China slashes rare earth mining rights in half

China’s Ministry of Land and Resources has slashed its rare earth mining rights by around a half from 113 to 67 points.

The Morning Whistle reports that a new report by the research institute Jufeng Info Co., says that the new policy will raise the price of rare earths and is part of a bid to both strengthen China’s pricing ability and reduce industry-wide irregularities.

Despite the slash in mining points the government has not raised its purchases or inventories of rare earth metals, while according to local reports the market price of certain rare earths has fallen. Lanathanum oxide has fallen 8% compared to yesterday to 53,000 to 55,000 yuan per ton, while dysprosium oxide has fallen by 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per ton compared to last month.