This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Today we continue our report on the group of chemical elements known as rare earth metals. These are mined from the earth and used to make technology from mobile phones to missiles.
今天，我们继续讨论被称为稀土金属的化学元素组。稀土金属开采于地球，应用于从移动电话到火箭等技术领域。
The United States once led the world in rare earths. Today China controls almost all production. Premier Wen Jiabao says China will not use these metals as a diplomatic weapon. But Japan says exports meant for that country have remained at Chinese ports as a result of a recent dispute.
美国稀土产量曾全球领先。目前中国控制着几乎所有稀土产量。温家宝总理称，中国不会将稀土作为外交武器。但是日本表示，由于最近的争端，出口到日本的稀土仍被扣在中国港口。
The United States stopped mining rare earths in two thousand two. Companies blamed environmental rules and low-priced imports from China. But now exploration is moving forward again.
2002年美国停止了稀土开采。相关公司将其归咎于环境政策和从中国进口价格低廉，但是现在，稀土勘探再次启动。
Edward Cowle is president and chief executive of a company called U.S. Rare Earths. He and his partners gained rights to some land in the American West about fifteen years ago. They had been interested in thorium -- a radioactive element that can fuel nuclear reactors but not be processed into weapons.
埃德·考勒（Edward Cowle）是一家名为美国稀土（U.S. Rare Earths）的公司的总裁兼首席执行官，他和他的合作伙伴在15年前就获得了美国西部一些土地的开发权。他们一直对钍感兴趣，这是一种可以作为核反应堆燃料的放射性元素，但尚未被用于制造武器。
Mr. Cowle later found that the land also held a lot of rare earth metals -- lately a subject of intense interest.
考勒随后发现该片土地还蕴藏着大量稀土金属——稀土是最近被高度关注的话题。
EDWARD COWLE: "In these two years since we changed our name to U.S. Rare Earths, the media attention has been unbelievable."
考勒：“自从我们把公司名称更名为美国稀土，在这两年里媒体对我们的关注简直难以置信。”
The company has not started mining yet. It still has to get permits and work with other businesses to put operations in place. Ed Cowle says a lot of work remains.
该公司还没有开始进行开采，它还需要得到开采许可，并且要和其他企业合作来进行运作。考勒表示还有大量的工作要做。
EDWARD COWLE: "I would say conservatively the earliest that we could open the mine has to be six to seven years."
考勒：“保守的说，正式开采至少还需要6到7年。”
Another American company is Molycorp. Jim Sims, the public affairs director, says Molycorp has already begun producing three thousand tons of rare earths a year. That makes the United States the world's second largest producer, a distant second.
另一家美国公司是磨力考普（Molycorp）。公共事务总监吉姆·史密斯（Jim Sims）称，磨力考普每年已经开始生产3000吨的稀土，从而使美国成为世界第二大稀土生产国，但产量远低于第一位。
JIM SIMS: "Molycorp is the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth products."
史密斯：“磨力考普是西半球唯一一个稀土生产商。”
Molycorp says the largest reserves of rare earths outside of China are in its mine in Mountain Pass, California, and in the Mount Weld area of Australia.
磨力考普称，中国之外稀土储量最大的地方位于该公司矿区所在的加州帕斯山脉，以及澳大利亚维尔德山区。
Jim Sims says Molycorp spends only about ten percent on mining. The big cost is in chemically separating the rare earths from the minerals that carry them.
史密斯称，该公司开采成本仅占大约10%，最大的成本则是从携带稀土的矿产中分离出稀土。
JIM SIMS: "Every rare earth deposit on the planet has all fifteen and sometimes all seventeen rare earths."
史密斯：“地球上每一处矿床都富含15种，有时甚至是全部17种稀土。”
He says Molycorp raised about three hundred eighty million dollars when it sold stock to the public for the first time in July. The company aims to increase production to twenty thousand tons by two thousand twelve. It says that would more than meet current levels of demand in the United States.
他称，今年7月磨力考普首次向大众出售股票募集了大约3.8亿美元。该公司计划在2012年前，将产量提高到2万吨。该公司称，这将远超美国目前的需求水平。