China takes restrictive measures on rare earth resource utilisation
Monday, 1 November 2010
Rare earths, a class of 17 chemical elements, have become increasingly important in manufacturing sophisticated products, including flat-screen monitors, electric car batteries, wind turbines, missiles and aerospace alloys, reports Xinhua.
As the high-tech industry developed rapidly in recent years, the global demand and consumption of rare earths grew fast.
However, mining these minerals, which are vital for developing a green world, took a toll on environment. Lax environmental standards and a low industry threshold led to serious overcapacity in China's rare earth market in the past two decades.
Excessive and disordered mining of this non-renewable resource then caused environmental degradation and serious resource wastes. Because of the backward mining technologies, half of the resources were wasted during extraction and processing and the environment was damaged.
Although China worked to improve mining methods and minimize environmental damage, experts said pollution was still inevitable during the mining process. To protect the environment, China announced a number of measures to regulate the rare earth industry, including reduced export quotas, crackdowns on illegal mining and mineral smuggling, issuing no new mining licenses and production caps.
As the high-tech industry developed rapidly in recent years, the global demand and consumption of rare earths grew fast.
However, mining these minerals, which are vital for developing a green world, took a toll on environment. Lax environmental standards and a low industry threshold led to serious overcapacity in China's rare earth market in the past two decades.
Excessive and disordered mining of this non-renewable resource then caused environmental degradation and serious resource wastes. Because of the backward mining technologies, half of the resources were wasted during extraction and processing and the environment was damaged.
Although China worked to improve mining methods and minimize environmental damage, experts said pollution was still inevitable during the mining process. To protect the environment, China announced a number of measures to regulate the rare earth industry, including reduced export quotas, crackdowns on illegal mining and mineral smuggling, issuing no new mining licenses and production caps.