Frequently Asked Questions

Questions:

• What advantages do the facilities at GWTI offer that others may not?
• How are rare earth elements beneficial to current alloys and those of the future?
• With China currently being the world's largest manufacturer of rare earth products, what locales and opportunities exist for a North American facility?
• Do the expertise and market exist in North America to compete globally in this industry?

Answers:

What advantages do the facilities at GWTI offer that others may not

• We have the capability to provide materials of exceptionally high purity with our vacuum melt furnaces.
• We have one of few facilities that can produce ground powders in an inert environment.
• Our facility has four hydrogen-safe areas that can be used to activate hydrogen storage materials.
• We also have enough space to add new equipment for rare-earth-specific operations, and we are developing and implementing plans to begin the manufacture of rare earth (RE) metals.
   

How are rare earth elements beneficial to current alloys and those of the future?

We currently use rare earth elements in the manufacture of certain specialty aerospace materials, and these elements add to the structural strength of the final alloy.

Rare earth materials are also used in some of the battery materials, hydrogen storage alloys, and magnetic materials we produce.

Future uses of rare earth materials go way beyond the metals markets, and as we develop and install the equipment and infrastructure needed to support the GWMG mining operations, we will be able to act as supplier to several industries that will use base rare earth (RE) materials in the oxide and fluoride states for their final products.
 

With China currently being the world's largest manufacturer of rare earth products, what locales and opportunities exist for a North American facility?

China is now supplying up to 98% of the world's rare earth (RE) materials. RE materials have a thousand uses, so the greatest opportunity is in having a second source for these materials.

The West is now in a position where, as the Chinese become their own best customer of RE products, the supply of this material is now increasingly diminishing, and we imagine it will only become more rare with time. If users of these materials want an assured supply for the future, a non-Chinese source will become not only wanted but an absolute necessity.
 

Do the expertise and market exist in North America to compete globally in this industry?

The market we are looking at goes well beyond North America. We are receiving inquiries from Europe, India, Japan, and some Asian customers, who are all wondering when and how much we will be able to supply.

In terms of competing with China, the principal reason we are looking to be a vertically integrated company is that we will be in a position to perform additional value-added operations and enter into the market with a more advanced product and thus able to set a more lucrative initial market price.

Most importantly, we are looking at using technologies that are not currently being used in the day-to-day processing of rare earth (RE) materials. Such technologies may act as a labor-saving advantage that will allow us to provide products that are price competitive with any other producer, whether in China or the wider global market.