SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Green Technology Solutions President and CEO John Shearer travels back to Washington, D.C., today to attend Friday’s briefing by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) on rare earth elements and strategic metals.
The public briefing, which is to be held at the Capitol Visitors Center, will address the global supply of critical materials such as rare earths, including policy opportunities to strengthen American expertise in the occurrence, discovery, extraction, processing and recycling of these commodities. Speakers for the event include Mark Johnson of the U.S. Department of Energy, Kate Johnson of the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program, Andy Davis of Molycorp Minerals (NYSE: MCP) and Dudley Kingsnorth of Industrial Minerals Company of Australia (IMCOA).
Shearer said on Wednesday that he looks forward to hearing the panelists’ ideas to protect the U.S. and its allies from possible shortages of rare earths and other critical materials. More than 97 percent of the world’s supply of rare earths is produced in China, which has continually lowered its rare earth export quotas in recent years.
“This briefing is an ideal opportunity for me to meet the industry leaders and government officials who are helping to shape rare earth mining and development around the globe,” Shearer said. “GTSO is committed to developing new sources of rare earths outside of China, and it is critical to our success that we have the most accurate and up-to-date information available on how our competitors and the government plan to tackle the issue of U.S. rare earths self-sufficiency.”
Legislation concerning rare earths and strategic metals is likely to be a hot topic at the briefing. Last year, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation that would have established a program within the Department of Energy (DOE) for research and development of rare earth elements and broadened existing loan guarantee programs to spur private investment in the critical materials. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Arkansas introduced similar legislation in the Senate. In the 112th Congress, bipartisan sponsors in the House and Senate plan to introduce legislation to support education and research to rebuild and maintain American expertise in critical materials. In addition, the DOE's budget request for the next fiscal year would create a new Energy Innovation Hub focusing on rare earths.
Shearer was in Washington, D.C., last week for a meeting at the Embassy of Mongolia about the company’s plans to develop sources of rare earths inside the former Soviet state. GTSO formed a joint venture with Rare Earth Exporters of Mongolia in February to pursue rare earth mining claims and operations in the developing Asian nation. The joint venture plans to convey Mongolian mining products overland to railway for transport to the international seaport of Vladivostok, Russia, in order to avoid shipping through China. Destination ports for these mining products are set to include the U.S., Japan and South Korea, checkmating China’s strategic export policies.
By developing a new source of rare earths outside of China, GTSO aims to counter the rising security threat posed by China’s near-monopoly over materials critical to the U.S.’s energy and defense industries.
For investment information, please visit http://www.RareEarthExporters.com.
Green Technology Solutions commercializes clean and renewable mining technology and products in a sector that affects Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU), Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR), CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT).
About Green Technology Solutions, Inc.
Green Technology Solutions, Inc. (GTSO) is an OTCQB publicly traded company. OTCQB is the middle tier of the OTC market. OTCQB companies report to the SEC or a U.S. banking regulator, making it easy for investors to identify companies that are current in their reporting obligations. GTSO acquires, develops and implements the newest clean mining technology to enable our partner clients to expand operations throughout the world. Environmental restrictions represent the largest restriction to mining industry growth and operations. GTSO focuses on overcoming these environmental restrictions with brilliant cutting-edge clean mining technology.
For more information, please visit http://www.GreenTech-Solutions.com.
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