In 1984, the magnetic-materials research community in Europe was at a formidable crossroads. The latter part of 1983 had seen industrial research groups in the USA and Japan, simultaneously announce the discovery of a promising new permanent-magnet material, based on the neodymium-iron-boron [Nd-Fe-B] alloy system. This long-sought successor to the evermore-expensive samarium-cobalt magnet materials, had been discovered via not one, but two different processing routes. For all intents and purposes, the Europeans were left out in the cold. Their colleagues in the USA and Japan had pulled ahead in the pursuit and it was unclear as to what the Europeans should do next.

It could have gone either way; but what did happen next, is in my mind a fascinating case study on the value of scientific collaboration in the absence of a profit motive, combined with a remarkable leap of faith, to successfully overcome political, geographic, cultural and scientific challenges.

Late in 1984, the Concerted European Action on Magnets [CEAM] was born at a meeting in Brussels, the result of a unique coming together of the leaders of five European academic laboratories. This was a time before the fall of the Berlin Wall, before the Single European Act and before the European Union. It was a time when the bureaucrats of Europe were trying to find ways to help member countries work more closely together, as part of efforts to reduce mistrust and to achieve the objective of a more integrated, pan-European economic system. This is a system that today most Europeans simply take for granted, but at the time, it was far from clear as to whether or not it would, or could, be achieved.

By the end of its remarkable eight-year run, CEAM eventually produced over 1,000 research papers and well over a dozen patents as a result of the research of over 150 scientists, engineers and product designers, from 93 participating laboratories in 13 countries. Crucially, CEAM produced enduring relationships and collaborative efforts among key research groups within Europe, who to this day continue to work together in areas of magnetics research. Just as important, CEAM enabled the creation of a new generation of research scientists and engineers, whose Ph.D. studentships and activities were made possible in whole or in part by CEAM.

I put it to you that the CEAM approach is potentially an effective model for the creation of a framework for reviving rare-earths research and development, and the subsequent “incubation” of new technical talent for this sector, in the USA, Canada, Europe and beyond. It is imperative that the Western rare-earths supply chain [such as it exists today] realizes that its constituent members are part of a single international “ecosystem”, and that the most effective way to challenge the People’s Republic of China in this area, is to work together within a framework NOT motivated strictly by profit or limited by national borders.

To learn more about CEAM, why it was so successful, and the six steps that could be taken to apply the CEAM model to the revival of rare earths research and development in the West, you can download a copy of my new paper on the subject: “The Concerted European Action on Magnets: A Model for Facing the Rare-Earths Challenge?” in PDF format.

Take a read, and let me know what you think.

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The United States Magnet Materials Association (“USMMA”) today announced that three industry experts – Jack Lifton, Stan Trout, and Tony Morcos – have joined the association as members of its newly-created advisory board.

• Jack Lifton of Jack Lifton, LLC is an independent consultant, focusing on the sourcing of nonferrous strategic metals. His work includes exploration, mining, and the recovery of metal values by recycling of not only metals and their alloys but also of metal-based chemicals used as raw materials for component manufacturing. Mr. Lifton holds more than 45 years of experience in the global OEM automotive, heavy equipment, electrical and electronic, mining, smelting, and refining industries. His background includes the sourcing, manufacturing, and sales of platinum group metal products, rare earth compounds, and ceramic specialties used to make catalytic converters, oxygen sensors, batteries, and fuel cells. He is knowledgeable in locating and analyzing new and recycled supplies of ‘minor metals’ including tellurium, selenium, indium, gallium, silicon, germanium, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, chromium, and the rare earth metals.

• Stan Trout of Spontaneous Materials holds over 30 years experience in the permanent magnet and rare earth industries. With a wealth of problem solving abilities gained from a wide variety of technical and commercial roles, Stan has worked alongside many international luminaries in the industry. He is particularly proud to have trained many of today’s active industry professionals. A registered Professional Engineer, Stan has a B.S. in Physics from Lafayette College and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Metallurgy and Materials Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

• Tony Morcos of ACM Magnetics is an expert in magnetic circuit design and analysis, with more than 25 years of both theoretical and hands-on experience in permanent magnet manufacturing and electric motor/electromagnetic device design and manufacturing. With specialties in high-performance permanent magnet motors, actuators and sensors for use in Military/Aerospace, Medical, Automotive, Power Tool, Appliance and Commercial/Industrial applications, Mr. Morcos is a seasoned trainer and lecturer on permanent magnet materials & applications and electric motors & generators. Mr. Morcos received his Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Dayton, where he studied under the “father of rare-earth permanent magnets” – Dr. Karl Strnat.

The USMMA recently expanded its focus to include rare earth materials and the rare earth magnet supply chain by committing to:

• Support the work of U.S. mining interests to identify and retrieve highly usable rare earth elements from reliable domestic and North American property holdings;
• Revive the ability of industry to convert rare earth elements into usable metal for domestic magnet manufacturing; and
• Advance the manufacturing efforts of U.S. magnet producers whose products are critical to renewable energy applications and national security systems.

The U.S. rare earth supply chain has been decimated by unfair trade practices of foreign competitors. Currently, China dominates the magnet materials industry and has successfully manipulated the rare earth metals market.

Worldwide demand for these materials is escalating rapidly, and over 95% of currently available rare earth mining occurs in China or is controlled by Chinese-led interests. Nevertheless, sizable deposits of the materials exist in the United States and Canada and are available for large scale mining operations.

Chinese rare earth export quotas and taxes have placed U.S. magnet manufacturing at a competitive disadvantage. This has led to an increase in Chinese manufacturing and driven Chinese firms up the value chain. No significant production of rare earth metals takes place today in North America or anywhere outside of China. In addition, experts worry that Chinese domestic demand for rare earth elements could easily equal Chinese production capacity as early as 2012, further limiting material availability in the United States. Additionally, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is calling for a total ban on some rare earth elements in the near future, cutting off the international community’s access to vital materials.

The USMMA argues that the ability to domestically manufacture permanent magnets including rare earth magnets and supporting materials is vital to the nation’s ability to innovate new technologies, create green jobs, and advance next generation national security systems. The USMMA is committed to providing a long-term reliable source of supply to the North American market.

The USMMA was founded in 2006 by magnet manufacturers Thomas & Skinner, Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana; Hoosier Magnetics of Ogdensburg, New York; and Electron Energy Corporation of Landisville, Pennsylvania, to advocate on behalf of the specialty metals clause found at 10 U.S.C. 2533b. Thorium Energy, Inc., an American natural resources development company based in Salt Lake City and New York City, joined the organization in September.

USMMA members have successfully advocated for inclusion of a congressionally mandated study of the rare earth supply-chain in the FY10 National Defense Authorization Act. More information on the USMMA can be found at http://www.usmagnetmaterials.com.

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Molycorp Minerals, LLC announced today the formation of the Rare Earth Industry and Technology Association (“REITA”). REITA will function as an independent trade association dedicated to the establishment of a sustainable domestic Rare Earth industry and technology base to meet the growing need for Rare Earth materials and products for green energy, defense, high-tech and homeland security applications.

Molycorp’s CEO, Mark A. Smith, stated, “We are extremely pleased to be the founding member of REITA. While America has one of the largest and richest Rare Earth deposits in the world at Molycorp’s Mountain Pass, California facility, it has lost much of the technical and manufacturing capacity to produce the Rare Earth materials and products that are vital to the nation’s Green energy, high-tech and defense applications. In order for the United States to be successful in its quest for energy independence, it will need to reestablish these capabilities very quickly.” Mr. Smith went on to say, “Molycorp is proud to be playing a leadership role in helping to secure America’s future energy, economic and national security, by assuring a commercially sustainable supply of these critical materials and technologies that are ultimately used in the production of hybrid and electric cars, wind power turbines, many high-tech applications and numerous advanced defense systems.”

REITA’s Executive Director, Keith Delaney, said “Today, China supplies nearly 100% of the world’s requirements for Rare Earth materials. However, as China’s economy continues to expand, its own domestic need for these strategic materials is skyrocketing, resulting in ever decreasing amounts of these materials for export to the rest of the world. In addition, much of America’s Rare Earth technology and manufacturing infrastructure has also moved to China. As a result, there are now significant gaps in America’s Rare Earth technology, innovation and production capabilities. In some cases, entire supply chains for vital Rare Earth materials and products (such as high-power Rare Earth magnets) no longer exist in the U.S. Individual companies or institutions alone cannot fill these supply chain gaps. It will take a consortium of like-minded domestic and international organizations to band together to do so. REITA has been formed to take on this challenge.”

Mr. Delaney also stated that, “REITA’s Vision is to be the premier association of industry, government and academic partners meeting the U.S. need for Rare Earth materials and products. REITA will be the facilitating entity that pools the necessary capabilities of its members to expedite the domestic development and commercialization of Rare Earth technologies while helping to mitigate the commercial and technical risk of such initiatives.”

Other charter members of REITA, besides Molycorp, include General Electric Company, Arnold Magnetic Technologies Corporation, Electron Energy Corporation, Colorado School of Mines and noted Rare Earth industry analyst Mr. Jack Lifton.

For information on REITA, its mission and membership requirements, please contact Mr. Keith Delaney, Executive Director, Rare Earth Industry and Technology Association at 303-409-7603 or visit www.reitausa.org.

For more information regarding Molycorp, please contact Molycorp Minerals at 303-843-8040 or visit www.Molycorp.com.

It is October 1993 and I have just walked into Lab 11, the home of the University of Birmingham’s Applied Alloy Chemistry Group. I am here on my first day as a postgraduate research student, hoping to make some tiny contribution to the world of rare-earth permanent-magnet material development. This is the space in which I will be spending much of the next four years working, playing and even occasionally sleeping. One of the Group’s old hands shows me to my work area, and as I wonder what comes next, he drops a nine-inch stack of papers on to what passes for my desk. “Take a gander at these”, he says, “and then we’ll talk”.

As I look down at the top of the pile, staring back at me is a strange-looking triangle, littered with a miscellany of what appear to be arcane letters and symbols. Thus it was, that I was introduced for the first time to the Ames Lab’s Rare-earth Information Center, and its RIC News publication – resources which, over time, would become indispensable to my subsequent research.

The Rare-earth Information Center [RIC] was established by the US Atomic Energy Commission in January 1966, at the Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. According to the RIC’s Web site, the goal of the Center was to “service the scientific and technological communities by collecting, storing, evaluating, and disseminating rare-earth information from various sources”. Two years later, responsibility for the RIC was transferred to Iowa State’s Institute for Physical Research and Technology.

The RIC was an incredible resource for industry, government, seasoned research scientists and rookie postgraduate students alike. In an era before the World Wide Web, the RIC database of papers, reports, patents, conference proceedings, news and other information was an amazing store of valuable knowledge on rare-earth elements, ores, minerals and compounds. Even as access to such information became easier with the advent of the Web, there was no better distillation of developments in this field, than the RIC News and RIC Insight publications that Ames Lab’s Karl Gschneidner and later Bill McCallum worked tirelessly to produce.

The Center was financially supported through grants and donations from all over the world. After leaving Birmingham in 1997 to join my new employer, I was pleased to see that we were long-time financial supporters of the RIC, and I continued to receive the updates on rare earths to which I had grown accustomed.

Alas, in July 2002, the RIC closed, a victim of changing times, ever-decreasing funding and perhaps a perceived terminal decline in the rare-earths industry in North America [and frankly, everywhere else outside of China]. Bill McCallum still maintains the archived RIC Database which contains over 100,000 references collected up until 2002, but the database has not been updated since the RIC closed.

And so, here we are in 2009, on the cusp of a massive revival of activity in the world of rare earths outside of China. Earlier this week, Jack Lifton talked about his concept of our travelling “On The Green Road” – the route beyond China that is required to take us from the location and mining of rare earths and other technology metals, through to the refining of ores and minerals into useful metals and compounds, the transformation of these metals and compounds into components and finally the design and production of the devices into which these components are placed.

As we travel down Jack’s Green Road, we’re going to need to cross-train and to educate a new generation of engineers, geologists, metallurgists and other scientists on rare earth metals – their extraction, refinement and uses. We’re going to need to educate the entrepreneurs, investors, business development folks and financial types, on the criticality of these materials to the future of technology, and the types of investments required for infrastructure, production and supply chain development.

Certainly Web sites like the RareMetalBlog are a tremendous asset in this regard, and there is more information than ever out there, both on the Web and elsewhere.  However, I can’t help thinking that without an entity [or entities] to serve a role similar to that which the old Rare-earth Information Center once did – to objectively centralize, parse and distribute all kinds of valuable information on rare earths, to industry, academia and government alike – we could miss a golden opportunity here.

Such a resource [or resources] could accelerate the development of the multi-disciplinary talents and skill sets needed to move us along that Green Road, at the pace that is required to meet the time-sensitive, strategic technology needs of the developed world – and beyond.