http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/japan-moves-on-rare-earth-metals/story-e6frg90o-1225808869751
THE Japanese government is working on a "growth blueprint" that would exploit the prolonged weakness of the US dollar and mount a state-backed resource grab for rare technology metals around the world.
If the plans, which are in their early stages, come to fruition, the government would assist companies in buying the rights to mine rare earth minerals wherever they are up for grabs.
Tokyo is understood to have placed a high economic priority on securing global rare earth rights for Japanese companies because of the looming prospect of a resource war with China.
The metals most coveted by Japan are a collection of 14 lanthanides that make hybrid vehicles possible and will be critical to the future of electric cars because their strong magnetic properties allow for lighter motors.
Japan's electronics and automotive industries are the world's biggest consumers of the rare earth metals: tiny quantities are used in mobile phone components, laptop computers and a wide range of fast-growing green technologies, such as wind turbines and low-energy light bulbs.
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Japan's high-tech industries were able to source the minerals with relative ease, but access has become more complex amid intense competition from other Asian economies, especially China.
Over the past decade, Beijing has reached the point where it enjoys a 90 per cent global monopoly over the production of rare earth metals. As its high-tech industries have developed, it has consumed an increasing quantity of those produced domestically and significantly lowered export quotas to places such as Japan.
Even large Japanese manufacturers have resorted to illegal quota-busting and source about a quarter of their annual supplies from illicit rare earth mines in China.
As China has hardened its stance on exports, Japan has begun a frantic search for supplies elsewhere. The government's new plan will allow the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (Jogmec) to funnel capital towards Japanese companies wanting to pounce on rare metal mines in South America and Africa.
The plan extends an existing arrangement, whereby Jogmec was able only to back companies involved in the energy sector. The proposal is expected to lead to government money being offered to companies that want to join in the capital-intensive business of downstream processing of rare metals.
The moves come after recent talks between Japan and Kazakhstan. The Central Asian country is a rich potential resource for the metals and agreements have been signed between Sumitomo and Toshiba and Kazatomprom, the state nuclear energy group.
The Japanese groups intend to recover rare earth metals from Kazakhstan's rich uranium ore deposits, and hope that operations will begin next year.
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