Companies

Rare earth miner fortifies mines to stop theft

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-11 15:03

HOHHOT - China's biggest rare earth miner has dug a massive trench and planted wire fences around a mine complex in north China in a bid to prevent theft of the minerals, says a company manager.

Baotou Steel (Group) Corp had dug a 56-km trench around the complex in Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Liu Zhihong, director with the company's planning and development department, said on Dec 10.

The trench, 3 meters wide and 2 meters deep, is reinforced with 2.5-meter-high wire fences, said Liu.

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The company also had more than 100 security guards to patrol the mines and the tailing heaps, which were rich with rare earths, Liu said.

Rare earths, a class of 17 chemical elements, are widely used in the manufacture of high-tech products like flat-screen monitors, electric car batteries, wind turbines, missiles and aerospace alloys.

Baotou has a rare earth reserve of about 60 million tons, accounting for three quarters of the national total.

Baotou Steel (Group) Corp is the sole miner authorized to extract rare earths in the region, where the theft of minerals is common as prices have soared and the Chinese government is tightening control over them.

Police in Baotou arrested eight people last month and seized about 300 tons of refined rare earths valued at 3 million yuan ($450,000).