Altona Rare Earths Share Discussion Threads

[speedy] 14/2/2011 21:44

China regulates rare earths and sets up reserves ...

[speedy] 13/2/2011 18:30

A few months old, but interesting take on REE separation technology :

[targetrighton] 11/2/2011 19:33

CONCEPTUAL PROCESSING FLOWCHART - STEENKAMPSKRAAL MINE

[targetrighton] 11/2/2011 19:00

WORTH A VIEW

[targetrighton] 09/2/2011 17:50

GREAT WESTERN MINERALS GROUP APPOINTS MOHAMED MADHI AS RARECO PRESIDENT

February 9, 2011 – Saskatoon, Canada: Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company", TSX:V – GWG) announces that it has appointed Mohamed Madhi as President of Rare Earths Extraction Company Limited ("Rareco") effective immediately.

Mr. Madhi has served as a member of GWMG's Advisory Board and on October 27, 2010 was appointed by Great Western Minerals Group to the Rareco Board of Directors.

He has been Chairman of Areva South Africa and the Chief Executive of Safika Resources, a South African company focused on mineral exploration and mining. Mr. Madhi has also held executive positions at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the largest research organization in Africa, at Eskom, the largest electricity utility in Africa, and at Harmony Gold, one of the world's largest gold mining companies.

The appointment was announced during the annual 2011 Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa, a key global mining event that was attended by Great Western Minerals Group officials.

GWMG President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Engdahl said "It was clearly the appropriate time to further elevate our level of leadership commitment to Rareco and the Steenkampskraal project. To be able to do so with someone with Mohamed Madhi's experience and expertise in the African resource sector is yet another important step forward in the timely execution of GWMG's corporate strategy of becoming a fully integrated Rare Earths producer."

Jim Engdahl
President and CEO

Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. is an integrated Rare Earths processor. Its specialty alloys are used in the battery, magnet and aerospace industries. Produced at the Company's wholly owned subsidiaries Less Common Metals Limited in Birkenhead, U.K. and Great Western Technologies Inc. in Troy, Michigan, these alloys contain aluminium, nickel, cobalt and Rare Earth Elements. As part of the Company's vertical integration strategy, GWMG has signed an Off-take Agreement for 100% of the Rare Earth Elements produced at the former producing Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa and holds 70.2% ownership in Rare Earth Extraction Co. Limited, the owner of the Steenkampskraal mine. GWMG also holds interests in seven Rare Earth exploration and development properties in North America.

For further information, please contact Dwight Percy, Manager of Investor Relations at [phone]. Email inquiries should be made to [e-mail] and the company website is located at www.gwmg.ca. Inquiries by direct mail should be addressed to Great Western Minerals Group Ltd., 219 Robin Crescent, Saskatoon, SK S7L 6M8.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

[mirandaj] 09/2/2011 17:12

Just so many 'traders' about these days - in many stocks.

[nathaniel1913] 09/2/2011 16:52

Great article, and shows we indeed have a first mover advantage.The traders and manipulators it would seem are playing their own game, which is ashame, but true value will out, and for those looking to get in or top up, this retracement can only be a good thing..

[nathaniel1913] 09/2/2011 12:29

I guess the retrenchment is purely a trading issue with gwg gaining lots of ground last week. Was surprised to see Molycorp and Avalon making such good ground and Gwg being taken down rather aggressively. Thank you TT for the e mail. Makes for exciting times ahead if they meet targets and demands..

[targetrighton] 09/2/2011 03:36

ANALYSIS OF THE STEENKAMPSKRAAL OFF-TAKE AGREEMENT
In analysing the Steenkampskraal Off-take Agreement several assumptions have been made based on the current Rare Earth Oxide pricing to customers outside of China.
Using the Jan. 18 2011 pricing it has been determined that One Kilogram of 99.9% TREO in the deposit at Steenkampskraal would be worth $77.11. Therefore 45% REO would be worth $77.11 x .45 or $34.70 per kilogram. It is also proposed to produce 2,700 tons of TREOs at Steenkampskraal or 2,700,000 kilograms of TREOs at 45% concentration as per the Scoping Study. The 45% oxides will be bagged and shipped to a Extraction and Refining facility near the port of Saldanha, which is approximately 250 kilometres from Steenkampskraal for shipment of the refined Rare Earth Oxides and Rare Earth Metals to its Alloy Processing facilities in USA and UK and the excess will be sold to other end-users on the open market.
It is also assumed that 6,000 tons of TSP (Tri-sodium Phosphate) will be produced at Steenkampskraal annually. Current pricing is approximately $2,300 per ton.
It is also assumed that 4,311 tons of Thorium will be recovered and stored at the mine site annually.
It is also assumed that a 30% Concentrate containing 474 ozs. Gold, 5,690 ozs of Silver and 235.2 tons of Copper will be recovered from the ore and will be sold for further refining.
The Off-Take Agreement allows GWMG to purchase 100% of the TREOs produced at Steenkampskraal.
It is also assumed that GWMG will acquire 100% of Rareco as they currently own over 70%.
One has to recognize that Rareco holds a 74% interest in Steenkampskraal while the balance of 26% is being held by the Black Economic Empowerment Group as legislated by the South African Government.

How good is the Off-TakeAgreement
.......................................................ANNUAL PRODUCTION
.................................RARECO SHARE......BEE SHARE............GWG SHARE
(A) 45% RE OXIDE X $34.70.....................$69,330,600...........$24,359,400..............($93,690,000)
(B) 99.9% RE OXIDE 2,700,000 X $77.10..........................................................................................$208,170,000
(C) TSP 6000 X $2,300..................................................$10,212,000............. ....$3,588,000
(D) Cu/Au/Ag CONCENTRATE. .........................................$351,981.....................$123,669
(E) THORIUM 4,311 X NO ESTABLISHED VALUE...................$0.00.........................$0.00
TOTAL GROSS REVENUE STEENKAMPSKRAAL.........$79,894,581.................$28,071,069..............$11 4,480,000
With GWMG owning 100% of Rareco any profits incurred by Rareco become additional profits to those GWMG incurs in the extraction and refining of the REOs purchased from Steenkampskraal.

[shavian] 08/2/2011 06:38

great posts TTR. As a shareholder in GWG I'm grateful for your research on this BB. It's a puzzle that GWG's own board is so neglected, but at least we have some charts there. It seems that there are very few of us following this potential blockbuster investment... :0)

[targetrighton] 05/2/2011 18:37

WORTH A VIEW AND LISTEN

[targetrighton] 05/2/2011 17:41

Wilderness of Mirrors - the junior mining argument
Junior mining stocks are still seen as offering the best potential returns as global populations and wealth expands - but there's a lot of chaff amongst the wheat.

Author: Richard (Rick) Mills
Posted: Friday , 04 Feb 2011

COQUITLAM, BC (Ahead of the Herd) -

Access to raw materials has become essential to the functioning of all industrialized economies. Threats to access and distribution of these commodities could include:

•Political instability of supplier countries
•The manipulation of supplies
•Competition over supplies
•Attacks on supply infrastructure
•Accidents and natural disasters
•Climate change
Every country imports and/or exports raw materials to one degree or another. As raw materials are the essentials for a country's survival, development and progress, everyone is looking for permanent, secure suppliers. A very worrying, and growing trend, is that countries rich in resources are limiting the availability of raw materials - commodities that are the building blocks of modern societies - in order to support their own industries. Such export restrictions could start confrontations over scarce resources.

Countries can restrict the export, or subsidize the import of, raw materials by means of:

· Export taxes

· Export licenses and or quotas

· Operating dual pricing schemes

· Subsidizing the import or local purchase of raw materials

Inflation is a factor and is already infecting commodity prices.

We're heading to a very inflationary environment. US President Obama is promising trillion dollar deficits for years to come and the US dollar is still the world's reserve currency. With all exporting countries trying to keep their currencies weaker then the US dollar - to make their exports competitive - the inflation rate is going to rise much higher.

Whenever governments are creating money and spending to excess inflation rears its ugly head and investors move into hard assets. The best hard assets to buy during these periods are commodities.

Our reality is we're living on a relatively small planet with a finite amount of resources, climate change is increasingly playing a role and we have a growing human population. Accessing a sustainable, and secure, supply of raw materials is going to become the number one priority for all countries. There's no doubt in this author's mind we are going to see much tighter supplies of, and higher prices for, commodities.

It's a fact in the mining world that most discoveries are made by a) junior mining companies and b) old time individual prospectors. In this author's opinion junior resource companies offer the greatest leverage to increased demand and rising prices for commodities.

If I was looking for superior investment vehicles to take advantage of what I think I know regarding the future for commodities I'd be looking at junior resource companies, not majors, involved in the search for, and development of, the worlds future sources of commodity supply -majors are exposed to various industries such as:

· Storage

· Transportation

· Refining

· Chemical processing

· Retailing

· Distribution

Which are not correlated directly to specific commodity price rises like junior resource companies can be.

Juniors, not majors, own many of the world's future mines and juniors are the ones most adept at finding these future mines. They already own, and find, what the world's larger mining companies need to replace reserves and grow their asset base.

Junior resource companies serve an important role in the commodities markets - they feed the supply chain.

In 1996 the whole junior bull market was centred around Bre-X. Then there was the technology stock boom based on the greater fool theory. The last bull market run for junior companies started in 2002 and imploded in 2007/2008. The TSX (and TSX.V) has experienced three major boom and bust cycles in the last fifteen or so years. This author believes we are on the cusp of another bull market run for junior resource companies.

In a wilderness of mirrors, who can you trust?

"Wilderness of Mirrors" is a phrase coined by the 1950s era counter-intelligence chief John Foster Dulles to describe the intelligence game. In particular, the phrase refers to the difficulty of separating disinformation from truth.

The opportunities in the junior resource sector are significant. But the junior population is quite large and there are literally thousands of stocks to choose from that want your dollars.

There is a steep learning curve and there are serious risks - great rewards come hand in hand with great risk. You must be prepared to do your own due diligence and uncover the opportunities.

You must be able to evaluate these opportunities, pay regular attention to your portfolio, manage the risk and take responsibility for your own decisions.

Richard (Rick) Mills is host of www.aheadoftheherd.com and invests in the junior resource sector.

[bangor] 05/2/2011 11:19

Thanks Target

GWGs stellar performance of late is distracting me...

[targetrighton] 04/2/2011 17:00

Correction to the link on the top of your post

[bangor] 04/2/2011 10:08

Here's the think tank research we appears to have stimulated the REEs 2 days ago: from Mineweb /en/page72068?oid=119688&sn=Detail

U.S. security think tank urges Feds to get moving on rare earths strategy

A prestigious U.S. defense think tank says the country's current dependence on Chinese rare earth metals will harm future U.S. military and economic needs.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Wednesday , 02 Feb 2011

RENO, NV -

A report by the think tank the American Security Project has urged U.S. policymakers to develop a coherent, long-term strategy to reduce U.S. dependence on rare earth metals from China.

The report by American Security Project Research Assistant, Emily Coppel, released Tuesday, noted the United States has the "second-biggest deposit of rare earth minerals in the world. North American mines alone could supply U.S. rare earth needs."

"The U.S. will need to develop new technologies and invest in mining operations to solve the long-term supply problem," Coppel suggested. "In the short-term, stockpiling rare earths metals is one of the best ways to prepare for a future shortage until these new mines and technologies become available."

The report also asserts that the first nation or defense company which is able to develop "an effective and reliable substitute for rare earths" or "new and more efficient technologies" will gain a competitive advantage.

"This is one area where the U.S. has a significant advantage, having the most robust defense industry in the world," the report noted. "The U.S. needs to capitalize on this advantage and regain its position as a producer and supplier of rare earth metals."

Coppel suggested the U.S. has gone from being the world's top producer to being completely dependent to China for its REE supply.

"China's dominance in the rare earths market will have profound implications for U.S. national security in the next couple of years," she said. "As it is, some analysts already believe it is too late to avoid a global shortage of rare earth metals, placing the U.S. in great risk. The U.S. needs to take steps to remedy this situation."

Noting the possibility that a shortage of rare earth metals could occur as early as 2012 or by 2014, the American Security Project advises, "This makes U.S. dependence on China for rare earths extremely problematic. U.S. dependence poses both economic and national security risks."

American Security Project suggests U.S. reliance on technology for military applications is the biggest cause for concern when considering the implications of rare earth metals shortages. "Although the Pentagon claims that the U.S. only uses 5% of the world's supply of rare earth metals for defense purposes, the fact is that the U.S. is completely reliant on China for the production of some of its most powerful weapons," Coppel said.

Peter Leiter, a former trade advisor at the Department of Defense, observed, "The Pentagon has been incredibly negligent...there are plenty of early warning signs that China will use its leverage over these materials as a weapon."

Meanwhile, the American Security Project cautioned that a shortage of rare earths will affect the strength and readiness of the U.S. military until current systems are no longer in operation. "However, it will also affect future production; newer systems rely just as much, if not more, on computers and other electronic equipment. The U.S. is developing itself into greater dependence on rare earth metals."

In her analysis, Coppel noted the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has estimated that non-Chinese producers pay at least 31% more for raw rare earth metals than Chinese producers. As a result a black market in rare earth has developed with an estimated one-third of rare earths leaving China being smuggled out.

"Such market distortions cause the U.S. to pay more for weapons systems and platforms, a big concern during the economic crisis and tightening defense budget," she observed.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The American Security Project recommends the U.S. immediately stockpile rare earths, noting that Japan and South Korea already have strategic REE stockpiles. China will also begin stockpiling rare earths this year. "Even in the U.S., such stockpiles are not unprecedented," Coppel said, adding that the U.S. used to stock rare earth metals in its National Defense Stockpile but sold them by 1998.

The project also recommends that new mines be developed. "There are several places where mining would be a worthwhile venture, including Thor Lake in Canada, which possibly contains one of the world's largest deposits of rare earth metals."

"Experts believe that North American mines alone could produce as much as 40,000 metric tons of rare earth metals per year, or double what the U.S. currently uses," the report observed. "If the U.S. could develop these mines, it would have sufficient rare earths to supply its domestic needs, as well as enough to satisfy future growth in demand."

The report also advocates international cooperative and dialogue should go a long way towards alleviating the shortage of rare earth metals. American Security Project noted the Pentagon has advocated greater cooperation among the governments, mine operators, and magnet producers who use rare earth metals.

The organization also called on the U.S. government to file a case against China in the World Trade Organization to prevent China from using illegal export quotas and manipulating the rare earths market.

Rare earth metals substitutes should also be developed by the U.S. although current research is being hampered by the lack of resources being invested in R&D. Meanwhile the Chinese government has spent millions on rare earth metal research and development.

"Developing new technologies that increase the efficiency of rare earth metals and that allow for better recycling of rare earths is another way for the U.S. to decrease its dependence on China," the organization advised. American Security Project noted the U.S. Department of Energy is currently working on new recycling techniques for rare earths, which could "significantly lower world demand for newly extracted materials."

The American Security Project Board of Directors includes U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, several former U.S. senators, retired U.S. generals and admirals, and former U.S. governors. It is chaired by former U.S. presidential candidate and Senator Gary Hart of Colorado.

To read the report, "Rare Earth Metals and U.S. National Security", go to www.americansecurityproject.org

[targetrighton] 04/2/2011 01:42

I am just waiting for several answers to questions I posed to Management of GWMG and I will outline what a exceptional arrangement GWMG made in negotiating the Offtake Agreement with the Steenkampskraal Mine and in acquiring control of Rareco (currently hold 70.2% as per last News Release). I am expecting a delay in getting my answers as I understand most of the GWMG brass are on the road attending various investment functions and negotiating further agreements.

[royfox] 03/2/2011 15:41

Thank heavens I DMOR last week and bought in at 83 cents, reading all the reports this is one the most significant sectors, especically with Wendys outstanding articles. Superb gains, clearly the front runner bar China for REE!

And now we could have the US army to thank for something, it's not often I say that!

[bangor] 03/2/2011 15:30

After some digging I see a think tank published an article yesterday outlining how in their opinion the US and its military is vulnerable due to having no Rare Earth policy. They say they must stockpile now.

That could be the reason. No link at hand - on Mineweb, apparently.

[targetrighton] 03/2/2011 15:28

Follow all the Rare Earth Companies here

[bangor] 03/2/2011 09:11

Keya5000 asked:

"Anybody any ideas what was driving GWG today, up nearly 20%."

I don't know Keya, REEs were on fire yesterday with a number up around 10%.

Can anybody find a specific reason for the REE stocks uplift?