Thor revives rare earth prospect amid talk of 'bubble'

25th Oct 2010 12:10

A surge in the price of mining companies hunting for rare earth elements is causing concern within the investment community, raising concerns about a new investment bubble.The Chinese, which dig out around 97% of the world's supply, have cut exports of the minerals used by manufacturers of electric cars and computers, reports the FT.That's got miners excited and keen to uncover more of these valuable resources. An index of rare earth company shares put together by researcher Kaiser Bottom-Fish Online is up 12-fold in less than two years and up 35% in a month."It is a race where any one of the leading names could stumble," said mining analyst John Kaiser, who compares the situation to the dotcom boom of the late 1990s and uranium bubble of 2006-08.Half a dozen small miners listed in America, Canada and Australia are now worth $7bn altogether despite not actually mining any rare earths yet.Most of those scrabbling around for these riches are based overseas, but London-listed Thor Mining today announced it is reviving interest in a long-forgotten rare earth play it owns."In recognition of increasing market prices of rare earth commodities, the company has commenced a re-evaluation of its Daicos rare earth prospect in EL 24736 in the Harts Range area of the Northern Territory," it said in today's quarterly update."Previous reconnaissance sampling returned high uranium and rare earth element values from very radioactive samples, with a best assay of 19.37%U (Uranium), 26.52%Nb (Niobium), 6.25% Ta, (Tantalum) and 2.68%Y (Yttrium)."