“Vietnam has the second largest volume of rare earth deposits in the world, so it is important for the country to acquire new technologies for extracting and processing rare earths,” said Assoc. Professor Le Ba Thuan, former head of the Institute for Technology of Radioactive and Rare Elements, in a talk with The Saigon Times. New technology required The Saigon Times: Experts at the seminar “Vietnam’s rare earths: current extracting and processing technologies and prospects” agreed that only a handful of countries have the deep-processing technologies but they would not transfer them. What is your view on this issue, and can Vietnam have the capacity to access and perfect rare-earth processing technologies? Assoc. Professor Le Ba Thuan: In the first place, it must be clarified that the desire to acquire new technologies does not mean we do not have the relevant technology. Rare earth extracting and processing technologies must always be further studied and improved to cut costs and maximize the recovery rate of precious metals and other precious elements in the ore, or to minimize impacts on the environment. We do own exploitation and processing technologies, but we need to further improve such technologies. But how can we do […]