According to Mining Net ( http://www.mining.com/ According to a report on September 25, Vietnam plans to restart its largest rare-earth mine, Dong Pao, as well as other rare-earth mines next year, hoping to leverage Western support to challenge China's dominant position in the rare-earth sector.
　　According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, Vietnam is home to the Dong Bao rare-earth deposit—the world’s second-largest rare-earth mine—yet it remains largely undeveloped. Officials from Lavreco Mining, a Vietnamese state-owned company that holds a block in the Dong Bao rare-earth deposit, said that effective mining at Dong Bao has been halted for at least seven years. In recent years, Japanese investors Toyota Motor Corporation and Sojitz Corporation have also abandoned their involvement in the Dong Bao rare-earth mine, pressured by increasing Chinese rare-earth supplies and low prices.
　　As a first step, the Vietnamese government plans to launch bidding for several blocks of the Dong Bao rare-earth mine before the end of the year.
　　Executives from Blackstone Minerals Ltd. said the company plans to bid for at least one exploration block; if successful, Blackstone Minerals’ investment in the project could reach approximately US$100 million. Currently, Blackstone Minerals is in discussions with several electric vehicle manufacturers, including VinFast and Rivian, about potential collaborations.
　　Luu Anh Tuan, Chairman of Vietnam VTRE Rare Earth Company, also stated that although the bidding schedule has not yet been finalized, it is certain that the Vietnamese government plans to restart operations at the Dong Bao rare earth mine next year. Vietnam VTRE Rare Earth Company hopes to secure one mining block, enabling it to produce approximately 10,000 tons of rare earth oxide equivalent annually—about one-third of the mine’s projected annual output. Tuan added that production could begin around the end of 2024.
　　According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, this will make Dongbao’s rare-earth production slightly lower than that of Mountain Pass, the world’s largest rare-earth mine located in California, USA, which produced 43,000 tons of rare-earth oxide equivalent in 2022.
　　Vietnam also plans to develop more rare-earth mines. In July, the Vietnamese government set a target of reaching an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons of rare-earth oxide equivalent by 2030. China’s domestic quota for 2022 was 210,000 tons.
　　According to Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, the Dong Bao rare-earth deposit is rich in cerium and lanthanide elements (such as praseodymium and neodymium) and is relatively easy to mine. The rare earths are primarily concentrated in fluorocarboncerite minerals.
　　However, rare-earth refining technology is highly complex, and China controls many of the processing techniques. Blackstone Mining also stated that the estimated resource reserves of the Dongbao rare-earth mine need to be reassessed using modern methods.
　　According to a briefing from the White House, during President Biden’s visit to Vietnam in September, the U.S. agreed to help Vietnam better map out a blueprint for developing its rare-earth resources and “attract high-quality investments.” This move could encourage U.S. investors to bid on Vietnam’s new exploration blocks. However, John Rockhold, a U.S. rare-earth industry consultant and chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hanoi chapter, said that a U.S. investor’s plan involving Vietnam’s VTRE Rare Earth Company had already failed this year. The plan had also included VTRE Rare Earth Company shipping rare-earth concentrates to the U.S., as well as a potential future investment of $200 million in Vietnam. Vietnam’s VTRE Rare Earth Company confirmed that the rare-earth shipment plan had indeed fallen through.
　　On the contrary, in April, Vietnam’s VTRE Rare Earth Company announced an agreement to supply 100 tons of rare-earth oxides to Australia’s Strategic Materials Corporation this year, but declined to comment on the mining operations at the Dong Bao rare-earth mine. Blackstone Mining, a partner in this deal, operates a nickel mine in Vietnam and has confirmed that its processing facilities in Vietnam are capable of handling ore from the Dong Bao rare-earth mine.
　　Vietnam VTRE Rare Earth Company’s plant, located in northern Vietnam, specializes in separating rare-earth oxides from ore. The plant can process 5,000 tons of rare-earth oxides annually. The company plans to double its production capacity to accommodate the commissioning of the Dong Bao rare-earth mine.
　　After rare-earth oxides are extracted, they are metallized to become rare-earth permanent magnets. According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, China controls the metallization technology and produces 90% of the world’s rare-earth permanent magnets.
　　Vietnam’s VTRE Rare Earth Company is conducting a pilot project to build a rare-earth processing plant in collaboration with the South Korean company Setopia—though Setopia has no prior experience in this field. The project’s initial total investment is approximately US$4 million, primarily provided by Setopia, and a plant could be completed next year.
　　According to a Reuters report in August, South Korean and Chinese rare-earth permanent magnet companies will set up factories in Vietnam in the downstream industry.
　　Multiple analysts believe that plans to invest in Vietnam’s rare-earth mining industry could position Vietnam as a viable player while alleviating countries’ concerns about the strategic importance of rare earths. Dudley Kingsnorth, a professor at the School of Mining at Curtin University in Western Australia, noted that Vietnam still has a long way to go to achieve its rare-earth goals—including improving its investment climate—and that China will continue to maintain its dominant position.