双语新闻：越南计划重启最大的稀土矿

Vietnam plans to restart its biggest rare earths mine next year. The project could greatly increase the supply of the elements to compete with China. The rare earth minerals help power advanced technologies.

越南计划明年重启其最大的稀土矿。该项目可以大大增加稀土元素的供应，从而与中国竞争。稀土矿物有助于推动先进技术的发展。

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) says rare earths are a set of 17 metallic elements that are necessary in the production of high-tech products from mobile phones and electric vehicles to advanced weapons.

美国地质调查局(USGS)说，稀土是一组17种金属元素，是生产从手机、电动汽车到先进武器等高科技产品所必需的。

China only has about one-third of the world's rare earth reserves. But a 2022 study from Marsh McLennan says that the country now controls more than 60 percent of rare earth mining and 85 percent of processing capacity worldwide.

中国的稀土储量仅占全球的三分之一左右。但Marsh McLennan在2022年的一项研究表明，该国现在控制着全球60%以上的稀土开采和85%的稀土加工能力。

The USGS estimates that Vietnam has the world's second-largest rare earth reserves after China. They have remained largely unmined. Last September, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an agreement during his Vietnam visit to help the country with getting investors to open mining operations.

美国地质勘探局估计，越南拥有世界第二大稀土储量，仅次于中国。它们大部分仍未被开采。去年9月，美国总统拜登在访问越南期间签署了一项协议，帮助越南吸引投资者开展采矿业务。

The agreement is a step toward helping the Southeast Asian country build up a rare-earths supply chain. The deal's terms include developing the country's ability to turn raw elements into metals used in magnets for electric vehicles, smartphones and wind turbines.

该协议是帮助这个东南亚国家建立稀土供应链的一步。该协议的条款包括发展该国将原始元素转化为用于电动汽车、智能手机和风力涡轮机磁铁的金属的能力。

As a first step, Vietnam's government plans to auction several areas of its Dong Pao mine to investors before the end of the year.

作为第一步，越南政府计划在年底前向投资者拍卖Dong Pao铜矿的几个地区。

Tessa Kutscher is an executive at Australia's Blackstone Minerals, a company that plans to bid on the project. Kutscher told Reuters news agency that Blackstone's investment would be worth around $100 million if it wins. She added that the company was talking to electric car makers, including VinFast and Rivian, about possible supply contracts.

Tessa Kutscher是澳大利亚黑石矿业公司的高管，该公司计划竞标该项目。Kutscher对路透表示，如果黑石获胜，其投资将价值约1亿美元。她补充说，该公司正在与包括VinFast和Rivian在内的电动汽车制造商就可能的供应合同进行谈判。

Dong Pao mine

东堡矿

The Dong Pao mine has been inactive for at least seven years. Two Japanese companies, Toyota Tsusho and Sojitz, left mining projects at Dong Pao after China greatly increased the rare earth supply to bring the prices down.

东堡矿已经闲置了至少7年。两家日本公司丰田通商和双日在中国大幅增加稀土供应以压低价格后，放弃了东堡的采矿项目。

Refining rare earths is complex and China controls many processing technologies.

稀土的提炼是复杂的，中国控制着许多加工技术。

Still, Hanoi University of Mining and Geology says that rare earths at Dong Pao are relatively easy to mine and are mostly concentrated in bastnaesite ores. These rare earth ores will then be ground into powder and processed into rare-earth oxide (REO).

不过，河内矿业地质大学表示，东堡的稀土相对容易开采，而且主要集中在氟碳铈矿中。然后将这些稀土矿石磨成粉末，加工成稀土氧化物(REO)。

Luu Anh Tuan is the chairman of Vietnam Rare Earth (VTRE). The company is Vietnam's main refiner and Blackstone's partner in the project. He expected Dong Pao to produce about 30,000 metric tons of rare-earth oxide equivalent a year.

Luu Anh Tuan是越南稀土的董事长。该公司是越南主要的炼油商，也是黑石集团在该项目中的合作伙伴。他预计东堡每年将生产约3万吨稀土氧化物当量。

That amount would put Dong Pao's output a little below that of California's Mountain Pass, one of the world's largest mines, which produced 43,000 metric tons of the element in 2022.

这一数字将使东堡的产量略低于加州帕斯山，后者是世界上最大的稀土矿之一，2022年的产量为4.3万吨。

In July, Vietnam's government said it planned to develop additional mines to produce up to 60,000 tons of REO equivalent a year by 2030. China set its own target of 210,000 tons last year.

今年7月，越南政府表示，计划开发更多矿场，到2030年每年生产多达6万吨REO当量。中国去年设定了21万吨的目标。

Once separated, oxides are turned into metals for use in magnets and other industrial products. China is the world's leader of the metallization process, producing 90 percent of rare-earth metals, the U.S. Department of Energy says.

氧化物一旦分离，就会变成金属，用于磁铁和其他工业产品。美国能源部表示，中国在金属化过程中处于世界领先地位，生产了90%的稀土金属。

But VTRE is working on a project to build a metallization factory with South Korea's Setopia.

但VTRE正在与韩国Setopia合作建设一个金属化工厂的项目。

Dudley Kingsnorth is a professor at the Western Australia School of Mines at Curtin University. He said Vietnam had some way to go to reach its rare-earth goals. Still, he said, Vietnam "has the resources, the mining and processing expertise to provide alternatives to China."

达德利·金斯诺斯是科廷大学西澳大利亚矿业学院的教授。他说，越南要实现稀土目标还有一段路要走。不过，他说，越南“拥有资源、采矿和加工专业知识，可以为中国提供替代选择”。