DRAFTED SCHEME:ASSESSMENT OF RARE EARTH POTENTIAL IN VIETNAM

PRE-FEASIBILITY INVESTMENT PROJECT

ON CONSTRUCTION OF RARE EARTH PRODUCTION FACTORY INLAI CHAU PROVINCE

The war of rare earth materials (For the Preamble):

China is taking advantage of an exclusive supplier of rare earth as a weapon not only in the trade but also in the political arena when it is applied not only to Japan but also to the United States and Europe.

Asahi Shimbun said only two of the 30 Japanese importers received rare earth shipments from China since September 2010 (as of October 22nd, 2010). The Chinese companies even wants to terminate contracts with Japan to sell to other countries. The words of a famous Chinese leader in the last century has showed the advantages of this resource:

"The Middle East has oil, and China has rare earth"!

The war on rare earth begins warmer when the US and Japan potentially proceed against China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for guilty in taking advantage of monopoly. In a television interview on September 26th, 2010, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said that China still adheres to WTO rules, and the termination of sale by the countrys rare earth exporters to any ones is "their own business", though he could not explain why even in that day, 32 rare earth exporters in China (including ten foreign enterprises) simultaneously stopped shipping to Japan since the political crisis occurred concerning the sovereignty dispute on Senkaku/Diaoyu island.

How is the rare earth weapon dangerous? Including 17 elements contained in the earth crust (*), rare earth is now widely used in many high-tech fields. They are present in iPhones, computer hard drives, TV flat screen, energy-saving lamps, laptops, space equipment, fiber optic cable, nuclear, and green technology equipment (in each hi-tech wind turbine, there is up to 300kg of rare earth materials). They are also used in the weapons industry (In a report released in the mid April 2010, American Government Audit Office said that many military hardware components from the United States including tank control systems M1A2 Abrams, smart bomb control propeller, Aegis Spy-1 naval radars, satellites, night vision devices, etc. are dependent on rare earth imported from China).

Annually, about 130,000 tons of rare earth are produced around the world with increasing demand (up to 200,000 tons/year, starting from 2014 - according to a report by the US Congressional Research Service). The Chinese power to control exports of rare earth started to cause soaring prices, up to an average of 300% only from January to May 8-2010; the price of each type of rare earths increased from 22-720% (Seeking Alpha October 10th, 2010). Specifically, the price of cerium oxide increased from about 4.7 USD/kg on April 20th to 36 USD/kg on October 19th, 2010; neodymium (used in magnets) increased from about 41 USD/kg in April to 46.5 USD/kg in July and 92 USD/kg in October 2010 (Bloomberg 21-10-2010).

Rare earth is not actually rare, but the reason why it is "rare" due to expensive and even dangerous mining and processing technologies caused by its high risks of environmental potential damages (Rare earth ores are usually near the sediments of radioactive elements such as thorium or uranium). Therefore, the Western has "made concessions" for China in rare earth mining. Low cost of labor and the world's most undisciplined environmental laws are the top advantages for the mining industry in China without any rivals.

..... This draft is meant to be an initial basic outline for research contents on a new material science in Vietnam. During the cause of the research, scientific reports and documents at home and aboard have been referred. For any negligence in translation or quotations, sympathy and comments are all welcome.

Your sincerely.

I. ASSESSMENT ON RARE EARTH POTENTIAL IN VIETNAM

Abstract: The results of investigations, assessments, and surveys since 1950 have confirmed that Vietnam is a country with a great potential for rare earth. The rare earth mines in Vietnam size from medium to large, mostly light rare earth group (lanthanum - cerium group), hydrothermally originated, and concentrated in the Northwest, creating favorable conditions to develop into a rare earth mining and processing industrial complex in the future. With the worlds increasing demand for rare earths, especially now in China (the country supplying 95% of rare earth amount to the world market) as the policies on reserves of mineral resources have been launched, the worlds rare earth market has become vibrant. Therefore, investigation, assessment, and survey on rare earth as well as research on policies for investment, mining, processing, and export of rare earth require special attention.

1. OVERVIEW ON RARE EARTH

1.1. Geochemical - Mineral properties

Rare earth means a group of chemically similar 15 elements in the Mendeleev periodic table and is referred to as lanthanum, consisting of elements of order from 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutexi). Normally, yttrium (39) and scandium (21) are also classified to rare earth because it always naturally come with the above elements. The rare earth elements and basic properties are listed in Table 1. Table 1 Rare earth elements and basic properties

No

Name of elementSymbolAtomic orderValenceAtomic weightREO oxidesNote

1ScandiumSc213 44.96Sc2O3

2YttriumY393 88.91Y2O3

3LanthanumLa573138.92La2O3

4CeriumCe583;4140.13CeO2;Ce2O3Depending on valence

5PraseodymiPr593;4140.92Pr4O11-

6NeodymiumNd603144.27Nd2O3

7NeodymiumNd603144.27Nd2O3

8PromeliumPm613145.0-

9Samarium Sm622;3150.43Sm2O3

10Europium Eu632;3152.00En2O3;EuO2Depending on valence

11GadolimiumGd643156.90Gd2O3

12TerbiumTb653;4159.20Gd2O3

13DysproziumDy663162.46Dy2O3

14Holmium Ho673164.94Ho2O3

15Erbium Er683167.30Er2O3

16ThuliumTm693168.90Tm2O3

17Ytarbium Yb702;3173.00Yb2O3

In mineral processing technology, the rare earth elements are divided into two groups: mild and heave groups, also known as lanthanum-cerium and yttrium groups. In some cases, particularly extracting techniques, rare earth elements are divided into three groups: mild, intermediate, and heave groups (see Table 2).

Table 2 Grouping of rare earth elements

LaCePrNdPmSmEuGdTbDyHoErTmYbLuY

Mild (lanthanum-cerium)Heavy (yttrium)

MildIntermediateHeavy

LaCePrNdPmSmEuGdTbDyHoErTmYbLuYLa