Geokinetics (GOK) (REE) (TRX) (EXE) (NG) (HKN) Biggest AMEX Losers

Geokinetics Inc. (GOK), Rare Element (REE), Tanzanian Royalty (TRX), Crexendo Inc. (EXE), NovaGold Resources Inc. (NG) and Hkn Inc. (HKN) were the biggest losers on the AMEX Tuesday.

Geokinetics Inc. (GOK) ended the session down 6.61 percent, closing at $2.26. They traded in a range of $2.26 to $2.44. A total of 60,544 shares changed hands.

Rare Element (REE) ended the session down 6.48 percent, closing at $3.61. They traded in a range of $3.61 to $3.90. A total of 579,001 shares changed hands.

Tanzanian Royalty (TRX) ended the session down 5.69 percent, closing at $2.32. They traded in a range of $2.30 to $2.46. A total of 245,275 shares changed hands.

Crexendo Inc. (EXE) ended the session down 5.66 percent, closing at $2.50. They traded in a range of $2.40 to $2.61. A total of 33,938 shares changed hands.

NovaGold Resources Inc. (NG) ended the session down 5.47 percent, closing at $8.29. They traded in a range of $8.23 to $8.70. A total of 1,402,038 shares changed hands.

Hkn Inc. (HKN) ended the session down 4.65 percent, closing at $2.46. They traded in a range of $2.46 to $2.60. A total of 26,071 shares changed hands.

Rare Element (REE) (TIF) (WEN) (WSM) (ERII) (LLTC) Get New Coverage

Rare Element Resources (NYSE: REE), Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), Wendys Arbys Group Ord Shs Class A (NYSE: WEN), Williams Sonoma Inc (NYSE: WSM), Energy Recovery Inc (NASDAQ: ERII) and Linear Technology Co. (NASDAQ: LLTC) had new coverage initiated on them by analysts.

Global Hunter Securities initiated coverage on Rare Element Resources (REE). They placed a “Buy” rating and a price target of $18.50 on the company.

Merriman Curhan Ford initiated coverage on Tiffany & Co. (TIF). They placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Wendys Arbys Group (WEN). They placed a “Buy” rating on the company.

Merriman Curhan Ford initiated coverage on Williams Sonoma Inc (WSM). They placed a “Buy” rating on the company.

Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage on Energy Recovery Inc. (ERII). They placed a “Market Perform” rating on the company.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) initiated coverage on Linear Technology Co. (LLTC). They placed an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Will Molycorp (MCP)(SHZ)(REE)(AVL)(PLM) be Pressured on Japan Rare Element Discoveries?

Molycorp (NYSE: MCP), China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ), Rare Element (AMEX:REE), Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL) and Polymet Mining Corp (AMEX:PLM) could face share pressure on news of the massive discovery of rare element properties in the Pacific Ocean by Japan.

Japanese scientists assert there are "vast deposits" of rare earth minerals at 78 locations in the Pacific. They also claim the deposits are readily extractable.

Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo, said, "The deposits have a heavy concentration of rare earths. Just one square kilometre (0.4 square mile) of deposits will be able to provide one-fifth of the current global annual consumption,"

Kato noted the discoveries were rich in heavier rare earths like dysprosium, gadolinium, lutetium and terbium. Total rare earths discovered were estimated at 80 to 100 billion tons, according to the online version of British journal Nature Geoscience, which reported the story.

Molycorp (MCP) Crushed After Big Miss

Spin as the company likes, rare earth miner Molycorp (NYSE:MCP) missed big in their quarterly report last night, generating a profit of 1 cent (adjusted) when analysts from FactSet were looking for 7 cents a share.

After closing at $66.47, losing $5.13, or 7.16 percent for the day, Molycorp continued its freefall after hours, plunging another $3.82, or 5.75 percent, to $62.65.

Revenue rose to $26.3 million from $3 million from the same quarter last year. Analysts had projected $41.68 million in revenue for the quarter.

Analysts had projected 10 cents a share in earnings on revenue of $42 million. Its net loss did shrink to $909,000, or 3 cents a share, from a net loss of $7.7 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago.

According to Molycorp, it realized an average sales price of $37.73 per kilogram during the quarter, compared to an average sales price of $34.02 per kilogram in the fourth quarter of 2010, and an average sales price of $7.13 per kilogram for the first quarter of 2010.

Molycorp estimates it will produce between 4,541 metric tons and 5,813 metric tons of rare earth oxides this year.

CEO Mark Smith spun it this way, “We were very pleased to see both sales volume and revenue increase for Molycorp in the first quarter of 2011, as this quarter is typically characterized by slow buying and depressed activity in China due to its New Year celebrations. In spite of this, and in spite of the natural catastrophes experienced by Japan in the first quarter, we continued to see strong global demand for our products. Market prices of REOs rose significantly in the first quarter, helping to boost our price realizations.”

“A very significant development in the first quarter is the fact that we saw domestic Chinese REO prices rising along with prices for Chinese rare earth exports,” Smith said. “This points to several trends that we have noted for some months now: growing demand by China’s burgeoning manufacturing sector for Chinese rare earths; continuing success in the Chinese government’s efforts to crack down on illegal mining and exports; greater industry consolidation forced by the Chinese government; continuing impact on production of new environmental regulations on Chinese producers; government-mandated production quotas; and a halt to the issuance of new licenses for domestic exploration,” added Smith.

Molycorp is dragging down the rare earths sector as a whole, with China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ), Rare Element Res Ltd (AMEX:REE) and Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL) all closing down on the day and in after hours trading.

Rare Earths (MCP) (SHZ) (REE) (AVL) All Plunge

Not totally unexpectedly, shares of rare earths miners (or potential miners) Molycorp (NYSE:MCP), China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ), Rare Element Res Ltd (AMEX:REE) and Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL) all closed down by at least 4 percent on Wednesday as investors take a closer look at the companies.

All that these particular stocks are trading on is potential and rare earth demand, more than the reality of what they are doing, which is basically nothing, as far as mining goes, with the probable exception of China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc..

Molycorp CEO Mark Smith has been all over the media attempting to position the company as the giant outside of China, but most of that is potential more than reality, as they are mining very little, and most through a recent small acquisition.

Smith has let it be known he's interested in making acquisitions, but needs to do less talking and taking more action. One problem he faces is the huge surge in valuaton of rare earths companies coming from the announcement by China they were cutting back on another 35 percent in rare earth exports in the early part of 2011, following up on the announcement in the middle of 2010 they were cutting back rare earth exports by 40 percent.

Shares of Molycorp (MCP) closed at $72.01 Wednesday, dropping $5.53, or 7.13 percent.

Coverage on (REE) (RSTI) (SABA) (USEG) Initiated

Rare Element (NYSE: REE), Rofin-Sinar Technologies (NASDAQ: RSTI), Saba Software (NASDAQ: SABA) and U.S. Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: USEG) had coverage initiated on them today by analysts.

Dahlman Rose initiated coverage on Rare Element (REE). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $21.00 on the company.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) initiated coverage on Rofin-Sinar Technologies (RSTI). They placed an “overweight” rating on the company.

The Benchmark Company initiated coverage on Saba Software (SABA). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $15.00 on the company.

Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage on U.S. Energy Corp. (USEG). They placed an “outperform” rating and a price target of $7.25 on the company.

Molycorp (MCP) (SHZ) (REE) (XING) (GMO) (AVL) Closed Mixed on Volatile Day

Rare earths miners like General Moly (AMEX:GMO), Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL), China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ), Rare Element Resources Ltd (AMEX:REE), Qiao Xing Universal Resources, (Nasdaq:XING) and Molycorp, Inc (NYSE:MCP) closed mixed Thursday as investors have been uncertain over the soaring mining sector in general, along with rare earths, as well as gold and silver as well.

Most believe that rare earth supply will remain tight for at least five years, even with the media hype of all the projects coming on line. Those proposed projects will take years to go through the process before production is ready to begin.

According to Molycorp CEO, Mark Smith, there will probably be two coming on stream within that five-year period. During that same time rare earths demand is projected to double annually.

That means those companies that already have operations going should enjoy solid pricing power during that season.

As to the silly proposal by big-government politicians concerning the Rare Earth Supply-Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act, the last thing we need is for the government to use yet another so-called crisis or "national security" issue to expand government in a useless manner as is now being attempted.

The markets should and will sort it out, as it has already began to do.

Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (NYSE:REMX) closed at $27.85, falling $0.18, or 0.64 percent.

Molycorp (MCP) (SHZ) (AVL) (REE) (XING) Close Down on Tough Trading Day

Rare earths miners have been soaring since the announcement by China it's going to cut back on exports significantly. but that wasn't the case Tuesday, as the major rare earths miners pulled back with China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ), Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL), Rare Element Resources Ltd (AMEX:REE), Qiao Xing Universal Resources, (Nasdaq:XING) and Molycorp, Inc (NYSE:MCP) closing down on the day.

Most think that the rare earth supply will remain tight for at least five years, even with the media hype of all the projects coming on line. Those proposed projects will take years to go through the process before production begin.

According to Molycorp CEO, Mark Smith, there will probably be two coming on stream within that five-year period. During that same time rare earths demand is projected to double annually.

That means those companies that already have operations going should enjoy solid pricing power during that period of time.

But it appears it'll be a somewhat volatile rare earths ride until there's much clearer economic clarity for the sector. It appears bullish long term at this time.

Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (NYSE:REMX) closed down on Tuesday as well, closing at $27.80, falling $0.20, or 0.71 percent.

Titanium Metals (TIE) (CNAM) (GMO) (REE) Close Mixed as Rare Earths Remain Tight

Rare earths miners have been jumping since the announcement by China it's going to cut back on exports in a major way. Some of them have been pulling back after the recent surge, as companies Titanium Metals (NYSE:TIE), China Armco Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNAM), General Moly (AMEX:GMO) and Rare Element Resources Ltd (AMEX:REE) closed mixed Thursday.

The majority believe that rare earth supply will remain constrained for at least five years, even with the media hype of all the projects coming on line. Those proposed projects will take years to go through the process before production is ready to start.

Molycorp CEO, Mark Smith recently said that there will probably be two coming on stream within that five-year period. During that same time rare earths demand is estimated to double annually.

That means those companies that already have operations going should enjoy solid pricing power during that season.

As to the ignorant proposal by big-government politicians concerning the Rare Earth Supply-Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act, the last thing we need is for the government to use yet another so-called crisis or "national security" issue to expand government in a useless manner as is now being attempted.

The markets should and will sort it out, as it has already began to do.

Rare Element Resources Ltd closed at $13.66, down $0.39, or 2.78 percent. General Moly closed at $5.24, falling $0.03, or 0.57 percent. China Armco Metals, Inc. ended the session at $2.32, gaining $0.24, or 11.53 percent. Titanium Metals closed the day at $18.75, rising $0.51, or 2.80 percent.

Molycorp (MCP) (SHZ) (REE) (XING) Close Mixed as Rare Earths Take Breather

Rare earths miners have been moving up quickly since the announcement by China it's going to cut back on exports significantly. Some have been pulling back after the recent surge, as companies China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ), Rare Element Resources Ltd (AMEX:REE), Qiao Xing Universal Resources, (Nasdaq:XING) and Molycorp, Inc (NYSE:MCP) closed mixed Wednesday.

Expectations are rare earth supply will remain tight for at least five years, even with the media hype of all the projects coming on line. Those will take years to go through the process before production begins.

According to Molycorp CEO, Mark Smith, there will probably be two coming on stream within that five-year period. At the same time rare earths demand is estimated to double annually.

That means those companies that already have operations online should enjoy significant pricing power during that time.

As to the foolish proposal by big-government politicians concerning the Rare Earth Supply-Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act, the last thing we need is for the government to use yet another so-called crisis or "national security" issue to be used to expand government in a useless manner as is being attempted.

The markets should and will sort it out, as it has already began to do.

Molycorp, Inc. closed Wednesday at $71.47, falling $2.49, or 3.37 percent. Qiao Xing Universal Resources closed at $2.03, down $0.02, or 0.98 percent. Rare Element Resources Ltd ended the day at $14.05, dropping $0.07, or 0.50 percent. China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. closed at $4.72, rising $0.12, or 2.61 percent.

Molycorp (MCP) (REE) (AVL) Jump on (JPM) Rare Earths Price Estimate

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) raised its price outlook for rare earths and Molycorp Inc. (MCP), Rare Element Resources (REE), and Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL) all soared in response.

“While China is expected to produce roughly 120k tons of rare earths in 2011, production quotas stand at 93.8 tons, with the difference largely due to illegal mining. If China only allowed 93.8k tons to be produced (which we are not arguing for at this point) and allowed roughly 28k tons to be exported, the resulting 65.8k tons of supply would not meet domestic demand of roughly 75k tonnes. While we don’t think we will see such a deficit this year, we think prices are rising as China cuts back on illegal mining, takes significant supplies from both the export and domestic markets, and causes jittery buyers (even in the domestic market) to worry about tighter markets in the foreseeable future,” JP Morgan analyst Michael Gambardella

Avalon was trading at $9.64, gaining $0.36, or 3.88 percent, as of 2:46 PM EDT. Rare Element Resources was at $15.43, up $1.01, or 7.00 percent. Molycorp was trading at $70.69, rising $3.50, or 5.21 percent.

Molycorp (MCP) (REE) (AVL) (SHZ) Soar on Disastrous Rare Earths Bill

Shares of rare earth companies like Rare Element Res Ltd (AMEX:REE), Molycorp, Inc (NYSE:MCP), Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL) and China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ) soared today on the misguided and foolish introduction of the so-called Rare Earth Supply-Chain Technology and Resource Transformation (RESTART) Act of 2011, by Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman.

The incredibly stupid bill would create another government department with the high cost that accompanies it, under the guise of the "dangerous" Chinese because they're not exporting as much of their rare earths as they have in the past.

Look at the destruction the government has already put on the people, as it refuses to cut back on unsustainable programs and spending which are bringing the country to the brink of destruction.

Some idiots are even spinning this as a national security threat, the usual ploy to expand government and the spending that ensues.

The idea that these companies need anything from the government is ridiculous. They're already moving to growing and expanding in response to the growing demand for rare earths.

What this is probably really all about is rare earths serve other government boondoggles like the so-called green energy areas like solar and electric cars, which will obviously be held back if there are shortages of supply.

Of course rare earths are important for legitimate industries like mobile phones; something there is real consumer demand for.

Molycorp closed at $68.45, gaining $6.39, or 10.30 percent. Rare Element Resources closed at $15.30, up $2.16, or 16.44 percent. Avalon closed the session at $9.52, rising $0.83, or 9.55 percent. China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. closed at $5.40, up $0.67, or 14.16 percent.

Molycorp (MCP) (REE) (AVL) Soar on Rare Earths Bill

Shares of Molycorp (NYSE:MCP), Rare Element Resources Ltd. (AMEX:REE) and Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX:AVL) are skyrocketing today after a new bill was introduced by Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman which "seeks to curtail dangerous reliance on China for critical materials."

Coffman said, "Currently, the world is nearly 100 percent reliant on Chinese exports for these critical materials and China’s trade policies of restricting rare earth exports pose a serious threat to both the economic and national security of the United States."

The bill, H.R. 1388, the Rare Earths Supply-Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2011 (RESTART Act), would allegedly establish a domestic rare earth industry in the United States.

This is about as stupid as a bill as you could get, and irresponsible at best, as the last thing we need to create another government agency and increase the crony capitalism that has already poisoned the country.

It's not China that is dangerous, simply because they've developed their industry while the United States has caved to radical environmental groups, making it extremely difficult to do any type of mining in a profitable manner.

The market is already working these things out, and the creating of another government agency and expanding the government in the United States, which is already bankrupt, is a disastrous idea. That's what's dangerous here.

Major provisions of the bill include:

Directing appropriate federal agencies to expedite the permitting process in order to increase the exploration and development of domestic rare earth elements, without waiving environmental laws, and establishing a multi-agency Task Force to carry out this process;

Setting up a Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) rare earth inventory - where DLA enters into long-term supply contracts and then makes the supplies available for purchase to federal government contractors - to generate a domestic market and facilitate the domestic sourcing of rare earth alloys and magnets;

Making loans, backed by the federal government, available to start production should lending from the capital markets not be available;

Requiring the various cabinet Secretaries to appoint Executive Agents for rare earths;

Establishing a rare earth program at the U.S. Geological Survey.

This thing needs to immediately be killed. Companies are already expanding operations and making moves to expand operations in response to demand. We don't need a bigger government to interfere with the market. Period.

Molycorp was trading at $65.89, gaining $3.83, or 6.17 percent, as of 11:21 AM EDT. Rare Element was trading at $14.57, rising $1.43, or 10.88 percent. Avalon Rare Metals was trading at $9.12, up $0.43, or 4.95 percent.

Rare Earths (REE) (MCP) (GMO) (AVL) Down on Large China Discovery

Rare earths companies outside of China, like Rare Element Res Ltd (AMEX:REE), Molycorp, Inc (NYSE:MCP), General Moly (AMEX:GMO) and Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL) are all trading down today on news of a huge rare earths discovery in China, which could end up boosting supply while pushing down prices.

Of particular not was a huge deposit of Scandium, one of 17 rare earths, and which is used in the building of a variety of high-tech products. Estimates are there are over 70 tons of scandium in the deposit.

Also part of the discovery was 130,000 tons of lead and zinc, 3,000 tons of cadmium, and 800 tons of silver. In addition, there were significant deposits of rhenium, stannum and gallium found.

This actually boosted share of Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (NYSE:REMX), as well as Chinese rare earths companies like China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ) and Qiao Xing Universal Resources (Nasdaq:XING).

Molycorp (MCP) Leads Rare Earths (REE) (AVL) Higher

After JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) raised its price target on rare earths giant Molycorp (NYSE:MCP) today, shares of the company jumped, helping to boost the overall rare earths sector.

Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL), Lynas Corporation (LYSCF), Neo Material Technol (NEMFF) and Rare Element Resources (AMEX:REE) are all up on the day.

The catalyst for the increase in the price target of Molycorp by JPMorgan was the recent boost in domestic rare earth prices in China.

The giant bank maintains their "Overweight" rating on Molycorp, while raising its price target from $66 to $74. They see the prices as being sustainable for a period of time.

Rare earths ETF Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals (NYSE:REMX) was also trading up today.

Molycorp was trading at $59.68, gaining $4.17, or 7.51 percent, as of 2:17 PM EDT. Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals was at $25.12, up $0.49, or 1.99 percent. Avalon was at $7.83, up $0.60, or 8.30 percent. Rare Element Resources rose to $13.38, gaining $1.19, or 9.76 percent.

China Taxing Rare Earth (SHZ) (XING) Minerals

The cost of producing rare earths in China will go up on April 1, as according to the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation, cited by Xinhua, they are going to start taxing the minerals.

Xinhua said the tax start off at $9.1 a ton for light rare earths and about $4.55 a ton for medium and heavy rare earths.

Since China announced it was cutting back on rare earth exports, prices have soared from $14,405 a ton to $109,036 a ton.

Public Chinese companies specifically affected by this include Qiao Xing Universal Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: XING) and China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX: SHZ).

Publicly traded rare earth competitors outside of China are Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP), Rare Element Resources (AMEX: REE), and Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX: AVL).

Molycorp (MCP) (REE) (AVL) Soaring on Rare Earths Price Surge

Since China announced it's going to limit the amount of rare earths it's going to export, shares of miners like Molycorp Inc. (NYSE:MCP), Rare Elements (AMEX:REE) and Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL) have been skyrocketing as the price on the 17 metals rise.

In February alone the price of rare earths rose by $34,000 to hit $100,000 a ton; almost 9 times what it was last year at that time.

Interestingly, a lot of investors haven't gravitate toward rare earths miners, as the trading volume has remained below its historical average.

The price of the minerals have risen close to $10,000 a month since China announced the export restrictions, where prices per ton were at $14,405.

According to data from China's Customs office, the price per ton of rare earths in February reached $109.036.

Molycorp was trading at $48.52, gaining $3.84, or 8.59 percent, as of 11:34 AM EDT. Rare Elements was at $11.59, up $1.21, or 11.66 percent. Avalon was trading at $7.21, up $0.47, or 6.97 percent.

Rare Earths (REE) (AVL) (MCP) Price Jump May Be Overblown

While in the short term the price surge in rare earths is justified, as has been the performance of some of the miners outside of China like Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL), Rare Earth Elements (AMEX:REE) and Molycorp (NYSE:MCP).

But over the long term, prices of rare earths and the rare earths miners outside of China may be overpriced, or may be priced in at the current rates.

The Telegraph noted, "China is doing two things with its policy. It is protecting against foreign ownership of strategic resources and at the same time creating incentives for foreign companies to bring their manufacturing to China. The West has grown used to cheap raw materials, but is going to have to get used to the fact that prices are going up as countries scramble to secure finite resources."

"I've been in this business for 20 years and never seen anything like it. The reality is that China dominates the rare earths industry and it has a very clear policy of seeking to take those rare earth metals into value-added products and that is a concern in many people's minds. But if you look at production coming on-stream in the next 10 years, the situation is not as dire as people make out."

Still, as mentioned, in the short term China is definitely in control, and how they export their rare earths will determine the overall price of the minerals until more companies increase production to match the loss of access to a portion of the rare earths.

Rare Earth Elements was trading at $10.38, down $0.02, or 0.19 percent, as of 12:16 PM EDT. Avalon Rare Metals was trading at $6.61, gaining $0.17, or 2.64 percent. Molycorp was at $43.60, falling $0.38, or 0.86 percent.

Japan Crisis and (MCP)(REE)(SHZ)(XING)(AVL)(GMO) Rare Earths

Rare earths companies like China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (AMEX:SHZ), Rare Element Res Ltd (AMEX:REE), Qiao Xing Universal Resources, (Nasdaq:XING), Molycorp, Inc (NYSE:MCP), General Moly (AMEX:GMO) and Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL) could be affected in the near term from the crisis in Japan, as uncertainty as to manufacturing of products containing the elements will remain for at minimum days, and possibly weeks.

Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (NYSE:REMX) could also take a temporary hit if it is determined there will be significant delays.

Western companies are scrambling to redevelop mines capable of producing the 17 rare earth elements, used in everything from Apple iPads to wind turbines, after China last year began sharply reducing its exports of the materials.

Business in parts of Japan is at a standstill as authorities cope with aftermath of the quake and people worry about the release of radiation from nuclear reactors at the quake-affected Fukushima Daiichi power station.

That has meant a pause in demand for rare earths at one of the world's largest users, the Asian Metal International Rare Earth Summit in Pittsburgh heard on Tuesday.

over the long term, there is no doubt prices of rare earths will continue to climb, as China has cut back on exports, and may themselves become an importer, even though they at this time produce about 97 percent of rare earths in the world.




Source

Molycorp (MCP) Pushing Hard at Mountain Pass

Molycorp Inc.'s (NYSE:MCP) Mountain Pass mine is the focus of feverish work as the company has the goal of increasing the amount of dirt dug on an annual basis from 3,000 tons now to close to 40,000 tons by 2014.

At stake is the rare earth elements, minerals that are used in a number of electronic and so-called clean energy products, including mobile phones, fuel cells and wind turbines.

At this time China produces about 97 percent of all rare earths, and they announced they're cutting back on exports, creating possible production problems in several industries for at least a couple of years.

Molycorp CEO Mark A. Smith recently said, “The use of these materials has really skyrocketed, with demand outstripping supply literally overnight. We've got some serious issues in this industry. It's going to be a tough year.”

Avalon Rare Metals (AMEX:AVL), Rare Element Resources (AMEX:REE) and General Moly (AMEX:GMO) are companies also working to bring rare earths to market.

Molycorp closed Friday at $49.26, down $0.57, or 1.14 percent.