I totally agree sjl, and thus the race to secure REE supply...

I totally agree sjl, and thus the race to secure REE supply outside of China will continue for some time.

LYC ann yesterday gives further evidence of China's restrictive stance:

"Chinese Rare Earths Export Quota Released for Second Half of 2011

Lynas Corporation Limited (?Lynas?) (ASX:LYC, OTC:LYSDY) notes that The Ministry of Commerce of the People?s Republic of China has released 15,738 tonnes of approved Rare Earths export quota for the second half of 2011. The total export quota for 2011 is therefore 30,184 tonnes for both local and foreign owned companies. This is slightly lower than the total quota for 2010 of 30,259 tonnes.
However in May this year the Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs jointly issued a notice stating, from 20 May 2011 onwards, ferrous alloys containing Rare Earths elements greater than 10% by weight of the total content shall be included into the Rare Earths
export quota license management system. Note that the customs code used appears to exclude magnet alloys at this time.
Examples of ferrous alloys now under the quota system are ferro-dysprosium alloys, ferro-terbium alloys and Rare Earths silicate alloys. Industry sources estimate that ferrous alloys with Rare Earths greater than 10% by weight would account for at least 2,000 tonnes of exports.
The addition of ferrous alloys means the quota is actually being tightened because more products will compete for limited allowances. Therefore the net result of the total 2011 export quota released, when taking into account the new material requiring export quota, is at a minimum a 7%
reduction compared to 2010.
The total export quota available remains well below the demand for Rare Earths outside of China, and is likely to result in continued shortages of available Rare Earths."

Looking forward to this new round of results, leading up to PEK's maiden JORC next year.