AFP, Steenkampskraal :
It’s old, doesn’t look like much and is located well out the way in an arid part of western South Africa.
But the Steenkampskraal Mine may be about to become piping hot mining property thanks to some of the world’s highest-grade deposits of rare earth metals.
“Steenkampskraal will become a very important source of rare earths for the global industry,” Trevor Blench, chairman of Steenkampskraal Holdings Limited, said during a recent tour. The mine, located about 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Cape Town, used to produce thorium, a component of nuclear fuel, in the 1950s and 60s.
But now it’s been found to also have monazite ore which contains extremely high grade rare earth minerals including neodymium and praseodymium -elements vital to cutting-edge industries.
Manufacturing uses range from tinted welding goggles to industrial magnets, strong alloys for aircraft engines, military hardware, hybrid cars, consumer electronic devices, medical equipment and even the flints in cigarette lighters.
China produces the largest share of so-called “tech minerals”, with a domestic output of 120,000 tonnes in 2018.
That’s vastly more than the United States, which relies on China for about 80 percent of its rare-earth imports.
But now Beijing has threatened to cut off the supply as trade frictions mount, prompting US President Donald Trump on July 22 to give the Pentagon an executive order to find other sources of the crucial elements. Rare earth elements are a group of 17 minerals unique for their magnetic, catalytic and electrochemical properties.
It’s old, doesn’t look like much and is located well out the way in an arid part of western South Africa.
But the Steenkampskraal Mine may be about to become piping hot mining property thanks to some of the world’s highest-grade deposits of rare earth metals.
“Steenkampskraal will become a very important source of rare earths for the global industry,” Trevor Blench, chairman of Steenkampskraal Holdings Limited, said during a recent tour. The mine, located about 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Cape Town, used to produce thorium, a component of nuclear fuel, in the 1950s and 60s.
But now it’s been found to also have monazite ore which contains extremely high grade rare earth minerals including neodymium and praseodymium -elements vital to cutting-edge industries.
Manufacturing uses range from tinted welding goggles to industrial magnets, strong alloys for aircraft engines, military hardware, hybrid cars, consumer electronic devices, medical equipment and even the flints in cigarette lighters.
China produces the largest share of so-called “tech minerals”, with a domestic output of 120,000 tonnes in 2018.
That’s vastly more than the United States, which relies on China for about 80 percent of its rare-earth imports.
But now Beijing has threatened to cut off the supply as trade frictions mount, prompting US President Donald Trump on July 22 to give the Pentagon an executive order to find other sources of the crucial elements. Rare earth elements are a group of 17 minerals unique for their magnetic, catalytic and electrochemical properties.
