Caveat emptor! The magazine Elnion, a specialized online magazine/media platform focused on tech and enterprise topics such as AI, cloud computing, data, cybersecurity, digital enterprise and related sectors, has reached the conclusion that China has discovered enough thorium to last 60,000 years. How did they get that number, 60,000? No author is given for this piece, except for “the news desk.”
Just by way of comparison, consuming a million tons of thorium in 60,000 years would only mean 16.6 tons/year—while India and Brazil produce an estimated 1,100 tonnes/year. So it looks very much like much ado about nothing—although admittedly, China’s Bayan Obo mining complex is world class, especially because of the rare earths.
But it is clear that 60,000 years is a scientifically irrelevant number.
