Two Ministries Support Rare Earth Industry Upgrades

Rare earth industry in a low period is a good time for the formal industrial upgrading. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have jointly issued the "Administrative Measures for Special Funds for Adjustment and Upgrading the Rare Earth Industry" recently, and will be implemented as of the date of promulgation. The "Measures" specify five aspects of special fund support technology and standard R&D, applied technology R&D and industrialization, and technology platform construction. The "Measures" also very rarely use large amounts of "gratuitous funding" and "capital injection" to support R&D and industrialization of rare earth technologies.

The "measures" make it clear that special funds are used to support five things: First, supervision and management of rare earth resources exploitation. The second is rare earth mining, smelting and environmental protection technology transformation. The third is the research and development of rare earth common key technologies and standards. The fourth is R&D and industrialization of high-end rare earth application technologies. Fifth, the construction of public technology service platform.

Among them, in the “R&D of rare earth common key technologies and standards”, the special funds mainly support the development of common and key technologies and standards for the development of green and high-efficiency rare earth metals, and establish technical specifications and standards for mining and selection. Support the development of key technologies for smelting with low energy consumption, low emissions, and high efficiency and cleanliness. To support the reduction of scarce elements such as antimony and antimony, and the application of high-abundance elements such as antimony, antimony, and antimony. Support the research and development of high efficiency cleaning and recycling technologies for rare earth secondary resources in waste rare earth materials and application devices.

“High-end application technology research and development and industrialization”, special funds support high-performance rare earth magnetic materials, luminescent materials, hydrogen storage materials, catalytic materials, polishing materials, advanced ceramic materials, and independent intellectual property rights, related technical indicators have reached the international advanced level. Artificial crystal materials, rare earth additives and other rare earth functional materials and device technology research and development and industrialization. Support the research and development of high stability, high consistency rare earth material preparation technology and special equipment.

With regard to the method of supporting special funds, the “Measures” can clearly adopt three methods of awarding subsidies, unpaid funding, and capital injection.

Among them, local governments that have completed the construction of a supervision and management system for rare earth mining have been given a one-time award. The amount of rewards generally does not exceed 20% of the actual investment of the project.

For rare earth mining and smelting enterprises that have passed the national environmental protection verification, a one-time award will be granted according to the enterprise production capacity approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for admitting rare earth enterprises. The award standard is: mine selection 1000 yuan/ton (according to rare earth oxide REO ), smelting separation 1500 yuan / ton (based on rare earth oxide REO dollars), metal smelting 500 yuan / ton.

R&D projects for rare earth common key technologies and standards, R&D, and high-end application technologies will be funded through grants. The amount of grants for non-reimbursement is generally not more than 50% of the project's R&D expenses. The scope of expenditures for R&D projects shall be implemented in accordance with the “Several Opinions of the Ministry of Finance on Strengthening the Financial Management of R&D Expenses”. The annual support amount for a single project does not exceed 10 million yuan.

It is worth noting that for the industrialization of high-end rare earth applications technology, capital investment is adopted. The amount of capital investment is generally not more than 20% of the actual investment of the company in the previous year. The annual support amount for a single project does not exceed 50 million yuan. For public technical service platform construction projects, capital investment is adopted. The amount of capital investment is generally not more than 50% of the actual investment of the company in the previous year.