Rare earths

Extracted Attributes

• Toxicity

  Water-soluble compounds are mildly to moderately toxic; insoluble ones are not

• Applications

  Electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, industrial processes, smartphones, LED lights, hybrid cars, oil refining, nuclear power, wind turbines, electric vehicles, computer hard drives, linear actuators, servo motors, speakers & headphones, sensors

• Crustal abundance

  Relatively plentiful but thinly dispersed (e.g., Cerium is 25th most abundant at 68 ppm)

• Included elements

  Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanides

• Discovery location

  Ytterby, Sweden (four rare-earth elements named after this location)

• Number of elements

  17

• Biological function

  None, except in specialized enzymes (e.g., lanthanide-dependent methanol dehydrogenases in bacteria)

• Physical properties

  Lustrous, silvery-white, soft, heavy metals; tarnish slowly in air; react slowly with cold water; react with steam to form oxides; ignite spontaneously at 400 °C (752 °F)

• Extraction challenge

  Economically challenging due to thin dispersion and difficulty in purification

• First discovered mineral

  Gadolinite

• Principal economic sources

  Bastnasite, Monazite, Loparite, Lateritic ion-adsorption clays

• Common co-occurring elements

  Thorium, Uranium

• Naturally occurring radioactive rare earth

  Promethium (trace amounts from uranium-238 fission)

Timeline

• The first rare-earth mineral, gadolinite, was discovered and extracted from a mine in Ytterby, Sweden. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1787-XX-XX

• The US Department of Energy earmarked US$17.5 million for four rare earths and critical minerals and materials processing technologies using coal and coal by-products as feedstocks, supporting the development of a domestic rare earth supply chain. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2024-04-XX

• Geopolitical shifts are prompting supply chain realignments, with companies like Apple, supported by partners like Foxconn, moving manufacturing to India to reduce dependency on China for rare earths. (Source: Related Documents)

  XXXX-XX-XX

• China makes significant technological leaps, including the discovery of a vast Thorium reserve and the operation of an advanced Molten Salt Reactor, signaling a strategic intent to achieve energy independence and economic advantage, which impacts the rare earths landscape. (Source: Related Documents)

  XXXX-XX-XX

Rare-earth element

The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids (although scandium and yttrium, which do not belong to this series, are usually included as rare earths), are a set of 17 nearly indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. Compounds containing rare earths have diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes. The term "rare-earth" is a misnomer because they are not actually scarce, but historically it took a long time to isolate these elements. They are relatively plentiful in the entire Earth's crust (cerium being the 25th-most-abundant element at 68 parts per million, more abundant than copper), but in practice they are spread thinly as trace impurities, so to obtain rare earths at usable purity requires processing enormous amounts of raw ore at great expense. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare-earth elements because they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties, but have different electrical and magnetic properties. These metals tarnish slowly in air at room temperature and react slowly with cold water to form hydroxides, liberating hydrogen. They react with steam to form oxides and ignite spontaneously at a temperature of 400 °C (752 °F). These elements and their compounds have no biological function other than in several specialized enzymes, such as in lanthanide-dependent methanol dehydrogenases in bacteria. The water-soluble compounds are mildly to moderately toxic, but the insoluble ones are not. All isotopes of promethium are radioactive, and it does not occur naturally in the earth's crust, except for a trace amount generated by spontaneous fission of uranium-238. They are often found in minerals with thorium, and less commonly uranium. Because of their geochemical properties, rare-earth elements are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated in rare-earth minerals. Consequently, economically exploitable ore deposits are sparse. The first rare-earth mineral discovered (1787) was gadolinite, a black mineral composed of cerium, yttrium, iron, silicon, and other elements. This mineral was extracted from a mine in the village of Ytterby in Sweden. Four of the rare-earth elements bear names derived from this single location.

Web Search Results

• Rare Earths Statistics and Information | U.S. Geological Survey

  The principal economic sources of rare earths are the minerals bastnasite, monazite, and loparite and the lateritic ion-adsorption clays. The rare earths are a relatively abundant group of 17 elements composed of scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides. The elements range in crustal abundance from cerium, the 25th most abundant element of the 78 common elements in the Earth's crust at 60 parts per million, to thulium and lutetium, the least abundant rare-earth elements at about 0.5 part per [...] million. The elemental forms of rare earths are iron gray to silvery lustrous metals that are typically soft, malleable, and ductile and usually reactive, especially at elevated temperatures or when finely divided. The rare earths' unique properties are used in a wide variety of applications. [...] National Minerals Information Center Home Commodities Countries Materials Flow US States NMIC Seminars Data Science Maps Multimedia Publications Web Tools Software News Connect Partners About Statistics and information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of the mineral commodity group _rare earths -scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides_

• Rare Earth Elements Market Size | Industry Report, 2030

  Arafura Rare Earths Limited is an Australian mineral exploration company focusing on rare earth elements. It was incorporated in 1997, and is headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. The company's flagship project is the Nolans Rare Earths Project, located in Australia's Northern Territory. [...] Rare earths such as samarium, neodymium, and dysprosium are important constituents of magnets. They are used in various applications such as in computer hard disc drives, linear actuators, servo motors, speakers & headphones, and sensors. The increasing demand from automobiles, turbines, and consumer electronics is anticipated to boost consumption of REEs over the forecast period. Regional Insights ---------------------

• History and Future of Rare Earth Elements

  Our increased understanding of the unique properties of rare earth elements has generated their expanded use in contemporary society. Rare earths are components in many familiar technologies, including smartphones, LED lights, and hybrid cars. A few rare earth elements are used in oil refining and nuclear power; others are important for wind turbines and electric vehicles; and more specialized uses occur in medicine and manufacturing. The rare earths have become crucial to modern life, but our [...] What Are the Rare Earth Elements, and Where Do They Come From? -------------------------------------------------------------- The rare earths are 17 metallic elements, located in the middle of the periodic table (atomic numbers 21, 39, and 57–71). These metals have unusual fluorescent, conductive, and magnetic properties—which make them very useful when alloyed, or mixed, in small quantities with more common metals such as iron. [...] Geologically speaking, the rare earth elements are not especially rare. Deposits of these metals are found in many places around the globe, with some elements in about the same abundance in the earth’s crust as copper or tin. But rare earths are never found in very high concentrations and are usually found mixed together with one another or with radioactive elements, such as uranium and thorium.

• Potential Uses of Rare Earth Elements Found in Marine Minerals

  Table with rare earth element names, their symbols, and their potential uses. ### Detailed Description Rare earth elements (REEs) and rare metals are key ingredients for glass, lights, magnets, batteries, and catalytic converters, and used in everything from cell phones to cars. For example, to make the magnet for one wind turbine, you need about 300 kilograms of neodymium. Wind turbines also contain significant amounts of dysprosium, praseodymium, samarium, cobalt, and rhenium.

• Rare Earths Market Forecast: Top Trends for Rare Earths in 2025

  .%20west%20divide%20still%20key%20for%20rare%20earths%20%20Rare%20earths,%20which%20are%20essential%20in%20various%20high-tech%20applications,%20including%20electric%20vehicles%20(EVs),%20wind%20turbines%20and%20electronics,%20have%20become%20a%20political%20pawn%20between%20the%20east%20and%20west.Currently,%20China%20and%20the%20US%20are%20locked%20in%20a%20geopolitical%20struggle%20over%20rare%20earths,%20with%20tensions%20mounting [...] In April 2024, the US Department of Energy earmarked US$17.5 million for four rare earths and critical minerals and materials processing technologies using coal and coal by-products as feedstocks. “The US has looked to support the development of a domestic rare earth supply chain by financing upstream development of rare earth mining from primary and secondary sources, along with recycling of rare earth containing products," David Merriman, research director at Project Blue, explained to INN. [...] Rare earths, which are essential in various high-tech applications, including electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines and electronics, have become a political pawn between the east and west. Currently, China and the US are locked in a geopolitical struggle over rare earths, with tensions mounting.