Facility
China Northern — Bayan Obo Mining Complex, Inner Mongolia
World's largest rare earth deposit by ore reserves; discovered 1927 by geologist Ding Daoheng; developed as iron ore mine (for Baotou Steel) from 1957; rare earths were initially a 'byproduct.' The Bayan Obo deposit contains ~1 billion tonnes of iron ore AND the world's most concentrated light rare earth reserves (bastnasite/monazite intergrown with iron ore). The geopolitical significance of rare earth dominance was not recognized until the 1970s-1980s. Processing facility in Baotou (~130km away) extracts and separates NdPr oxide. China Northern is a subsidiary of Baotou Steel, which is owned by China Baowu (world's largest steel company).
2
Inputs produced
1
Goods downstream
0
Incidents on record
0
Stories
What's produced here
2 inputs from this facility
Tap an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.