Economically Unviable Ocean-Floor Deposits Won't Alter GTSO's Mongolian Plans
As Green Technology Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: GTSO) and other mining developers work to claim valuable rare earth deposits around the globe, Japanese researchers this week reported what could be the largest find in history.
The excitement generated by the Japanese find is a reflection of the explosive demand for rare earth elements around the world, said GTSO President and CEO John Shearer. Currently, China dominates global production, providing more than 95 percent of the world's supply. New mining restrictions and export cuts implemented by the Asian superpower have sparked fears of rare earth supply shortages in Japan, South Korea, the U.S. and other large consumers of the metals.
"This huge discovery was made because shrinking exports from China in the face of growing demand has caused rare earth prices to skyrocket," Shearer said. "There are legitimate concerns that demand will soon outstrip supply, but we believe we're close to providing a more economically viable solution by developing rare earth mines in Mongolia."
Details of the discovery were published in the online version of the British journal, Nature Geoscience. Geologists led by Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo, found heavy concentrations of rare earth minerals in sea mud at 78 locations on the floor of the Pacific. The researchers estimate the ocean-floor reserves total 80 to 100 billion metric tons of rare earth deposits, enough to satisfy current global annual consumption for 10,000 years.
Retrieving those rare elements, however, may not be practical—or even possible. The minerals were found at depths of 3,500-6,000 meters below the surface of the ocean, far from any shore. Since the deposits are located in international waters, it's not clear who would own the rights to them, even if the technology needed to mine rare earths from the murky depths existed. Many analysts doubt the minerals' recoverability will be feasible any time soon.
"The importance of this find shouldn't be overestimated," said Daniel Briesemann, natural resources expert at Commerzbank, in an interview with the German newspaper Deutsche Welle. "Rare earth elements have never been obtained from these depths before. Entirely new technologies will need to be developed for the extraction."
Last month, GTSO signed a PPA with Mongolian mining and trading company ArErkhes, LLC, to extract rare earths from three mining sites in that developing nation. GTSO formed a joint venture with Rare Earth Exporters of Mongolia earlier this year to develop new sources of the valuable resources outside of China for export to the U.S. and its economic allies. For more information on the company's rare earth export plans, please visit http://www.rareearthexporters.com/Investors.
Green Technology Solutions commercializes clean and renewable mining technology and products in a sector that includes Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL), MV Rare Earth/Strategic Metals (NYSEArca: REMX), General Moly, Inc. (AMEX: GMO) and Thompson Creek Metals Company, Inc. (NYSE: TC).
About Green Technology Solutions, Inc.
Green Technology Solutions, Inc. (GTSO) is an OTCQB publicly traded company. [http://www.greentech-solutions.com] OTCQB is the middle tier of the OTC market. OTCQB companies report to the SEC or a U.S. banking regulator, making it easy for investors to identify companies that are current in their reporting obligations. GTSO acquires, develops and implements the newest clean mining technology to enable our partner clients to expand operations throughout the world. Environmental restrictions represent the largest restriction to mining industry growth and operations. GTSO focuses on overcoming these environmental restrictions with brilliant cutting-edge clean mining technology.
For investment information, please visit http://www.GreenTech-Solutions.com/investors.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipate" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, description of anyone's past success, either financial or strategic, is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof.
Contacts:
Green Technology Solutions, Inc.
John Shearer, 408-432-7285
President
and CEO
info@greentech-solutions.com
