That argument may or may not be true and really begs the relevant question: Did they know about the potential for strong magnetic fields to move ferrousmetal components within their locks?
Information provided by Metal Pages, a news site that focuses on non-ferrous metals, ferro alloys and rare earths, indicated that rare earth elements exports have dropped 65% in 2011 and that China has only exported 11, 000 metric tons of rare earths through the first three quarters of the year.