Sail across the sea

Chapter 424 Absolutely No Separation Technology Provided to China

Gao Fan had already discussed the matter of rare earth refining with Zheng Linong a year ago.

During the recent crackdown on rare earths in Zeshan, Gao Fan and Zheng Linong kept in touch by phone and discussed this issue, but the problem was too complicated to explain over the phone.

This time, Gao Fan returned to Beijing and, as usual, came to report to Zheng Linong. One of the key points was to bring up this matter again, but he was just led astray by Yun Zhongming's topic.

When Zheng Linong steered the conversation towards rare earths, Gao Fan adopted a serious expression and said, "Yes, Minister Zheng, the reason I came to see you today is indeed to focus on the matter of rare earth refining. Currently, the Zeyan Institute is working hard to promote the in-situ leaching method, and the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources has also issued a notice requiring all regions to control the scale of rare earth development and ensure orderly development."

"Two of the three tasks we originally envisioned for addressing the rare earth problem have been implemented. Rare earth refining is the last one, and it is also the finishing touch."

"If we cannot establish our own rare earth refining system, we will still be selling our resources cheaply and giving them away to foreigners."

Zheng Linong said, "Regarding this issue, I asked my subordinates to look into it. The feedback is that China is still in a relatively backward position in rare earth smelting. Japan is a major rare earth refining country and has mastered many core technologies. China Nonferrous Metals Industry Corporation has contacted several Japanese companies, hoping to introduce their technology, but they refused."

"Why are these Japanese companies refusing to transfer technology to us?" Gao Fan asked.

Zheng Linong nodded: "There are indeed some reasons. According to information we have obtained through internal channels, several major Japanese rare earth metallurgical companies, including Yttrium Corporation, Sugon Alloy, and Nobunaga Chemical, signed an internal memorandum outlining three principles for cooperation with China."

"The first condition is that China provides the raw materials and Japan completes the refining; the second condition is that the refinery must be built in the sales location; and the third condition is that separation technology will absolutely not be provided to China."

"The second point is in response to our request that Japanese companies invest in and build refineries in China. They claim that rare earth products are supplied to Japanese electronics manufacturers, so the refineries must be built in Japan's electronics production bases, not in China."

"In other words, they will absolutely not leave any loopholes for China?" Gao Fan sneered.

"Is that what you mean?" Zheng Linong said. "We've also analyzed it. The Japanese are probably thinking that since rare earth resources are controlled by China, if China also acquires the technology for rare earth refining, then the future supply of rare earths will be restricted by China."

"Hey, aren't Western countries the most focused on globalization? I remember there were experts in our newspapers calling for full integration into the international industrial chain and focusing on doing a good job in one link of the chain. Japan is a Western country after all, so why would it worry about being controlled by others?" Gao Fan said with a smile.

Zheng Linong laughed, a somewhat helpless laugh. He naturally knew that Gao Fan's words were sarcastic. Currently, many people in China believe in globalization, even some high-ranking officials, who think that China has no need to pursue independence and autonomy; by simply being a subordinate to Western countries, it can naturally enjoy a comfortable life.

Zheng Linong naturally didn't believe in this nonsense. Or rather, even if he did believe in the concept of globalization to some extent, based on his years of experience in struggle, he would rather choose a more conservative strategy than foolishly entrust his fate entirely to the credit of others.

"You must always hold your rice bowl in your own hands"—this is a lesson learned with blood by the older generation. "Currently, Japan has the most advanced rare earth smelting technology, but Japan is unwilling to transfer technology to us. What are your thoughts on this?" Zheng Linong didn't dwell on Gao Fan's teasing but continued to get down to business.

Gao Fan said, "This question itself is a false question, so what opinion can I possibly have?"

Which question are you calling a pseudo-question?

"As you just said, Japan currently has the most advanced rare earth smelting technology, but that statement is simply not true."

"Are you saying that the technology in Europe and America is more advanced than that in Japan? That's a valid point. American molybdenum companies and French companies like Planck also possess very advanced technology, and the high-purity rare earth compounds they produce can reach a purity of 99.9 ...

The so-called "eight nines" means 99.999999%. In contrast, most of the single rare earth compounds exported by China only reach a purity of three nines, and some even only reach two nines, which are among the lowest-end products on the international market.

Gao Fan shook his head and said, "I'm not talking about European and American countries, but about China itself. In fact, the world's most advanced rare earth smelting technology is in China. We can also smelt rare earth compounds with a purity of 99.99%, but we just can't meet the requirements for mass production yet."

Zheng Linong frowned and said, "I do know about this. A few years ago, our military industry needed a batch of high-purity rare earth elements and wanted to purchase them from abroad, but they were refused because they were considered military control materials. Later, we smelted them ourselves, and they fully met the standards of imported products."

"However, the cost of smelting this batch of high-purity rare earth is also very high. It is said that the production cost is several times higher than the sales price on the international market."

"Do you know why?" Gao Fan asked.

Zheng Linong said, "This matter was handled jointly by the China Nonferrous Metals Corporation and the research institutes of the State Science and Technology Commission. I don't know much about the specifics. However, similar situations also exist within the Ministry of Chemical Industry system."

"Generally speaking, there are two main reasons. First, we can achieve laboratory preparation, but industrial preparation is another matter; second, our production equipment lags far behind that of foreign countries. If the hardware conditions are not up to par, theory alone is not enough."

Gao Fan said, "Our ability to produce high-purity rare earths ourselves shows that we have mastered the technology of rare earth refining. I have discussed this with engineers from the Zeyan Institute in the past, and they told me that China has a completely independent technical system for rare earth refining, and its level is in no way inferior to that of Europe, America, and Japan."

“In the past few days, I went back to Peking University and asked some teachers to verify this. They told me with certainty that the cascade extraction method proposed by Professor Xu of our department is the first of its kind in the world and has a strong theoretical advantage.”

"We don't need to import any rare earth smelting technology from Japan or Europe and the United States. Instead, we can rely on our own theories to establish a completely independent rare earth smelting process system and directly crush foreign countries in terms of technology."

(End of this chapter)