Terra Magnetica

Rare Earths & Permanent Magnets On The Radio Airwaves

16. November 2009

Over the past few days, Australia’s ABC Radio National broadcast not one, but two items on rare earth metals, to both of which I heartily recommend listening. The first item was broadcast on the Breakfast program on Friday, and lasts a little over 6 minutes. It’s an introductory piece on the subject, but spends significant time discussing [...]

University of Delaware wins $4.4 million to develop next-generation magnets

14. November 2009

0 Comments

My thanks to RareMetalBlog’s Ian London for pointing this article out: Oct. 27, 2009 – by Tracey Bryant – The University of Delaware has won a $4.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) to lead a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research project to develop the next generation of high-performance permanent magnets. Stronger [...]

The Problems Of Sourcing Wind Turbines And Rare Earth Metals From China

12. November 2009

0 Comments

Last weekend, Democrat US Senator Chuck Schumer of NY made headlines with his comments on a recent plan to fund a wind farm in Texas, using Federal stimulus money to pay for Chinese-built wind turbines. Rare metals commentator and analyst Jack Lifton has posted a new article on the subject, called “The Rare Earth Crisis [...]

DMTC Hosts 2nd Annual Strategic Materials Conference

8. November 2009

2 Comments

The Defense Metals Technology Center [DMTC], based in North Canton, Ohio, is hosting its 2nd Annual Strategic Materials Conference [SMC] during Feb 1-2, 2010 in Cleveland, Ohio. According to the DMTC Web site: The Defense Metals Technology Center (DMTC) was formed in January, 2007 in order to establish an industrial base capable of affordably producing such strategic [...]

21st Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Workshop [REPM10]: Call For Abstracts

6. November 2009

0 Comments

Earlier today, I was pleased to learn that the Organizing Committee of the 21st International Workshop on Rare Earth Permanent Magnets and the Applications [REPM10] announced their first Call for Abstracts. This meeting takes places in Bled, Slovenia from August 29 to September 2, 2010. Held every two years, the Workshop was inaugurated in 1974 by [...]

It’s Official: Feds Required To Report To Congress On Rare Earths In The US Defense Supply Chain

1. November 2009

1 Comment

As I’ve posted about extensively here at Terra Magnetica, the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 contained language that required that the Federal government look at the role of rare earth materials in the US defense supply chain. Earlier this week, the bill was finally signed into law by President Obama. Section [...]

USMMA Forms New Advisory Board

28. October 2009

0 Comments

Earlier today, the United States Magnet Materials Association [USMMA] announced the formation of a new Advisory Board, comprising three highly-respected members of the magnetics & rare earths community. Joining the USMMA in this capacity are: Jack Lifton, of Jack Lifton LLC and The Jack Lifton Report, who is a well known commentator and consultant with over 47 [...]

The Critical & Strategic Metals Shindig

28. October 2009

0 Comments

I know I’ve been rather lax in following up on my last post here, sent just before the Critical & Strategic Metals Conference in Washington DC last week. It was a most interesting event. It gave many folks a chance to interact with other parts of the supply chain that they might not have directly [...]

Critical & Strategic Metals: The Big Pow Wow in Washington D.C.

19. October 2009

0 Comments

I’m currently in Washington D.C., ahead of a three-day meeting called “Managing Supply Chain Risks for Critical & Strategic Metals”. This meeting, co-chaired by Jack Lifton of Jack Lifton, LLC, and Lisa Reisman of Aptium Global, will no doubt be an interesting mix of discussions and participants. It looks to cover rare earth metals, minor metals, platinum [...]

Running the Gauntlet: Rare Earths, Specialty Metals and Turf Wars Inside the Beltway – Part 4

27. September 2009

0 Comments

This is the last in a four-part series of articles on the current scrutiny being given to rare earths by the US Congress and US Department of Defense, in the context of national security considerations. The third part can be accessed here. The full white paper can be downloaded as a PDF file from here. Strategic [...]