s Technical Director Viktor Mann told the website.

SFU’s Oil and Gas Institute Director Nickolay Dovzhenko, who heads the project from the University side: “Even at the development stage we received about thirty patents. To my mind, it is a new word in production of long components, such as electric cables, for example…It will also allow to reduce significantly energy and metal consumption. At the same time, efficiency of production of several types of alloys using this equipment will be much higher as compared when competitors’ equipment is used. Also, the introduced equipment requires fewer personnel to operate.’

RUSAL has already started cooperating with the Moscow and Tomsk cable plants. The first samples have been sent to Moscow for testing.

RUSAL will launch a new production line at the Irkutsk smelter in 2012-2013. The equipment developed and tested jointly with SFU will be used to launch a new wire rod production line with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes per annum.

So, while the rest of the world struggles to create a rare earth industry, one that’s isn’t dominated by China, as it is now, the dynamics on the demand side of the equation continue to evolve. In many ways, it appears that the number of uses for rare earths will continue to outstrip innovation to engineer rare earths out of many existing products.

Another small example: spark plugs.

Automakers may soon replace 150-year old spark plugs with laser igniters that rely on yttrium, according to Japanese researchers who unveiled the system earlier this year.

The new technology promises cleaner, more efficient, and more economic combustion engines, including those in hybrids, according to rareearthdigest.com.

The low-cost laser system uses yttrium with aluminum-gallium segments, one doped with rare earth neodymium, the other with chromium. The two sections are bonded together to form a powerful laser that ignites fuel in the combustion chamber more efficiently.

Given the growing concern about the relative scarcity of rare earth production, especially HREEs, that is or will be available to country-specific industries, the 17 metals could become a giant testing ground for the word, "irony." While the emerging value of these metals has led to many positive technological and societal applications, the resulting geopolitical pandora's box could ultimately produce quite the opposite result.

Alarmist? Of course. But it seems more plausible than the death of a little-known archduke, a small match that lit a bonfire of national vanities, a giant pyre built-up over decades.

[Spartacus77]

US Magnetic Materials Association Applauds Inclusion of Rare Earth Inventory Assessment in Fiscal Year 2012 Defense Authorization Bill


The United States Magnetic Materials Association (USMMA), a trade association representing high performance magnet producers and suppliers, today applauded congressional defense authorizers for including a provision in the final version of the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to conduct a rare earth inventory assessment at the Department of Defense.

The provision, originally included in the bill as an amendment by Congressman Mike Coffman (R-CO), would require the Defense Logistics Agency to conduct an assessment of rare earth materials, and forms of those materials, required to support the needs of the Department of Defense. It would also consider potential market impacts and steps the department could implement to use the inventory as a catalyst to development of secure sources of rare earth oxides, metals, alloys and magnets. Finally, the assessment will consider the viability of potential producers in the next five years. Findings and recommendations based on the report would be submitted to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees for review.

?This is a huge step toward re-establishing a secure, multi-source rare earth industry here in the United States,? said Ed Richardson, president of the USMMA. ?We applaud the armed services committees for their foresight and thank Congressman Coffman for his tireless work on this important issue.?

The NDAA authorizes funding for the Department of Defense and other defense-related programs. The final legislation, called the Conference Report, was settled on after the House and Senate passed two different versions of the bill.

The NDAA now heads back to the House where lawmakers hope to have a final up-or-down vote by Wednesday. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later this week. It may still face a challenge from President Obama, who previously threatened to veto the legislation over a number of unrelated policy issues. The NDAA has passed every year for the past 50 years.

USMMA members include:

Electron Energy Corporation (EEC) offers unmatched expertise in rare earth magnets, assemblies and systems. Founded in 1970, EEC is an ITAR and DFARS-compliant, US supplier, that develops and produces custom Samarium Cobalt (SmCo) and Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) sintered permanent magnets and assemblies. EEC is dedicated to improving rare earth magnet performance to meet the most technically demanding applications in aerospace, military, medical, electronics, and motion control markets.

Thomas & Skinner is the world leader in high-performance magnets and magnetic materials used in strategic weapons systems. Our cast and sintered alnico magnets, magnetic assemblies, and transformer laminations are considered the best in the industry. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Ceramic Magnetics, Inc., Thomas & Skinner is also a leading manufacturer of soft ferrite magnets. We are committed to providing our customers with the highest-quality, highest-performing magnetic materials available.

U.S. Rare Earths, Inc., an American natural resources development company based in Salt Lake City and New York City, holds large resources and reserves of high-grade rare earth metals and the largest documented high-grade thorium properties in the world within its properties in Idaho, Montana, and Colorado, including 80% of known and estimated U.S. reserves.

Arnold Magnetic Technologies (Arnold) produces cast and sintered Alnico, RECOMA® brand Samarium Cobalt (SmCo), bonded Ferrite and Neodymium magnets, all varieties of magnetic Assemblies, and ultra-thin precision foil and strip. Arnold's Alnico, SmCo and silicon steels are DFARS compliant and work done at any of our six (6) US-based facilities is also ITAR compliant. We also offer Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnets and have multiple fabrication facilities for magnets and assemblies utilizing all commercially available magnet materials.

Great Western Technologies Inc. is a leading production facility in North America for rare earth materials, powders, and custom vacuum-grade specialty alloys. GWTI provides research and development, process development, consulting, and innovative products and services to clients worldwide. GWTI, in partnership with its parent company, Great Western Minerals Group Ltd., is part of the first vertically integrated structure in North America to produce and process rare earth elements for advanced technology and alternative energy markets.

Lynas Corporation is creating a reliable, fully integrated source of supply from mine through to customers, and aims to become the benchmark for security of supply and environmental standards in the global Rare Earths industry. Lynas has developed a mine at its rich deposit of Rare Earths at Mt Weld in Western Australia, and will produce separated rare earth products from its Advanced Materials Plant which shall commence production in Q3 2011.

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. is a Canadian resource exploration company focused on rare metal ores, among the primary input materials of technology applications in the 21st century. Ucore maintains holdings across North America including Bokan Mountain, estimated to be one of the most significant Dysprosium and other Heavy Rare Earth deposits within the United States.

Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp. is a North American based mining company engaged in the exploration and development of mineral properties. Their flagship property, Round Top Mountain in Hudspeth County, Texas, is held under a 20-year renewable lease from the State of Texas to explore and develop a rare earth-uranium-beryllium prospect which includes niobium, tantalum and gallium.

Stans Energy Corp. is focused on developing the materials necessary to meet the clean energy demands of the future. Their goal is to build and produce our licensed properties containing rare earths, uranium, and associated metals in the near term. Stans company growth will come from acquiring, and participating in the development of, resource properties located in areas of the former Soviet Union.

[eom7]

MAT.v moving on Toyota news

[Spartacus77]

November 29, 2011 - Saskatoon, Canada: Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a progress report on the Company's drill program at its Steenkampskraal rare earth mine site in South Africa.

26 coreholes totaling 2,307 meters have been completed, including 19 holes dedicated to metallurgical mini-bulk sampling and 7 for geological resource delineation.

Jim Engdahl, President and Chief Executive Officer of GWMG stated, "Our drilling and sampling program will continue to mid-December, 2011. This moves us toward completion of two goals at Steenkampskraal — first, to provide information in support of a fully compliant National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate report and second, to expand the resources at Steenkampskraal through testing the down-dip extension of the main structure as well as investigation of the encasing host rock mineralization."

For metallurgical testing, clusters of drillholes with a variety of bearings and inclinations were situated around a central resource definition corehole on selected locations to collect representative samples of monazite mineralization. Intersections of mineralization in metallurgical holes ranged from a few centimeters to 3.55 meters along core length. These holes will be logged in detail, measured for bulk density, and sampled for assay. In addition, a representative selection of the resource definition core has been identified and sampled for ongoing mineralogical and textural studies. Resource definition holes encountered a comparable range of true vein thicknesses,

The second major objective of the drill program is the step-out designed to test the on-strike and down-dip extension of rare earth mineralization of the Steenkampskraal deposit. Thus far, approximately 185 kilograms, out of a proposed 600 kilograms, of underground monazite sample has been collected by underground channel sampling. Upon completion, this material will be submitted for characterization studies.

Mintek of Johannesburg, South Africa has been selected to conduct the metallurgical characterization necessary for development of design criteria for ore beneficiation and rare earth extraction at Steenkampskraal. Approximately 630 kilograms of mini-bulk metallurgical sample from the surface tailings dam and 730 kilograms from the rock dump were submitted to Mintek earlier this month.

As well, a total of 276 samples were collected by shallow tube sampling on a 10 meter grid pattern covering the historic tailings dam onsite. Assay samples from the resource definition coreholes will continue to be collected through to mid-December. All assay results will be reported as they are received from the laboratory with the priority use of the data being for incorporation into the metallurgical characterization of the potential ore, as well as resource modeling report, which is contracted to SRK Consulting South Africa.

John Pearson, MSc, P.Geo, Vice-President Exploration for GWMG, is the Qualified Person responsible for reviewing the contents of this news release.

[MWM]

Prices of Rare Earth Metals Declining Sharply
International prices for some light rare earths, like cerium and lanthanum, used in industries like
the polishing of flat-screen televisions and oil refining, respectively, have fallen by
two-thirds since August and are still dropping. Prices have declined almost as quickly
for highly magnetic rare earths, like neodymium, needed for products like smartphones,
computers and large wind turbines.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/prices-rare-earth-metals-declining-134016169.html

[MWM]

Welcome

[PoemStone]

Marked the board etc. GLTA!

Mod of GDLNF
http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=squote&symbol=GDLNF

[Spartacus77]

IBC Advanced Alloys Appoints

Alastair Neill to the Board

VANCOUVER, BC - November 14th, 2011 - IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. (TSX-V: IB; OTCQX: IAALF) ("IBC" or the "Company") appoints Alastair Neill as a director of the Company effective November 1st, 2011.



"I am excited to join the IBC board and ready to provide guidance and assistance," said Mr. Neill. "IBC's vertically integrated structure is ideally suited to take advantage of the many opportunities in the specialty alloys and critical metals market. I look forward," continued Neill, "to strengthening IBC's position, especially in Asia, where I believe there is excellent growth potential and strategic opportunities for new market development."



Alastair Neill is former Vice President of Sales and General Manager of Rare Earth Division for AMR (Now Neo-Material Technologies). He brings over 15 years of direct Rare Earth Elements experience with downstream end-users in Korea, Japan, Europe and North America and with material suppliers in China. Mr. Neill is currently Executive Vice President of Dacha Strategic Metalsand serves on the Advisory Board of Rare Earth Element World (REE World), an international organization dedicated to providing industry leadership in the rare earths, rare metals and critical metals sector.



"We are pleased to welcome Alastair Neill to the board to help guide the development of our upstream mineral projects as well as our downstream manufacturing and processing initiatives," said Anthony Dutton, President and CEO of IBC Advanced Alloys. "Alastair is an acknowledged international rare earths and rare metals expert, and has an impressive history of business and technical expertise and success. We believe IBC will benefit tremendously," continued Dutton, "from Alastair's deep market knowledge and industry experience. We look forward to his guidance and leadership as IBC continues its growth and develops its business strategy in North America and abroad."



Alastair Neill replaces Denis Brady on the board of directors. The Company thanks Mr. Brady for his service on the board and wishes him well with his future endeavours.

[Spartacus77]

Majority of Non-Chinese Rare Earth Projects Will Fail: TMR’s Jack Lifton
Email Print Reproduction
Mon, Nov 7, 2011 Feature Articles, Uncategorized
Post by Robert Sullivan, Resource Reporter By Robert Sullivan – Exclusive to Rare Earth Investing News
inShare.0

Rare earths consultancy Technology Metals Research (TMR), no stranger to controversy, has stirred up debate again after founder Jack Lifton told Reuters on November 1 that “the vast majority of non-Chinese rare earth metal ventures will fail.”

Lifton stated that of the 244 companies in the rare earths sector outside of China, less than 4 percent will prove profitable.

“The choke point for all the companies is the question of what they can do with the concentrated REM (rare earth metal) ore once it’s above ground. You can extract the rare earths together, but then you have to separate them…the world’s REM separation capacity is 99 percent Chinese and they have unused capacity,” Lifton said.

“Without separation capacity, all you have is a loss-making ore concentrate company,” he added.

His comments came a day after Australian miner Lynas Corp.(ASX:LYC) announced that its advanced materials plant being built in Kuantan, Malaysia had encountered “slight delays” and would not be coming online until early 2012.

Lynas had previously indicated that the plant, subject to regulatory approval from the Malaysian government, was scheduled to come online in 2011.

Molycorp leading the charge outside of China

Lifton’s pessimistic outlook will come as a disappointment to those who are hoping companies outside of China can fill the rare earths supply gap that has grown in the wake of China’s decision to tighten export and production quotas of rare earths.

China capped domestic production for 2011 at 93,800 tonnes of rare earth oxides (REO), while exports were limited to 30,184 tonnes, down 40 percent from just two years ago. They are scheduled to release their rare earths production and export quotas for 2012 later in November.

Optimists, on the other hand, will point to a recent announcement from Colorado-based Molycorp Inc. (NYSE:MCP), who revealed on October 20 that they will be opening a new processing plant in California months ahead of schedule.

The new plant is slated to come online in early 2012, and to coincide with the early start for the new facility, Molycorp also announced they would soon be restarting operations at their Mountain Pass mine in order to build stock for the plant.

HREEs critical to survival in REE sector

Despite many analysts’ belief that these latest developments from Molycorp bode well for the company, there has been some criticism of Molycorp’s Moutain Pass project, which is skewed towards light rare earth elements (LREE), as opposed to heavy rare earth elements (HREE) such as dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium, which fetch a much higher price.

Lifton falls into this camp, and believes that most companies that aren’t mining HREEs will simply not be able to turn a profit due to the expensive separation process.

“You don’t want the biggest deposits, you don’t want to have to process hundreds of tonnes at horrendous cost. You’re looking for the highest grade heavy rare earths and the least cost to recover them. It’s a question of economics,” Lifton said.

“In terms of investment, the best bet are the companies that will be producing the heavy rare earths that will be in deficit in the future,” he added.

Lifton divides opinion

Lifton’s TMR, which maintains an Advanced Rare-Earth Projects Index on their website, has indicated that of the nearly 250 companies outside of China in the rare earths sector, those with deposits that hold the highest concentration of HREEs include Lynas, Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.(TSXV:GWG), Quest Rare Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:QRM), Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV:UCU), and Tasman Metals Ltd. (TSXV:TSM)

Critics of TMR and its founder, however, are keen to point out that Lifton is an equity holder in Great Western Minerals, and is a consultant for both Ucore and Tasman.

[Spartacus77]

There is a temporary production stoppage at China's largest REE exporter.

The U.S. Department of Defense has taken note of this. It is suggested that all this will create renewed interest in the rare earth industry.

http://provider.mining.com/news/2011/11/06/us-strategic-rare-earth-reserve-one-step-closer/

[Spartacus77]

Great Western Minerals Group Announces Management Appointments
Last Update: 11/3/2011 9:02:32 AM


SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, Nov 03, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Great Western Minerals Group ("GWMG" or the "Company") (tsx venture:GWG)(otcqx:GWMGF) is pleased to announce the appointment of David Kennedy to the position of Chief Executive Officer of GWMG's 100%-owned subsidiary Rare Earth Extraction Co. Limited ("Rareco").

Mr. Kennedy, a co-founder of Less Common Metals ("LCM") in 1992, has served as GWMG's Managing Director, Metals and Alloys, since the Company acquired LCM in 2008. He is a graduate in Metallurgy, a Chartered Engineer and is a Professional Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

In his role as CEO of Rareco, Mr. Kennedy, who remains a Director of GWMG, will have overall responsibility for the development, commissioning and operation of GWMG's Steenkampskraal rare earth mining operation.

GWMG is also pleased to announce the appointment of Ian Higgins to the position of Managing Director, Metals and Alloys, with overall responsibility for LCM and Great Western Technologies Inc. Dr. Higgins, who holds a Ph. D. in Materials Science, is a highly experienced rare earth technical expert who joined LCM in 2001. He has been responsible for the day-to-day operations of LCM as well as procurement of rare earth materials from China.

Additionally, GWMG is pleased to announce the appointment of David Murphy as Commercial Director of LCM. Mr. Murphy, who has over thirty years of experience in the rare earths sector with LCM, and previously with Johnson Matthey Rare Earth Products where he was General Manager, is responsible for sales, marketing and customer support at LCM.

All appointments are effective immediately.

[Spartacus77]

Lynas Corp and Great Western Minerals to Share in "Burden" of Global Rare Earth Production
Last Update: 11/3/2011 8:16:39 AM


NEW YORK, NY, Nov 03, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- North American and Australian rare earth explorers are expected to get a boost going forward as China loosens its control on the sector. Presently China has about one-third of global rare earth deposits but produces about 95 percent of the world's supply. Recent statements from China's government and the nation's largest producers hint that China hopes other countries will share the burden of rare earth production after depending on China's overmined deposits for a decade. The Bedford Report examines the Rare Earth Elements Industry and provides stock research on Lynas Corporation (pinksheets:LYSCF) (asx:LYC) and Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. (GWG) (pinksheets:GWMGF). Access to the full company reports can be found at:

www.bedfordreport.com/LYSCF

www.bedfordreport.com/GWG

Rare earth stocks have had a relatively successful run of late after China's largest rare-earth producer said last month that it would suspend smelting and separation work for a month to use its market power to rally falling rare earth prices. Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech, which accounts for nearly half of the world's light rare-earth production, said that the move was aimed at "balancing supply and demand."

Baotou's one-month suspension would remove about 5,000 metric tons of rare earth output from the global market this year, the Royal Bank of Scotland estimates.

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Li Zhong, the vice-general manager of top producer Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Holding, told a conference organised by Metal Pages that China's role as the dominant global supplier of rare earths will gradually come to an end as the industry focuses more on the domestic market. Zhong argues that it is now "unrealistic" to rare earth prices to fall back to previous levels as Beijing tightens the sector.

According to Reuters, most of China's rare earth prices remained unchanged last month, but a few in the complex fell -- a sign that the industry is still in a correction cycle from sky-high levels seen earlier this year after Beijing tightened controls over production and mining.