Molycorp.Inc. (fka MCPIQ)

[Tuff-Stuff]

Van Eck To Launch ‘Strategic Metals’ ETF-Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX) on Thursday focusing on materials “which make up 49 of the elements on the periodic table.”

The fund’s expense ratio will be 0.57% and follow an index created by Structured Solutions AG, according to its prospectus.

As of Oct. 11, the benchmark had 24 securities of companies primarily engaged in activities related to producing, refining and recycling of rare earth and strategic metals.

The materials are in high demand, according to the fund’s prospectus, due to their use in everything from cell phones to flat screen televisions and high-performance batteries.

Rare earth/strategic metals are “industrial metals that are typically mined as by-products or secondary metals in operations focused on precious metals and base metals. Compared to base metals, they have more specialized uses and are often more difficult to extract,” the prospectus said.

Nearly 24% of the underlying benchmark’s weighting is in Australia, with another 19.8% in Canada and some 18.7% in the U.S. China has 14.84% and Japan slightly more than 11%.

The ETF will have slightly more than half its stocks in mid-cap names with the remainder in small- and micro- caps.

Top stocks in the index include Iluka Resources, an Australian zircon producer, and Lynas Corp., also in Australia.

Among “rare earth” materials outlined by a recent Lynas release are: Lanthanum, Cerium, Neodymium, Praseodymium, Samarium, Dysprosium, Europrium and Terbium.

Other top holdings include: Titanium Metals (TIE), Thompson Creek Metals (TC), Molycorp (MCP) and RTI International Metals (RTI).

http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2010/10/27/van-eck-to-launch-strategic-metals-etf/?mod=google_news_blog