China Guangdong Mining Association excitedly announced that a large, independent rubidium ore deposit had been discovered locally by geological departments, with the proven rubidium ore reserves reaching up to 175,000 tons. Researchers estimated that the value of the rubidium ore deposits here could be as high as 80.5 trillion RMB. Upon hearing this news, Japan immediately turned green with envy. Why is it always China that gets so lucky? In fact, as early as 2009, Japan had included rubidium ore on its list of rare metal reserves, because Japan was severely lacking in this resource and depended entirely on imports. Of course, Japan could import rubidium from countries such as the United States and Canada, but the journey is long and the cost is high.
In comparison, China, its neighbor, is a good option. For a long time, Japan has been one of the largest markets for China's rare metal exports. Due to the 2010 Diaoyu Island collision incident, there was a strong outcry within China demanding a halt to rare earth trade with Japan. Fearing that China would restrict rare earth exports, Japan quickly signed rare earth trade agreements with many countries such as Australia, Vietnam, and India, but this did not affect China's status as its largest rare earth resource dependent country. Therefore, when China discovered such a large rubidium ore deposit, Japan exclaimed, "Why is it always China?" This means that not only is China self-sufficient in rubidium resources, but it can also sell them to other countries, which could lead to a price increase and a possible reduction in the amount left for Japan.
Therefore, shortly after the rubidium ore deposit was discovered in Guangdong, Japan's orders came flooding in. According to data released by Japan's trade promotion agency, in 2019, Japan frantically imported 1.1 tons of rubidium products from China, mainly rubidium metal and rubidium salts. So, what is rubidium ore? Why is it so precious? OK, that and more is exactly what we are going to talk about. Let’s get started!
