Access and Potential PERCENT OF U.S. CONSUMPTION FROM IMPORTS, MAJOR FOREIGN SOURCES, AND PRINCIPAL USES Friction products (22%), roofing products (17%), asbestos-cement Weighting agent in drilling muds (65%), paints and rubber Stainless and alloy steel (30%), nonferrous alloys (28%), electroplating (22%) Photography (45%), electrical and electronic (20%), electroplating and jewelry (13%) GREATER THAN 91 PERCENT NET IMPORT RELIANCE Bauxite and alumina Graphite Manganes Quartz crystal Strontium Tantalum Thellum Jamaica, Guinea, Surinam, Australia Mexico, China, Brazil, Madagascar Bauxite processed into alumina (80%) Refractories (25%), lubricants (15%), foundry (14%), brake linings(13%) Republic of South Africa, Gabon, Australia, Brazil, France Manganese ferroalloys, dry cell batteries, chemicals Piezoelectric fer devices and oscilators Mexico, Spain Thalland, Australia, Brazil Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Fed. Rep. of NET IMPORT DATA WITHHELD Antimony Blamuth Mercury Tellurium Thorium Vanadium Zirconium Television tube glass (58%), pyrotechnics (15%) Electronic components, (59%), machinery (19%), transportation (15%) Bolivia, China, Mexico, Republic of South Africa, France Flame retardants (85%), batteries (10%), chemicals (10%), ceramics and glass (5%) Spain, Algeria, Turkey Canada, Philippines, United Kingdom France, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom Pharmaceuticals (50%), machinery (22%), primary metals (28%) Electrical (51%), chlorine production (19%), paints (11%) Iron and steel production (80%), nonferrous metals (25%), chemicals (10%) Foundry sand (35%), refractories (30%), ceramics (20%), abrasives (5%) Nuclear energy Paints, plastic and te Fier-ald, absorbents Source: Adapted from U.S. Bureau of Mines, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 1987, 183 p. MINING IN THE CALIFORNIA DESERT · July 1989 AMES BORATORY Energy & Mineral Resources Research Institute lowa State University | Ames, Iowa 50011-3020 February 2, 1988 Dr. Louis C. Ianniello Dear Lou: 20545 This letter is in response to your letter of December 31, 1987 to D. K. Finnemore (and others) requesting information concerning the need to keep open the California Desert Area for minerals exploration and recovery I will limit my comments to the rare earth materials, in particular to the large rare earth deposit located at Mountain Pass, California, owned and operated by Molycorp, Inc. a Unocal company. This mine is the only large viable source of rare earth materials in this country and the rare earths mined there are an important source of critical materials for the USA's current energy and defense efforts, and our country's advanced technological industries. Some of the more impor tant ones are listed below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Phosphors etc. communications, CRT (cathode ray terminal) displays Use Y, Ce, Eu, Tb in these applications. Lasers SDI, communications, etc. Use Nd, Y. Permanent Magnets motors, and a variety of electrical and elec tron devices, etc. Use Nd, Sm. rare earth phosphors: rare earth containing lights are so efficient that electrical costs and also capital costs are reduced by a factor of three over conventional lights. Use Y, Eu, ть. Structural and electronic ceramics - yttria-stabilized zirconia, sialons, and Si3N4. The structural ceramics are being used in motors, machinery etc. for operation at higher temperature which improves the efficiency and decreases energy consumption. The yttria-stablized zirconia material is also used in electronic sensors which allows devices to operate at high temperatures, Ccerated for the US Department of Energy Under Contract W-7405-Eng-82 Dr. Louis C. Lanniello February 2, 1988 6. or under more adverse environmental conditions, or to improve operating conditions of processes or motors, e.g. they allow automobile gasoline engines to run more efficiently and lower gasoline consumption by controlling the lean to rich gasoline to air ratio (also see item 3 below). Catalysis - mixed rare earth oxides, La203, CeO2 are used in a variety of catalytic processes including gasoline cracking. In addition to the above national needs, the rare earths also have an impact on the environment and health of mankind. 1. 2. 3. 4. Rare earths are used to decolorize glass bottles (soft-drinks, etc.) replacing arsenic which was used extensively up to the 1960-1970's. Rare earth x-ray phosphors have enabled doctors to reduce patients exposure to x-rays by a factor of ten over the conventional x-ray phosphors. One medical doctor stated that this was the greatest discovery in the medical x-ray field since the initial discovery of x-rays by Roentgen. Yttria-stablized zirconfa electronic sensors play an important role in keeping the exhaust emissions from automotive gasoline engines within government standards by controlling the rich to lean gasoline to air ratio, in addition to improving the gasoline mileage as noted in item 5 above. Automotive exhaust catalysts the rare earths are used extensively in the exhaust system to reduce the combustion pollutants to an environmentally acceptable level. Also attached is a brief list from Molycorp of the uses of the rare earth materials as the individual elements, which includes some not mentioned above in my letter. The future involvement of the rare earths in energy, defense and military areas, high technology commerce, and environmental and health areas will continue to grow and have even a much higher impact than they do today. As rightly pointed out by Mr. Robert F. Burford, the new high temperature superconductors will play an important role in these areas in the future. But there are other developments on the horizon which will have, in my view, even a greater impact than these high temperature superconductors. The two most likely areas are: (1) heavy fluoride optical fibers, and (2) aqueous corrosion inhibitors and corrosion resistant coatings. In the first, LaF, is likely to be one of the major components in the heavy fluoride glasses used for optical fibers. These new materials have the potential of increasing the transmission of light by about a factor of 5 to 10 over the silica glasses currently in use. In the second, recent experiments have shown that rare earth chlorides are nearly as good Dr. Louis C. Lanniello February 2, 1988 as chromates in inhibiting metal corrosion in aqueous environments, and that rare earth oxide coatings on Al, Fe and other metals and alloys are extremely efficient in preventing oxidation and corrosion. At the present stages these coatings are more resistant than Zn, Cd and nitrite coatings. The main advantage of the use of rare earths over these other materials is that the rare earths are not toxic, as are chromates, Zn and Cd, nor carcinogenic as nitrites. I expect that there will be tremendous pressure in the future for the rare earths to be used in place of these environmentally unacceptable materials. My vision of the future would indicate that in the mid to late 1990's these two applications will have a significant impact on the utilization of the rare earths. Also coming on strong at that time will be the use of Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets (mentioned in the second paragraph above, item 3) which I believe will account for half of the rare earth consumption in 1995. These magnets are predicteed to have a final product value of $1.5 billon annually in 1995. My biggest concern is that the Senator Cranston proposal (Senate Bill 7) will severally restrict the mining of rare earths from the Mountain Pass mine, (the free world's largest source of bastnasite), such that they will be unable to meet the USA's demand for rare earth materials in the future. This means we will need to import ore from overseas — Brazil, India, Australia and People's Republic of China being the most likely sources. This will have an adverse effect on our balance of payments and a much stronger dependence on other countries. It is true that we have many other rare earth ore sources in this country - primarily monazite. But little of it is being mined today because it is not economically viable. The USA can, of course, be independent of the foreign sources of rare earths, but at a greatly increased cost of these rare earth materials. The closing of the California Desert Area for mineral exploration and recovery would have not only a severe economic impact on the country (which would eliminate our competitive advantage over the other advanced high technology countries, i.e. Japan and Western Europe), but would have a significant deleterious effect on energy consumption, our defense and military posture, and the environmental well-being of the human race. APPENDIX II Additional Material Submitted HONORABLE DUNCAN HUNTER THE CALIFORNIA DESERT PROTECTION ACT OF 1989 HEARING BEFORE THE SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS, NATIONAL PARKS & FORESTS OCTOBER 2, 1989 Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you and the members of this panel for the opportunity to testify on Senator Cranston's legislation, S. 11, and express my views on how we can best protect, utilize, and enjoy the vast resources of the California deserts. It is important for the committee to understand that the four California desert Members, Reps. McCandless, Lewis, Thomas and I, have been working as a team in preparation for this hearing and we are testifying today on the overall issues which we believe to be important, as well as about the many diverse and unique features of the desert within our own Congressional Districts. Before I start with some of my reasons for opposing this legislation, I would like to offer a couple of personal comments. I was born and raised in Riverside, California - one of the many gateway cities to the California desert. I learned a great respect for the strength and the fragility of the area at a very young age. As a youngster with a tremendous love of outdoor activities like hunting and fishing, I came to understand that it was each individual's responsibility to conserve this great resource. |