US Congress Ponders Legislation to Encourage Rare Earth (and Thorium?) Production

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Other Sources, RTGs, Sea Water, Thorium, Helium-3, & Fusion Research / Rare Earth Elements

Date posted: 08/01/14

On June 17, 2014, US House Representative, Steve Stockman, introduced Bill HR 4883 to provide for the establishment of a National Rare-Earth Refinery Cooperative, and for other purposes. The Bill was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services. It is a House companion bill to legislation introduced earlier in the year by Sen. Roy Blunt, (R-M). Both bills intend to reduce the United States reliance on Chinese rare earths by encouraging an increase in US production. Specifically, the Bills propose establishing a thorium bearing rare-earth refinery cooperative to provide for the domestic processing of thorium-bearing rare-earth concentrates as residual unprocessed and unrefined ores. Rep. Stockman was adamant that the United States needs to establish this cooperative so that American corporations no longer have to relocate their manufacturing facilities and jobs to China and relinquish control of their intellectual property rights to have access to a rare-earth supply chain.