PHL surveys old mines for rare earth elements

[Crinkles11]

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Eyeing a slice of the world's rare earth elements (REE) market dominated by China, the Philippines is surveying old mine sites for REE deposits with a view to discovering enough quantities for commercial production.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) is focusing on the defunct Philippines Iron Mines or PIM, a site in Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte which possibly holds rare earth deposits, possibly Scandium and Yttrium, said MGB Director Leo Jasareno.

PMI ceased operations in the 1980s and was once the biggest iron mine in Asia.

The amount of REE deposits in the old mine remains "indeterminate at this time," Jasareno noted.

Apart from Scandium and Yttrium, the recognized family of REE includes Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium.

“The rare earth elements are all metals and the group is often referred to as the 'rare earth metals.' These metals have many similar properties and that often causes them to be found together in geologic deposits,” according to Geology.com

“Rare earth metals and alloys that contain them are used in many devices that people use every day such as: computer memory, DVDs, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, car catalytic converters, magnets, fluorescent lighting and much more,” it added.

Philippines aims to develop REE deposits and get a piece of the market action dominated by China.

“For most of the 21st century, the size of the rare earth market was about $1 to $2 billion,” according to a June 2011 SBI E0nergy report that appeared on Market Wired.

“With the recent and rapid price increases originating from Chinese export restrictions and absence of other RE resources, the value of this market is now about $10 billion, and is expected to keep rising,” the report added.

Recognizing the importance of rare earth elements in the early 1990s, China now supplies 97 percent of the global demand for REE.

“Historically, China began producing rare earths cheaply in large quantities in the 1990s,” according to the SBI Energy report.

MGB early this year started surveying copper, gold and nickel mines in Palawan and Nueva Vizcaya for REE deposits, including FCF Corporation's Runruno gold project and Oceanagold Phils Inc.'s Didipio copper-gold project.

Because of the affinity of alkaline host rocks to granite – similar to those found in China and Thailand – MGB said the aforementioned sites were considered as holding potential REE levels.

Laterite deposits in Berong and Ipilan nickel areas in Palawan were also sampled because after having been reported many times to contain values of Samarium, Europium and Scandium.

Coastal sediments in Northeastern Palawan were sampled for REE-bearing monazite, alanite and bastnasite minerals. The bureau said it was testing the sites for REE deposits like those in the nearshore to offshore sand deposits in EI Nido and San Vicente.

PHL surveys old mines for rare earth elements | Economy | GMA News Online

[salbahis]

naay rare metals diri sa amo luyo ay... basin ganahan sila mo survey...

[<SMILE>]

Coastal sediments in Northeastern Palawan were sampled for REE-bearing monazite, alanite and bastnasite minerals. The bureau said it was testing the sites for REE deposits like those in the nearshore to offshore sand deposits in EI Nido and San Vicente

Daghan ang dili mouyon ini,
otherwise kung naa puy latest technology unsaon pag-dispose sa mine tailings,
nga dili makadaot sa palibot sa minahan.

[jaez]

Ka aktibo ba nimo madaam!

Coastal sediments in Northeastern Palawan were sampled for REE-bearing monazite, alanite and bastnasite minerals. The bureau said it was testing the sites for REE deposits like those in the nearshore to offshore sand deposits in EI Nido and San Vicente

Daghan ang dili mouyon ini,
otherwise kung naa puy latest technology unsaon pag-dispose sa mine tailings,
nga dili makadaot sa palibot sa minahan.