Korea Resources Corp. signs agreement for rare earth mining in South Africa

State-run Korea Resources Corporation (KORES) signed an agreement with Toronto-based Frontier Rare Earths Ltd. to secure a 10% interest in the Zandkopsdrift rare earth element mining project in the Namaqualand region of South Africa. Under the agreement, the South Korean firm has the option to acquire up to a 30% stake in the Zandkopsdrift project which is expected to begin in 2016. The mine is expected to have an annual production of 20,000 tons of rare earth materials. KORES said that it had signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) and understanding with other leading South Korean companies namely: Hyundai Motor Co., Samsung C&T Corp., GS Caltex Corp., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. and Aju Corp. All five domestic companies will participate in the project. At present, China accounts for more than 95% of the global output of 17 rare earth metals which are essential in the production of electronic gadgets and are crucial to the defense and renewable-energy industries. Last year, China threatened to reduce its annual export quota, and as the prices of rare earth elements began to rise, several countries became interested in reviving mines outside of China that were closed many years ago because of operational losses. (December 4, 2011)