Japanese firm signs $250 million rare earths procurement deal with Australian miner

29 Nov 2010

Source:  New York Times
Less than a week after China resumed exports of crucial industrial minerals to Japan, a top Japanese trading company on Wednesday announced a deal to reduce reliance on Beijing for mineral supplies.

The Tokyo-based company, Sojitz, said it had signed a $250 million procurement deal with an Australian mining company and warned that the outlook for stable shipments from the Chinese mainland remained far from certain.
The deal is the latest effort by Japan to diversify its sources of the minerals, known as rare earths which are vital to the production of a wide range of high-technology products.

Sojitz, the top Japanese trader in rare earths, said it had forged a deal with the Australian mining company Lynas to start shipping 3,000 tons a year of the minerals from a new mine, Mount Weld, beginning late next year.  Sojitz will invest as much as $250 million in Lynas, which is preparing to open the Mount Weld mine in the state of Western Australia, Mr. Mizui said.

The investment will be used by Lynas to expand capacity at Mount Weld, and Sojitz may acquire a direct stake in the mine in the future.

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