SENATE MEMORIAL 49

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

William E. Sharer

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING AND TECHNOLOGY AND THE ENERGY, MINERALS AND NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT TO COOPERATE TO PERFORM A ONE-YEAR FEASIBILITY STUDY OF THE RARE EARTHS INDUSTRY IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, significant quantities of rare earth elements, also called rare earth metals, are used in the production of clean-energy technologies, including advanced automotive propulsion batteries, electric motors, high-efficiency light bulbs, solar panels and wind turbines; and

     WHEREAS, these technologies are used to advance the United States and New Mexico energy policies of reducing dependence on foreign oil as well as to decrease greenhouse gas emissions through expansion of clean sources of energy; and

     WHEREAS, many modern defense technologies, such as radar and sonar systems, precision-guided weapons, cruise missiles and lasers, cannot be built as designed and specified without the use of rare earth elements and materials produced from them; and

     WHEREAS, rare earth elements also provide core functionality to a variety of high-technology applications in computing, pollution abatement, power generation, water treatment, oil refining, metal alloying, communications, health care, agriculture and other sectors; and

     WHEREAS, although at least fifteen percent of the world's rare earth reserves are located within the United States, the nation now depends upon imports for nearly one hundred percent of its rare earth needs because there are few active rare earth producers in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, while China produces more than ninety-seven percent of all rare earth compounds for world consumption, China has only an estimated thirty-six percent of the world's deposits; and

     WHEREAS, the ability and willingness of China to export rare earth elements is eroding due to its growing domestic demand, its enforcement of environmental law on current producers and its mandate to consolidate the industry by decreasing its number of mining permits; and

     WHEREAS, the Chinese ministry of industry and information technology's draft of a rare earth elements plan for 2009 to 2015 proposes an immediate ban on the export of dysprosium, terbium, thulium, lutetium and yttrium, the so-called "heavy" rare earth metals, and a restriction on the exports of all other "light" rare earth metals, to a level well below that which would have been sufficient to satisfy the demand of Japan in 2008 alone for such metals; and

     WHEREAS, the United States has limited rare earth production, remains entirely dependent on overseas refineries for further elemental and alloy processing and does not currently maintain a strategic reserve of rare earth compounds, metals or alloys; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is in a unique position to be of national strategic assistance because it has ten deposit sites, more than any other state in the nation; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico also has three national laboratories as well as four military installations; and

     WHEREAS, national efforts are being made to have rare earth qualify as material either strategic or critical to national security and to cause the United States government to facilitate the domestic reintroduction of a globally competitive rare earth industry that is self-sufficient in the United States domestic market, with multiple sources of mining, processing, alloying and manufacturing; and

     WHEREAS, self-sufficiency in the rare earth industry requires an uninterrupted supply of strategic materials critical to national security and innovative commercial product development, including rare earth, to support the clean-energy and defense supply chains; and

     WHEREAS, the United States currently cannot reclaim valuable rare earth and permanent magnets from scrap military or consumer products, industrial materials or equipment, which allows entities in other countries to identify and recover such materials for resale to United States manufacturers at considerable cost; and

     WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to identify the current global market situation regarding rare earth production, the strategic value placed on it by foreign nations, including China, and the supply-chain vulnerabilities related to rare earths and products containing rare earths; and

     WHEREAS, the foregoing information means that New Mexico is poised to become the leader in rare earth production, providing a valuable economic development industry for the state as well as a strategic key to national security for weapons technology;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico institute of mining and technology be requested to work in cooperation with the energy, minerals and natural resources department to perform a one-year feasibility study to determine the availability and commercial potential of rare earths; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the study perform a coordinated and expedited review of permits or other actions to promote investment in, exploration for and development of New Mexico rare earths; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the study identify the nature of lands where rare earth deposits are located as state, federal, tribal or private lands; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the New Mexico institute of mining and technology and the energy, minerals and natural resources department report back to the legislature before the senate conservation committee and the house energy and natural resources committee; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the New Mexico institute of mining and technology and to the secretary of energy, minerals and natural resources.

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