In 2021, the national first batch of rare earth minerals (rare earth oxide REO, the same below) has a total mining control index of 84,000 tons, of which ion type (mainly medium and heavy rare earth) rare earth minerals index 11490 tons, rock and mineral type (light) rare earth minerals The indicator is 72510 tons.
Compared with the same period in 2020, the first batch of rare earth mining indicators in 2021 has been raised by 27.28% to 18,000 tons, and the first batch of rare earth separation indicators in 2021 has been raised by 27.56% to 17,500 tons. The increase is the largest in the past three years, second only to 2018.
Different from the past, the first batch of ion mine mining indicators in 2021 have been relaxed again for three years. Since 2018-2020, the first ion mine mining indicator is 9575 tons. In 2021, the ion mine mining indicator has increased by 1915 tons to 11490 tons. An increase of 20%.
In the first batch of 2021, the mining and separation indicators of the six major groups have been significantly adjusted upwards. In terms of separation indicators, Minmetals Rare Earth increased by about 20%, Chinalco increased by about 31%, northern rare earth increased by about 25.5%, Xiamen tungsten increased by about 20%, southern rare earth increased by about 36.1%, and Guangdong Rare Earth Industry Group increased by about 20%.
The industry believes that the substantial adjustment of the rare earth control plan is mainly to meet the current rise in downstream demand for rare earths and ease the current tight supply of some major rare earth products. On the other hand, the current high prices of rare earths have a certain stabilizing effect. Compared with 2018, after also experiencing the skyrocketing of rare earth prices in 2017, the first batch of rare earth control plans in 2018 have also been greatly relaxed, and the magnitude is the highest in history.