NEWS & ANALYSIS
US DLA to stockpile europium, support production
The US Department of Defense's procurement arm, the Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials (DLASM), plans to procure europium and focus on developing domestic separation and recycling technologies.
The agency will procure three europium raw materials this year, its chief of strategy planning Brian Gabriel said at the Argus Americas Rare Earths Summit in San Diego.
It will source up to 29t of 99.99pc europium oxide, up to 1t of 99.999pc europium oxide and up to 56t of mixed samarium-europium-gadolinium concentrate.
Europium procurement will form part of DLASM's seven stockpiling cycles over 2017. Europium was added to the agency's list of critical and strategic materials for national defence stockpiling this year. It joins rare earths yttrium oxide and dysprosium metal, which were added in 2014.
The procurement of concentrate indicates the agency is shifting away from purchasing separated rare earth oxides and finished metals. It plans to support new domestic separation technologies and will seek bids from companies or consortia that would conduct small-scale testing on samarium-europium-gadolinium concentrate, Gabriel said.
But this initiative is dependent on the agency sourcing samarium-europium-gadolinium concentrate. It will form part of DLASM's research and development initiative to support US production of rare earths. DLASM intends to test small-scale separation processes with bids potentially starting in the 2019 fiscal year, Gabriel said.
It remains to be seen if the agency will be able to obtain the volumes it is targeting. The agency sourced 8.8t of yttrium oxide in 2016, below its projected target of 10t for the year, official US Geological Survey data show.
China remains the world's primary producer of europium oxide and metal. China exported 635kg of europium oxide globally between January and April, with 10kg going to the US, official Chinese customs data show.
North America has no active production and mining for rare earth elements. But the Mountain Pass mine, formerly owned by Molycorp until it filed for bankruptcy in 2015, was an active domestic producer of europium oxide.
An auction is taking place today for the Mountain Pass site but primary mining is not expected to commence soon. The auction is for the processing and separation infrastructure at the site only. The mineral deposits are separately owned.
Applications for permanent magnets in focus
Permanent magnets and neodymium-iron-boron magnets (NdFeB) in particular are of interest to DLASM because of their applications in high-tech military equipment, Gabriel said.
The US imports nearly 70pc or 15,000t of its NdFeB permanent magnets in finished goods, according to Gabriel. Computers and electrical equipment were the largest single consumer, accounting for nearly 40pc of total demand.
There were no clear sources for approximately 18pc, or 4,000t, of US NdFeB consumption and just 13pc of total demand is specifically for magnets and alloys, Gabriel said.
US production of permanent magnets from imported metal powders accounted for 4pc of direct NdFeB consumption. But China and the rest of the world export nearly 9pc as NdFeB magnets.
It will source up to 29t of 99.99pc europium oxide, up to 1t of 99.999pc europium oxide and up to 56t of mixed samarium-europium-gadolinium concentrate.
Europium procurement will form part of DLASM's seven stockpiling cycles over 2017. Europium was added to the agency's list of critical and strategic materials for national defence stockpiling this year. It joins rare earths yttrium oxide and dysprosium metal, which were added in 2014.
The procurement of concentrate indicates the agency is shifting away from purchasing separated rare earth oxides and finished metals. It plans to support new domestic separation technologies and will seek bids from companies or consortia that would conduct small-scale testing on samarium-europium-gadolinium concentrate, Gabriel said.
But this initiative is dependent on the agency sourcing samarium-europium-gadolinium concentrate. It will form part of DLASM's research and development initiative to support US production of rare earths. DLASM intends to test small-scale separation processes with bids potentially starting in the 2019 fiscal year, Gabriel said.
It remains to be seen if the agency will be able to obtain the volumes it is targeting. The agency sourced 8.8t of yttrium oxide in 2016, below its projected target of 10t for the year, official US Geological Survey data show.
China remains the world's primary producer of europium oxide and metal. China exported 635kg of europium oxide globally between January and April, with 10kg going to the US, official Chinese customs data show.
North America has no active production and mining for rare earth elements. But the Mountain Pass mine, formerly owned by Molycorp until it filed for bankruptcy in 2015, was an active domestic producer of europium oxide.
An auction is taking place today for the Mountain Pass site but primary mining is not expected to commence soon. The auction is for the processing and separation infrastructure at the site only. The mineral deposits are separately owned.
Applications for permanent magnets in focus
Permanent magnets and neodymium-iron-boron magnets (NdFeB) in particular are of interest to DLASM because of their applications in high-tech military equipment, Gabriel said.
The US imports nearly 70pc or 15,000t of its NdFeB permanent magnets in finished goods, according to Gabriel. Computers and electrical equipment were the largest single consumer, accounting for nearly 40pc of total demand.
There were no clear sources for approximately 18pc, or 4,000t, of US NdFeB consumption and just 13pc of total demand is specifically for magnets and alloys, Gabriel said.
US production of permanent magnets from imported metal powders accounted for 4pc of direct NdFeB consumption. But China and the rest of the world export nearly 9pc as NdFeB magnets.
This analysis was published in Argus Metals International.
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