First National Level Rare Earth Mining Area Planning Approved

On January 17,the Ministry of Land and Resources issued No.1 document in 2011 to declare the establishment of the first national level rare earth mining area in Ganzhou city of Jiangxi province which is abundant in ionic rare earth resources,with a purpose of rare earth conservation and rational development.

According to the rare earth industry regulator in Gangzhou city,such move is the necessary condition for updating the relevant license for mining activities,“The license has been extended for two years.After the mining area is established in Ganzhou,we can obtain a new license.”

In accordance with the announcement of the Ministry of Land and Resources,the first 11 national level rare earth mines will all be located in Ganzhou city,with the total planned area of 2534 Sq km,which covers 7 major counties,namely,Longnan,Xunwu,Dingnan,Ganxian,Anyuan,Xinfeng and Quannan.

The regulator in Ganzhou above mentioned claims that the 11 national rare earth mines have been submitted for approval between August and October in 2010,“Previously,the Ministry of Land and Resources has issued a document to order the local government to develop plans for the mining area.As a result,the original 88 licenses for rare earth exploration in Ganzhou will be reduced due to consolidation,but the overall mining area will be enlarged.”The reason that to locate the first national rare earth mining area in Ganzhou is good regulatory practice in addition to the need for updating the license.

The public information shows that Ganzhou municipal government started to consolidate the local rare earth resources in the end of 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century in parallel with Baotou,another city that successfully consolidated rare earth resources.Rare earth resources in Ganzhou is now being managed by a government owned company named Ganzhou Rare Earth Mining Co.,Ltd.,which controls the development scale and flow of the local rare earth resources through outsourced exploration and processing.

The above regulator also states that due to successful consolidation,Ganzhou municipal government can easily develop plans to actively respond to the order of the Ministry of Land and Resources.In addition,by establishing the mining complex,rare earth resources can be better consolidated and managed.”

Recently,Wang Caifeng,former vice counsel of Rare Earth Office of MIIT,who also sits on the Expert Review Committee of the first national rare earth mining area,told the media that to establish the national rare earth complex is a move for planned management of the rare earth resources.