Outlook for the Rare Earths - Thomas Kruemmer, Ginger International Trade & Investment

Thomas Kruemmer, Director, Ginger International Trade & Investment joins The Assay Live to discuss the Outlook for the Rare Earth Elements. The interview begins by looking at the supply ad demand outlook for the various REEs and the impact of changing regulations on these dynamics. Thomas explains where he sees new supply coming from and the financing that is backing these types of projects.

We discuss the trend of regionalizing supply chains and how this may impact the industry moving forward.

The interview also looks at the environmental considerations behind these projects and we discuss whether there is an ESG-friendly way for the industry to grow.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
00:45 – Supply and demand, Impact of regulation
06:53 – Where will new supply come from? Financing
09:39 – Supply chain regionalization
11:39 – Environmental considerations
19:19 – ESG vs the need for the REEs
22:05 – Insights for the industry moving forward

Guest:
Thomas Kruemmer, Director, Ginger International Trade & Investment

[rareearthsinvestor]

Thanks for the presentation. Very interesting. Thanks to Mr. Kruemmer for sharing his insights (and writings). As a retail investor gives one a sense of the difficulties facing all the dozens of RE wannabees emerging in the ROW. The problems of where to send products outside of China and the processing issues that will arise with offtake specifications, consistency and amounts required need serious retail investor focus. However, I sense that several RE entities (as I write elsewhere) will emerge (and reward investors); specifically, those strategically supported by the US, CAD, AUS S. Korea and Japan (EU and UK we will see). GLTA - REI

[arjunbhattarai]

Would love to know his perspective now after Tesla plan to not use rare earths

[PhilipWong]

It's unclear how China is compelling the USA to buy rare earth from China. Imposing a 1000 percent duty on rare earth imports may incentivize domestic mining and processing. This arrangement is a win-win for both nations: the US gains total control over rare earth within its borders and earns extra tax revenues. At the same time, China has fewer resource depletion and environmental issues. However, a 1000 percent duty may not be a sufficient incentive to encourage domestic processing; an initial 2000 percent duty for at least 17 years would be better. Since the production is for the domestic defense industry and that of its allies, there is no prospect of increasing the scale of production to reduce the price to compete with China.

Start using Thorium Molten Salt Reactors to simultaneously make thorium valuable, address climate change issues, and solve the spent nuclear waste problem. The research conducted by West Virginia University and Penn State’s Center for Critical Minerals, focusing on methods to extract and separate rare earth elements and critical minerals from acid mine drainage and coal waste, looks very promising.

[tonyowen]

My only comment is this speaker seems unaware of the latest rare earths ore to metals project without the radionuclides, or the (1940s era) Kroll Process toxic by-products, and where the only by-product of the oxides to metals step is oxygen - and requires 70% less electricity. Ten tons of Neodymium-Praseodymium ingots have already been produced and delivered. So the first plant has already been built, the process proved, and planning for construction of a larger plant is underway.