All Mining, No Canary

From Manufacturing Net:
China Rare Earths Producer Suspends Output

Thu, 10/25/2012 - 4:26am 

Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) -- China's biggest rare earths producer has suspended production in an effort to shore up plunging prices of the materials used by makers of mobile phones and other high-tech products.State-owned Baotou Steel Rare Earth (Group) Hi-tech Co. said in a statement released through the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it suspended production Tuesday to promote "healthy development" of rare earths prices. It gave no indication when production would resume and phone calls to the company on Thursday were not answered.
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Things like this don't end well.  Out of work Chinese, blatant market manipulation, the sensitive issue of rare earths.