China to further consolidate rare earth resources

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is expected to deliberate on plans by three Chinese rare earth companies to consolidate the rare earth industries this week, Shanghai Securities News website reported Tuesday.

The MIIT disclosed this information at a rare earth forum held in Xiamen city, East China's Fujian province on Oct 23, according to the report. If the plans are approved, the consolidation of the country's rare earth resources is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The three rare earth firms that proposed the plan are China Minmetals Corporation, Ganzhou Rare Earth Group Co Ltd and Rising Nonferrous Metals Co Ltd.

The detailed integration plans have not been published, but it is reported that Ganzhou Rare Earth Group intends to cooperate with Jinpanxi Rare Earth Group Co Ltd,a joint venture of six rare earth firms in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Earlier this year, the government approved a plan to consolidate the Chinese rare earth industry into six groups; the plan was formulated by MIIT.

Besides the abovementioned companies, the other three groups involved in the consolidation are Aluminum Corporation of China, Xiamen Tungsten Co Ltd and Baotou Iron & Steel Group Co Ltd.