According to MiningWeekly, citing Reuters, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has revised down its estimate of Vietnam’s rare earth production for 2022, with production likely to decline further in 2023.
In October 2023, Vietnamese authorities arrested executives of a company cooperating with Western firms on rare earth projects. It is unclear whether this arrest is related to the USGS’s data revision.
USGS data shows that despite Vietnam having the world’s second-largest rare earth reserves of 22 million tons (REO, Rare Earth Oxide), the country’s production in 2022 was only 1,200 tons.
The agency had previously estimated Vietnam’s rare earth production for 2022 at 4,300 tons. In its new forecast, the USGS estimates that last year’s production was only 600 tons.
Rare earths are widely used in various industries, including electric vehicles, power batteries, renewable energy, as well as electronics and defense industries.
Reuters quoted executives from Australian mining company Blackstone Minerals, who said that before the arrest, Vietnam planned to tender for the country’s largest undeveloped rare earth mine. Blackstone planned to bid with one of two Vietnamese companies accused of illegal rare earth trade, whose executives were later arrested.
Blackstone Minerals and the Ministry of Environment, responsible for mining project management, have not responded to requests for comment on whether the tender for the rare earth mine will continue.
The United States has agreed to expand cooperation with Vietnam on rare earths, most of which are undeveloped in Vietnam and can be considered as an option for rare earth supply.
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi has not responded to email requests for comment.
[Source – 上海有色网] USGS下调越南稀土产量估值 https://news.smm.cn/news/102611506
