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 years of experience in the field of rare earth, platinum group and other minor metals, with a wealth of knowledge on the mining, refining, production and end uses of these metals;
• Stan Trout, of Spontaneous Materials, who is a highly-respected permanent magnet materials consultant, and one of the best teachers on the subject of permanent magnets around today. Stan has over 30 years experience in a variety of roles within the permanent magnets industry;
• Tony Morcos, of ACM Magnetics, who has significant experience in the end use and design of applications that use permanent magnets and electromagnets, and brings a valuable, alternative perspective to the issues facing rare earth usage and design optimization.

Previous postings here at Terra Magnetica, have touched on the work of all three of these guys, and their combined talents and experience bring significant new “bench strength” to the USMMA. The additions are a pretty smart move as this organization and others, such as the Rare Earth Information and Technology Association [REITA], face the challenges and hurdles associated with getting a viable rare earth supply chain up and running in North America.

Rather than re-hashing what has been already been shared elsewhere online about the meeting – here are some links to great articles on the meeting from Lisa Reisman (co-chair of the meeting) and Stuart Burns from Metal Miner:

• Supply Risk Management and Rare Earth Metals a Big Disconnect
• Electric Cars Could Pose a Challenge to Rare Earth Supply in “Nightmare Scenario”
• Displacing China as a Rare Earth Producer is No Small Feat
• Rare Earths, Critical and Strategic Metals and the US Legislative Agenda
• Rare Earth Metals Conference: Electric Vehicle Demand
• To Stockpile or Not to Stockpile that is the Rare Earth Question

In addition, Tracy Weslowsky of Wescow, a Founding Editor of RareMetalBlog, posted a thought-provoking piece at the RareMetalBlog based on the perspective she presented during a panel discussion at the meeting:

• Bubble Debate on Investment Opportunities in Critical and Strategic Metals

Finally, co-chair Jack Lifton last week published a well-timed, new article called The Rare Earth Crisis of 2009 which was circulating during the meeting, and is well worth a read.

I heartily recommend that you read each and every one of these links, to get an idea of what is going on in this important area. Well done to Lisa Reisman, Jack Lifton, the folks at Infocast, and to all of the speakers andpanelists, for a job well done.

Candidly, I came away with the distinct impression that although we now know where we can get the raw materials necessary for the growth of the technology metals sector – the question that needs to be answered is this: who is going to refine these materials and turn them into useful metals & alloys?  In the absence of such capabilities in North America, we will once again be heavily reliant on the good graces of our colleagues in China…

• Key Questions Necessary to Ask of the Critical Metals Industry
•  Do Stockpiles Work?
• Rare Earths – The Problem Child and Attention Deficit America
• The ‘Alternative Energy’ Metals
• Lithium Supply – Abundant Supply or At Risk?
• Mapping Supply Risk to Specific Sourcing Strategies
• Government Action in the Strategic Materials Market
• Is the Resource Base Available for the Scaling of Wind, Solar and Energy Storage?

There are of course plenty of other sessions too. I’ll try to post my thoughts and perspective on this meeting later this week, being particular mindful to note any commentary and perspective presented on the supply chain for permanent magnet materials, and their end uses.

I spoke earlier today with John Ebert of Yunsheng USA, the US arm of a fully integrated Chinese “mine-to-market” magnetic materials company. He had recently spoken with colleagues in China who had access to the report in question, and was able to get a different perspective on it.

I wrote up my discussion with John in an article at RareMetalBlog.com titled “The Sky Is Not Falling – A Different Perspective On The Chinese MIIT Report On Rare Earths” – feel free to check it out.

The almost complete monopoly that Chinese suppliers have on rare earth production, globally, has been a source of concern for the permanent magnets industry outside of China, for quite some time. The strategic importance of companies like Avalon,  Great Western Minerals Group, who also has significant rare earth reserves in Canada and Molycorp Minerals, LLC, with rare earth resources at the famous Mountain Pass facility in California, is self-evident, particularly for the permanent magnets industry in particular.  Information sources like the RMB are therefore particularly welcome, I think, to those of us trying to make sense of what can be a rapidly changing landscape.

Earlier this year I was invited to contribute to the RMB and I am pleased to say that earlier this month I finally made my first post over there, on the dysprosium problem.  I’ll be sure to highlight RMB posts, here at Terra Magnetica, that might be of particular interest to the permanent magnets industry.

– Gareth