U.S., Canada to Gain as China Buys Rare Earths, Quest CEO Says

U.S. and Canadian producers of heavy rare earth metals are poised to benefit as China becomes a net importer of some of the materials as early as 2014, said Peter Cashin, chief executive officer of Quest Rare Minerals Ltd.

“They’ll be a very important consumer for our products,” Cashin said in an interview. “They are an unanticipated consumer; most of the assumptions have been for non-Chinese consumers. The Chinese would be a huge market for us.”