by Johannes Fritsche
Schwarzwälder-Bote, December 04.12.2014th, 18 52:XNUMX p.m.
Without rare earths modern life and its technologies would be inconceivable. So it was only a matter of time before China's main producer stopped its exports and put pressure on the West.
Mayor Thomas Herzog presented a not so familiar, but important topic in the city's economic talk on November 26th: "Rare earths - the search for industrial gold". Numerous entrepreneurs and those interested in business topics came to the lecture hall of the Kreissparkasse for the business development event.
The lecture was given by a speaker who was both expert and insider. Bernd Grieb, Managing Director of Magnequench GmbH Tübingen, a company of Molycorp, Inc., headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Outside China one of the few owners of a rare earth mine in California.
Many key technologies would not work without rare earths, said Grieb: tube, plasma and LCD screens, wind turbines, fluorescent tubes, radar systems, PC drives, cell phones and last but not least permanent magnets in many products.
"Up to 100 electric motors can be installed in a modern car, and up to 3,7 tons of magnetic materials can be installed in a wind turbine," Grieb listed as examples.
What many listeners did not know: MS-Schramberg GmbH & Co. KG in Sulgen, with its more than 500 employees and a turnover of 92 million euros, is the second largest manufacturer of rare earth magnets in Europe.
Before joining Molycorp, Grieb was head of the rare earth magnets department at MS-Schramberg. 16 different elements are counted among the rare earths. "They are not that rare, economic mining sites are rare," reports Grieb.
In the past, with 95 percent of deliveries, China was the largest and virtually the only supplier of importance. 2010 suddenly became tight for consumers in Europe and around the world, with prices soaring: China radically cut back rare earth exports. In response, Molycorp re-activated its mine (Mountain Pass). One to one and a half billion dollars would have cost to open up a new mine
Still in the nineties the USA was the main producing country, the promotion became however unprofitable, because China delivered much cheaper. However, at the price of huge environmental pollution due to the local extraction and processing. Toxic residues (for example thorium, uranium, heavy metals, acids, fluorides). In addition, there is the permanent risk of leakage of radioactivity, since many rare earths contain radioactive substances. Grieb also mentions the important role of rare earths for sustainability and environmental protection. Ten percent of the total energy requirement can be saved when using regulated rare-earth motors. Consistent use of the 87 million heating pumps in Europe could save two nuclear power plants.
Grieb regrets that there are still no collection systems and no recycling market despite good separation systems. Finally, the expert presented an informative video about the mining and processing of rare earths at the Molycorp Mine in California.
Wolfgang Flaig Director of the Schramberg branch of Kreissparkasse Rottweil thanked the presentation with a present and invited all visitors to exchange ideas, to cultivate existing contacts and to make new ones during a small snack.
Further information: www.molycorp.com
Quelle: http://www.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/inhalt.schramberg-seltene-erden-als-industrielles-gold.1927252d-cfdc-4e8f-bc40-1fbb9e99c06d.html
