The following OP-ED was submitted to the Wall Street Journal by Laura Skaer, Executive Director of the American Exploration & Mining Association (AEMA) and forward to Rare Element Resources.� We appreciate AEMA's support of the Bear Lodge Project and believe they highlight several very� important issues.
The Future of Everything will be Dependent on China
As your special edition detailed, “The Future of Everything” is invigorating and inspiring.� �
It’s also 92-percent dependent on the People’s Republic of China. �
OK, maybe not the celebrity status of MMA fighter Conor McGregor, but certainly the future of the U.S. Military and smartwatches – anything related to technology – is destined to need the blessing of Beijing. That’s because on a given day, the United States is between 90 and 96 percent reliant on China for what are called rare earth minerals. �
Exhibit One is the centerfold of the Wall Street Journal’s Dec. 11 insert, Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Alpha, envisioned to move humans at 760 mph.� Central to Musk’s “future of locomotion” are high-tech magnets, and the key ingredients in those magnets are the rare earths neodymium, dysprosium and terbium. �
The Japanese call rare earths “the seeds of technology.”� Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping opined in 1992 “The Middle East has oil. China has rare earths.” China, which has acquired most US-invented rare earths processing technologies, is happy to sell these minerals to American companies – as long as you do your manufacturing in China. �
The U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Energy have made it clear that production of rare earths is vital.� U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned in 2013 that “Rare earth elements (REE) are essential to civilian and military technologies and to the 21st century global economy, including development of green technologies and advanced defense systems.� China holds a commanding monopoly over world REE supplies. �
Meanwhile, the US Forest Service dithers, further ensuring the United States will be dependent on China for our seeds of technology. This dithering, whether intentional or from bureaucratic incompetence, means China not only gets the high-paying mining jobs, it gets the high-paying manufacturing jobs too. �
What, you may ask, does the Forest Service (USFS) have to do with deciding whether – or not – the United States jeopardizes its position as a leader in new technologies? The answer is that the USFS is the federal agency in charge of determining if a rare earths mine in Wyoming will be allowed to proceed.� One certainty is the mine will be delayed:� The USFS previously promised the mine’s sponsor, Rare Element Resources (RER), it would issue what’s called the Final Record of Decision (ROD) by last month, November 2015.� Incredibly, the USFS still hasn’t issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the in-depth precursor to the ROD that is released to the public and other agencies for review.� The USFS now hopes to have the ROD completed next September. �
There are a myriad of reasons for the USFS’s delay. One is the fact it took the agency 11 months to process the internal job posting for a dedicated manager to oversee the project permitting. Equally inexplicable is the fact the USFS has largely walled off RER from the permitting process. �
Historically, the Environmental Impact Statement process includes substantial information sharing and Q&A between the applicant and the agency, whether it’s the USFS, the Department of Interior, Energy, FERC or another. Bizarrely, the USFS decided it won’t share the alternatives it’s proposing for Rare Element Resources’ project. Failure to include the proponent in the EIS process is will result in further delays in a federal permitting process that is ranked among the worst in the world in terms of how long it takes to permit a mine. �
That’s like the US Patent and Trademark Office keeping a patent applicant in the dark about whether an inventor’s idea infringes on existing patents, or the FDA opting not to share with a drug developer the agency’s concerns about safety and efficacy.� Yes, measures must be taken to ensure a proponent doesn’t have undue influence. Honest consultation is not collusion. �
Meanwhile, less than a year ago we learned from Reuters that “The Pentagon repeatedly waived laws banning Chinese-built components on U.S. weapons in order to keep the $392 billion Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program on track,” with those components being rare earth magnets. Today, our military is working on similar magnets that will enable the new generation of Ohio-class submarines to truly “run silent, run deep.” Unfortunately, the USFS is standing in the way of the Pentagon obtaining U.S.-produced materials it needs to keep Americans safe. �
Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Alpha needs neodymium, dysprosium and terbium in order to propel us into the future at 760 miles an hour.� The proposed mine in Wyoming is plentiful in those key ingredients, and will be developed under stringent environmental regulations. �
If the US Forest Service can accelerate its permitting to a glacial pace, perhaps Mr. Musk won’t need to be 92 percent reliant on Beijing, and the Pentagon won’t have to spend time figuring out how to skirt federal law to buy Chinese-made technology. �
-Laura Skaer, American Exploration & Mining Association Executive Director � American Exploration & Mining Association (AEMA) is a 121-year old, 2,100 member national association representing the minerals industry. AEMA is the recognized national voice for exploration, the junior mining sector, and maintaining access to public lands, and represents the entire mining life cycle, from exploration to reclamation and closure.� �
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