Great discussion. Must read the book “Elements of Power” by Danial Abraham to get detailed history of the situation. One key point that was left out of the discussion is that there is a giant shortage of mining engineers in the US. There is only one school of mining in the US with a high reputation… The Colorado school of Mines. You can have all the investment you want. If all the engineers want to do social media engineering and not get there hands dirty, then nothing substanial will happen.
All of this discussion and no mention of radioactive elements that occur with most, if not all, REE sources and what to do about that. Or the role that NRC plays in regulating extraction of REE when thorium, in particular, is 50% or more of production mix. Or the long story about our giveaway of thorium reactor tech to China on early days of WTO entry. Or, or, or. The lack of depth on minerals commodities is the biggest impediment to thinking and strategy in US and elsewhere.
Would be interesting to understand how China would subsidize this industry. Do they see it as subsidizing? Can the US follow this way of subsidizing?
I think key factor would be salaries & benefits for this very tough jobs. The Chinese workers would be much cheaper than US workers and workplace. So is not just capital investment, and if cannot find the answer, this industry will not be sustainable or attractive for US companies and investors.
Great discussion. Must read the book “Elements of Power” by Danial Abraham to get detailed history of the situation. One key point that was left out of the discussion is that there is a giant shortage of mining engineers in the US. There is only one school of mining in the US with a high reputation… The Colorado school of Mines. You can have all the investment you want. If all the engineers want to do social media engineering and not get there hands dirty, then nothing substanial will happen.
All of this discussion and no mention of radioactive elements that occur with most, if not all, REE sources and what to do about that. Or the role that NRC plays in regulating extraction of REE when thorium, in particular, is 50% or more of production mix. Or the long story about our giveaway of thorium reactor tech to China on early days of WTO entry. Or, or, or. The lack of depth on minerals commodities is the biggest impediment to thinking and strategy in US and elsewhere.
would love to learn more if you wanna write something up for chinatalk/point us in the direction of sources!
Will consider. Take a look. https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/chinese-behemoths-what-chinas-rare-earths-dominance-means-us
Would be interesting to understand how China would subsidize this industry. Do they see it as subsidizing? Can the US follow this way of subsidizing?
I think key factor would be salaries & benefits for this very tough jobs. The Chinese workers would be much cheaper than US workers and workplace. So is not just capital investment, and if cannot find the answer, this industry will not be sustainable or attractive for US companies and investors.