China approved merger plans for six rare earth companies to optimize their industrial structure, China’s Ministry of Land and Resources said on May 14.

The six companies refer to China Aluminium Corporation, Xiamen Tungsten, Inner Mongolia BaoTou Steel Union, China Minmetals Corporation, Ganzhou Rare Earth Group, and Guangdong Rare Earth Industrial Group.

This year, China’s mining control limit for rare earth exploitation is 105 thousand tons.