Western economies are set to remain heavily dependent on China for the refining of rare earth elements (REEs) for the next decade, but their reliance on it for the mining of the metals is expected to fall as new mines become operational in other parts of the world.
The biggest REE mine is located in China but others operate around the world. There are at least two other projects under way in Africa. The most advanced is Pensana’s in Angola. Pensana is a UK-listed rare earths miner, which plans to open Britain’s first REE processing facility in Saltend in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Pensana plc (LON:PRE) explores and mines neodymium, praseodymium, and rare earth minerals. The company is looking to establish the world’s first fully sustainable magnet metal rare earth oxide producer at the Saltend Chemicals Park in the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership Yorkshire, UK.
