Reuters reports prices of most rare earth elements – used in consumer electronics, defence and green energy industries – have risen since Wednesday after of local government crackdown on mining, with three major producers slated for closure. The news follows an announcement from the EU that it is building a stockpile of a variety of REEs and that a high-level meeting of officials from Europe, the US and Japan will take place in Washington early next month to discuss supply security. The price of some REEs such as samarium oxide used in jet fighter electrical systems has increased 25-fold in just three years.

Rare earths miner Molycorp on Thursday swung into profit in the second quarter as it ramped up production at Mountain Pass, California, once the world's largest supplier of the sought-after elements used in anything from iPods to stealth helicopters. Net income came to $48.8 million compared with a loss of $23.3 million a year ago. Revenue came in just shy of $100 million, compared with only $1.9 million a year ago. Commenting on the results the company said global demand for rare-earth elements remains "very high" and supply outside China, which controls more than 95% of world output, is tight.

Molycorp's subsidiary has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to KBR to construct a new chlor-alkali plant at its $781m Project Phoenix in California.

The Rare Earths space has had more revivals than the Sound of Music. Over the last 18 months this "go-go" corner of the mining world has had it's ups and downs and several of the downtrends tempted ourselves and others to call an end to the boomlet.

Market Oracle reported on recent gains in shares of Molycorp (NYSE:MCP). The market news is quoted as saying: The price drivers today are plentiful: Financial Times reports that rare earth materials are being stockpiled in China, Piper Jaffray upgraded Molycorp to a buy, and a host of analysts piled on with positive assessments of the rare earth industry in general.

The western hemisphere's sole rare earth oxides producer, Colorado-based Molycorp, announced Thursday it has now fully funded its US$781 million expansion and modernization project at its flagship Mountain Pass rare earth facility in California. "Full funding of the capital plan of Project Phoenix is a major milestone in Molycorp's overall rare earth ‘mine-to-magnets' business plan," the company said in a news release.

Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP), the Western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth oxides, today announced that, subject to market conditions, it intends to offer $200 million principal amount of its Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 (the “Notes”) in an offering exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933. The Notes are being offered only to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933. In addition, Molycorp intends to grant the initial purchasers of the Notes an option to purchase an additional $30 million principal amount of the Notes.

This is what happens when you corner a market the way China has done with rare earth elements: Statistics collected in Hong Kong show exports of rare earth metals have shrunk by half over the past year. Over the same period, the value of these exports jumped 10-fold. It’s hard to argue with these kinds of numbers. After the stocks prices of the few big players pulled back from recent highs investors saw it not as evidence of sobriety returning to the market, but simply as a buying opportunity.

After sitting idly by and watching China monopolize the industry – the country is responsible for upwards of 95% of global supply – a rush to bring rare earth mine to production is on: There are now 251 rare earth projects being undertaken by 165 different companies in 24 countries. While prices have been rising rapidly, rare earth production is an expensive and complex undertaking. Very few projects can be developed for under $1bn and as the rest of the world shuttered rare earth mines metallurgical skills languished along with it.

Dow Jones Newswires reports: Rare-earth mining company Molycorp Inc.'s (MCP) first-quarter loss narrowed due to higher sales volume and a jump in rare-earth prices, although the company's adjusted profit and sales growth missed analysts' expectations. Shares fell 5% to $63.13 in after-hours trading, after closing the regular session down 7.2%. The stock is up 33% this year through Tuesday's close.

Demand for rare earth metals is likely to continue growing at double digit annual rates for the foreseeable future but, the supply side does not look quite as rosy. According to Molycorp CEO, Mark Smith, while a lot of production has been forecast from a number of small producers, very little of it is likely to come on stream in five years.

Purchasing commodity producing equities has been extremely profitable for most investors over the past year as a weak dollar and supply issues have driven up everything from soft commodities to industrial and precious metals. The sharp gains have also carried over to the dynamic rare earth metal market where fears over Chinese export limits as well as the metals’ critical nature to a variety of 21st century technologies dominate the price movements of this group of elements. In fact, according to Metal-Pages, from October 2009 through December 2010, prices for rare earths have risen by approximately 780% on average.

The US$89 million shares-and-cash acquisition of Estonia's AS Silmet by Colorado's Molycorp means both rare earth companies "will be able to take advantage of the very robust price situation in the market right now," Molycorp CEO Mark Smith said during a conference call with analysts Monday.