News

In this Industry Bulletin, we present some of the highlights from the Rare Metal Summit conference held in Los Angeles, CA April 7^th - 9^th, and the Atlantic Council of Canada Spring Conference held in Toronto on April 8^th where security of supply issues with respect to the rare earth elements ("REE") were front and centre. For those of you who may not know, The Atlantic Council of Canada is a non-governmental organization founded in 1966 which promotes the critical importance in cultural, security and economics terms in the transatlantic relationship among Canada, the United States and Europe.

Atlantic Council of Canada (ACC) - Toronto, Ontario

This year's ACC Spring Conference, under the banner Minimizing Conflict in the Race for Natural Resources: Securing Economic Security in the 21^st Century attracted some 80 delegates from across Canada and included senior Canadian government and NATO-based advisory staff and policy makers, strategy think tank analysts, and academics. The ACC has recognized that Energy security and resource conflict have become important issues amid concern about the impact of energy prices and regional supply shortfalls on international security and global economic security.

Avalon, represented by Ian London, who serves as Avalon's market development & energy advisor, was invited to address the subject "Rare Earths and Future Metals: What are they and why are they important?" The presentation included an overview of how rare earths are enabling improved effectiveness and productivity in renewable energy and energy conservation technologies, communications and medicine. It also covered the fundamentals of supply and demand for REEs and the need to ensure North American and European economic development within a framework of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. During his presentation and the extensive discussion that followed, Mr. London also elaborated on several key raw material supply realities including:

•         That despite optimistic projections from project proponents, bringing new resources into production faces long development timelines and significant technical challenges before they can be realistically considered as potential new supply sources. Furthermore, the delegates were reminded that most new rare earth developments were predominately light rare earth deposits, respecting the needs of high performance magnets and phosphors are primarily reliant on heavy rare earths such as europium, terbium, dysprosium and yttrium;

•         How industry and new government policy initiatives or incentives are being considered to ensure that a reliable long-term domestic supply of critical raw materials, such as the heavy rare earths, are developed and maintained;

•         How Canada's mineral endowment includes world class resources of rare earth elements and other rare metals such as Nechalacho, and that primary rare earth production can be leveraged to attract value-added business development here, as it has in China; and

•         That there is a role for government and policy makers in:

o    Ensuring an effective and efficient regulatory framework is in place,

o    Supporting northern infrastructure development and First Nations capacity building, and

o    Encouraging R&D and education in Material Sciences, Technology and CleanTech manufacturing.

Rare Metals Summit - Los Angeles, CA

The Rare Metals Summit (April 7 - 9), hosted about 70 people involved in many aspects of the rare metals business from individual investors, to supply chain managers from end-users in the electronics and automotive industries, concerned government agencies, NGO's, and financial analysts.

Topics were diverse, ranging from presentations by individuals from the mineral exploration sector front end to recyclers of rare metals at the back end of the supply chain.  Perspectives on security of supply issues centered on the U.S., Japan, Europe, southeast Asian countries and those of the Original Equipment Manufacturers such as Microsoft, Dell, GE, and GM.

Avalon's expert geological consultant on rare metals, Dr. David Trueman, gave two presentations at the Summit.  The first covered mining to markets for the rare metals niobium and tantalum and the second covered the many electronic aerospace applications of the ‘fly by wire' rare metals.

"It was interesting to see a growing knowledge of the uses of the rare metals in renewable energy applications and the need for sustainable development of them, which was not evident only a year ago.  In addition to the growing recognition of the importance of rare earth magnets in advanced wind turbine technology, it was also interesting to see new recognition of the solar industry needs for indium, gallium, germanium, the "CIGS" metals." said Dr. Trueman.

At both conferences, Avalon emphasized that with its Nechalacho Rare Earth Elements deposit at Thor Lake, NWT, being the only known North American REE deposit containing economically significant quantities of the heavy rare earths, it is in a unique position to play a key role in developing a North American solution to the emerging U.S. REE supply chain "capability gap".

If you have any comments or questions on this article or the rare earths generally, please do not hesitate to post them on www.raremetalblog.com or feel free to contact the company directly at ir@avalonraremetals.com.

ABOUT AVALON RARE METALS INC.

Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (TSX:AVL) (OTCQX:AVARF) is a mineral exploration and development company focused on rare metals deposits in Canada. Its flagship project, the 100%-owned Nechalacho Deposit, Thor Lake, NWT, is emerging as one of the largest undeveloped rare earth elements resources in the world. Its exceptional enrichment in the more valuable 'heavy' rare earth elements, which are key to enabling advances in green energy technology and other growing high-tech applications, is one of the few potential sources of these critical elements outside of China, currently the source of 95% of world supply. Avalon is well funded, has no debt and its work programs are progressing steadily. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones. Avalon's performance on community engagement in the north earned it the 2010 PDAC Environmental and Social Responsibility Award.