Top Ten News Stories of Northern Rare Earth in 2015

　1. Northern Rare Earth has officially launched a new logo for the “Bayan Obo” trademark.
　　Effective January 1, Northern Rare Earth will begin using a new trademark design for “Bayan Obo” on its product packaging. To further strengthen brand building and enhance the company’s visibility, reputation, and market competitiveness, Northern Rare Earth has redesigned and registered the “Bayan Obo” trademark, thereby acquiring exclusive rights to the new trademark design. To date, trademark registrations have been secured in China, the United States, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
　　2. Northern Rare Earth was named among the Top 100 Listed Companies Most Respected by Investors.
　　In the first half of 2015, following confirmation by the Listing Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the results of the “2014 Most Respected Listed Companies Among Investors” selection—jointly organized by the China Association of Public Companies, the China Securities Investor Protection Fund Corporation, the China Securities Industry Association, and the Asset Management Association of China—were announced. Northern Rare Earth stood out among 2,635 A-share listed companies, successfully making the list and ultimately receiving the “Top 100 Most Respected Listed Companies of 2014” award.
　　3. Seven scientific and technological achievements of Northern Rare Earth have been awarded the “China Good Technology” title.
　　The “China’s Good Technology” selection event was jointly initiated and organized by the China Productivity Promotion Center, together with relevant national agencies and enterprises. The initiative received 790 submissions of innovative technological products and technology achievements ready for commercialization. Following two rounds of rigorous evaluation by more than 40 renowned experts, 154 cutting-edge, practical, and socially beneficial technological achievements were ultimately recognized as “China’s Good Technologies.” Among them are: a novel lanthanum‑iron‑boron hydrogen‑storage alloy developed by the Rare Earth Institute; a zinc‑based composite coating designed to enhance the corrosion resistance of Nd‑Fe‑B materials; lanthanum chromate ceramic electrothermal devices; a nano‑cerium oxide semiconductor polishing slurry; and a highly sensitive amorphous‑wire weak magnetic sensor. Additionally, the development of key industrialization technologies for high‑performance permanent magnet materials in critical application areas by a magnetic materials company, as well as Tianjiao Qingmei’s specialized high‑precision ultrafine rare earth polishing powder for large‑scale integrated circuits, were also honored as “China’s Good Technologies,” bringing the total number of recognized achievements to seven.
　　4. The Baotou Rare Earth Research and Development Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has been established.
　　On May 12, the Baotou Rare Earth Research and Development Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the “Rare Earth Center”) was officially inaugurated at the Baotou Institute of Rare Earths. Wang Zhonghe, Member of the Standing Committee of the Autonomous Region Party Committee and Secretary of the Baotou Municipal Party Committee, and He Yan, Member of the CPC Leadership Group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of the Beijing Branch, jointly unveiled the center’s plaque. Li Bingrong, Director of the Autonomous Region Science and Technology Department; Zhou Bingli, Chairman and Party Secretary of Baogang (Group) Company; and Meng Zhiquan, Deputy Party Secretary of Baogang (Group) Company and Chairman and Party Secretary of Northern Rare Earth, attended the inauguration ceremony and toured the Rare Earth Center. The Rare Earth Center is a joint innovation and R&D platform for rare earth technologies in Baotou, established through collaboration among the Beijing Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Autonomous Region Science and Technology Department, the Baotou Municipal Government, and Baogang (Group) Company. Leveraging the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ technological strengths in the rare earth field, the policy and financial advantages of the autonomous region and Baotou City, and Northern Rare Earth’s accumulated expertise, the center closely aligns with the technological needs driving the development of Baotou’s rare earth industry. Guided by the goal of supporting enterprises as the main actors in technological innovation and enhancing the industry’s innovative capacity, the center serves as a bridge and facilitator, comprehensively elevating its capabilities in areas such as rare earth resource extraction and metallurgy, environmental protection related to rare earths, functional and structural materials based on rare earths, research and development of rare earth‑based application products, talent recruitment and training, and optimization of research management mechanisms. In doing so, it helps strengthen the innovation capacity of Baotou’s rare earth enterprises, vigorously fosters and develops the city’s high‑tech industries, and advances Baotou’s rare earth sector toward higher‑end, more sophisticated, and cutting‑edge applications.
　　5. Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Minister of Science and Technology, paid a visit to Northern Rare Earth for an inspection.
　　On July 28, Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Minister of Science and Technology, paid a visit to Xibao Medical, a subsidiary of Northern Rare Earth. He was accompanied by Batuer, Chairman of the Autonomous Region Government; Wang Zhonghe, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Inner Mongolia Regional Committee and Secretary of the Baotou Municipal Party Committee; Bai Xiangqun, Vice Chairman of the Autonomous Region Government; and Baogang, Mayor of Baotou. Zhou Bingli, Chairman and Party Secretary of Baogang (Group) Company, presented an overview of the enterprise. Meng Zhiquan, Zhang Zhong, and Yue Jianqiu, senior executives of Baogang (Group) Company, also joined the inspection tour. Xibao Medical is a high-tech enterprise that manufactures cutting-edge medical equipment—rare-earth permanent‑magnet MRI systems. Its advanced, high‑quality rare‑earth permanent‑magnet MRI scanners are backed by fully independent intellectual property rights. Leveraging Northern Rare Earth’s abundant resource endowment and its technological breakthroughs in rare‑earth permanent‑magnet materials, Xibao Medical has become a successful model of how to integrate resource advantages with scientific and technological strengths and translate them into competitive product differentiation.
　　6. The Baiyun Obo Comprehensive Resource Rare-Earth Separation Area Has Been Fully Connected Along Its Entire Length
　　On September 14, as the dryer discharged rare‑earth concentrate onto the conveyor belt, the rare‑earth beneficiation section of the Baiyun Obo Mine’s comprehensive resource utilization project successfully completed a full‑process commissioning run. This milestone—achieving end-to-end connectivity across the entire production process—represents a critical step in the production‑line commissioning phase and provides robust validation of the reliability of each stage of the new line. During the trial run, the third flotation circuit and the second filtration‑drying and packaging line were brought online, producing rare‑earth concentrate with a grade of 55% over a six‑hour period.
　　7. Northern Rare Earth is facilitating the listing of its magnetic materials business on the New Third Board.
　　On September 15, the Fifth Meeting of the Sixth Board of Directors of Northern Rare Earth approved the “Proposal on Integrating and Restructuring the Company’s Magnetic Materials Industry,” marking the official launch of efforts to list the magnetic materials sector on the New Third Board. Leveraging the favorable conditions and competitive advantages of its magnetic materials business, Northern Rare Earth plans to use its affiliated magnetic materials company as the main entity to further consolidate its four subsidiary magnetic materials enterprises. Following an audit and valuation, all equity interests held in Beijing Sanjili, Anhui Yongci, and Ningbo Zhanhao will be transferred to the magnetic materials company. Upon completion of the transfer, Northern Rare Earth’s magnetic materials industry will be centrally managed by the restructured magnetic materials company, with complementary strengths and coordinated development. The magnetic materials company will undergo a transformation from a limited liability company to a joint-stock company and seek to achieve a listing on the New Third Board. With the restructuring of the magnetic materials segment now complete, Northern Rare Earth’s magnetic materials industry will ascend to a new stage of growth.
　　8. Northern Rare Earth Takes the Lead in Curtailing Production to Stabilize Prices
　　On October 12, Northern Rare Earth issued an announcement on production cuts and price stabilization. In the days that followed, five major rare earth groups—Xiamen Tungsten, China Minmetals, Guangdong Rare Earth, Chinalco, and China Southern Rare Earth—announced similar measures one after another. With this, all six of China’s leading rare earth groups have now implemented production restrictions and price‑stabilization policies. In 2015, rare earth product prices began to decline. Northern Rare Earth strictly adhered to relevant policies issued by the national government, the autonomous region, Baotou City, and Baogang (Group) Company in organizing its production and operations. Given the persistently sluggish market conditions and prolonged low pricing, and in order to promote the sound development of China’s rare earth industry and effectively ease the supply‑demand imbalance, Northern Rare Earth decided to implement production cuts and price‑stabilization measures, reducing its annual output of smelting and separation products by approximately 10% compared with the total rare earth quota allocated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
　　9. Progress on the “Three Wastes” project is proceeding smoothly.
　　Pursuing a path of clean production and resource circularity, comprehensively addressing environmental pollution, and maximizing resource utilization are indispensable for the sustainable development of Northern Rare Earth. Northern Rare Earth has implemented a “three‑waste” treatment project and achieved significant results. At the smelting subsidiary, the comprehensive technical upgrade for treating the three wastes is progressing steadily: the framework of the newly built wastewater pre‑treatment plant is partially completed; the concrete raft foundation for the 8,000‑cubic‑meter wastewater storage tank has been finished; and the main structures of the new post‑processing and carbon‑ammonium blending workshops have been erected. At Huamei Company, the civil engineering for the membrane‑based wastewater treatment facility of the ammonium sulfate system is essentially complete; in the energy‑system renovation, the newly constructed buildings are now ready for equipment installation, with three 25‑ton boilers and one 15‑ton boiler already installed and commissioned. Energy‑saving and emission‑reduction measures have yielded tangible results: on June 18, Huamei’s Third Branch Plant officially put its new environmental protection system into trial operation, achieving 100% recovery and reuse of ammonium chloride wastewater; additionally, two new gas‑fired boilers have replaced coal‑fired ones, and these modern boilers, fueled by natural gas, have essentially eliminated pollutant emissions.
　　10. Northern Rare Earth was the first to complete the establishment of a large-scale group and was among the first to pass the acceptance inspection of this organizational restructuring.
　　Inner Mongolia Baogang Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co., Ltd. took the lead in completing the establishment of a large-scale corporate group and has been renamed China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co., Ltd. The first rare earth group in China, spearheaded by Baogang (Group) Company, was officially established. On December 30, the initial phase of the China Northern Rare Earth’s restructuring successfully passed inspection and acceptance. In accordance with Baogang (Group) Company’s requirements, Northern Rare Earth will seize this integration as an opportunity to leverage a new corporate operating model, effectively manage the newly consolidated group, and contribute to the optimal utilization of China’s strategic rare earth resources.