Indonesia has established a new regulatory body to oversee industries such as rare earths.

      According to Mining.com citing Reuters, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has ordered the establishment of a new mining management agency responsible for overseeing the development of rare earths and radioactive materials, the head of the agency told reporters on August 25.

     "The agency will be responsible for managing the strategic materials industry related to the defense industry, as strategic materials are of great significance to national sovereignty and equally important for the improvement of the national economy," said Brian Yuliarto, the head of the agency and also the minister of higher education.

      Previously, he had said that rare earth metals are often found in nickel and tin processing by-products. Indonesia has been attempting to process the rare earth minerals found in tin ores, such as monazite.

      Indonesia is a major producer of tin and nickel, and it has abundant reserves of key minerals and rare earths.