New Deposits of Rare Earths Ores in Tanzania Substitute for China?

Rare Earth metals is the new black in mining circles, everywhere you turn whether it is a mining conference or a trade journal the focus is on finding and developing new sources of supply to counter the perceived threat posed by Chinese dominance of the supply market. In reality, Rare Earths (RE) are anything but rare in the words of Dr Roger Paul – General Manager of Business Development at South Africa’s center of excellence in mineral and metallurgical technologies, Mintek. The elements are widely distributed in the earth’s crust but often not in sufficient concentration to support commercial extraction. One resource that may be (and the reason for our conversation with Dr Paul) is Montero’s Wigu Hill deposit in Tanzania covered by Mineweb in an article this week. (more)