Rio Tinto’s minerals sands operation in South Africa shut by protests

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said on Wednesday it estimated there were at least one-million tons of rare earth elements contained in resources in Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) on Wednesday published the latest list of the 52 elements, minerals and metals most at risk of supply disruption because global production is concentrated in a few countries, many with unstable governments. Surprisingly rare earths used in green technology and defence do not top the list but comes in at number five. Antimony, extracted mainly from stibnite (pictured), widely used for fireproofing is most at risk. The platinum group metals (auto catalysts) hold the second spot while niobium used in touch screens and scanners and tungsten for cutting tools are also at risk of supply disruption as a result of increased competition among the world's growing economies, political instability, resource nationalism, along with events such as strikes and accidents. China is the number one producer of 50% of the 52 chemicals on the list and produces 75% of the world's antimony.

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.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - International Montoro Resources Inc. ("Montoro") (TSX VENTURE:IMT)(PINK SHEETS:IMTFF)(FRANKFURT:O4T) has retained Aeroquest International Limited to conduct multiple large scale geophysical and radiometric airborne surveys over the highly prospective "Tacheeda NW" and "Chuchinka NW" Rare Earth Element prospects located in 'The Rocky Mountain Rare Metal Belt' of northern British Columbia. Both of Montoro's newly acquired properties are on trend with properties held by Spectrum Mining Corp. (the "Wicheeda" discovery), who announced a 48.64 metre interval which averaged 3.55% REE, a 72.0 metre interval that averaged 2.92% REE, and a 144 metre interval which averaged 2.20% REE in three separate drill holes.

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - Great Western Minerals Group (TSX VENTURE:GWG) (OTCQX:GWMGF) ("GWMG") is pleased to announce the selection of Drillcorp Africa (Pty) Ltd. ("Drillcorp") as the drill contractor for the upcoming exploration and resource evaluation program at the Company's Steenkampskraal Rare Earth Element ("REE") project in South Africa.

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - Rare Earth Metals Inc. ("Rare Earth Metals", "RA" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RA)(PINK SHEETS:RAREF)(OTCQX:RAREF) is pleased to report preliminary Rare Earth Element results from three additional holes on the Two Tom Mineralized Zone at the Red Wine Property, located approximately 110 kilometers northeast of Churchill Falls in west central Labrador. The results include best intersections of 1.86% TREO over 121.5 meters within a larger zone of mineralization which assayed 1.46% TREO over 195.15 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-13, 1.82% TREO over 89 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-14, and 2.15% TREO over 120 meters within a larger zone of mineralization which assayed 1.68% TREO over 176.5 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-15b. The HREO/TREO ratios from these intersections range from 5.2% to 6.0%.

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 6, 2011) - Rare Earth Metals Inc. ("Rare Earth Metals", "RA" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RA)(OTCQX:RAREF)(PINK SHEETS:RAREF) is pleased to report preliminary Rare Earth Element results from drilling on the Dory Pond project area of the Red Wine property. The second hole of this drill program (DDH-B3N-03) was successful in testing an area defined by a number of Heavy Rare Earth anomalous prospect samples and resulted in an intersection of 1.55% TREO (HREO/TREO of 42.1%) over 21.0 meters within a wider intersection of 1.11% TREO (HREO/TREO of 41%) over 42.9 meters. Of particular importance are the high values in Dysprosium, Yttrium and Neodymium which compare favourably with other more advanced Heavy Rare Earth Deposits.

Commodity markets were hit this week by shock news that the United States created no jobs in August, sparking speculation that the world's biggest economy could be heading for a double-dip recession. Analysts said the data bolstered expectations that the US Federal Reserve could soon decide to implement another round of quantitative easing -- dubbed QE3 by traders -- to help breathe new life into the struggling economy.

Crossland Uranium Mines (ASX:CUX) plans to issue a report next month on an illuvial heavy mineral rare earth element resource at its 50% owned Charley Creek project in Northern Territory. A 16.7 tonne quantity of alluvial material has been obtained from the Cockroach prospect for testwork to investigate a heavy mineral process flowsheet and to generate samples of heavy mineral product for initial marketing and additional process development tests. Crossland says that the Charley Creek alluvials should be low cost sources of heavy mineral concentrates with high concentrations of REE and/or zircon.