Rare earths

Seventeen chemically similar metals whose magnets drive electric motors and wind turbines, mined and above all refined in China.

Battery & magnet · No. 30

• EU strategic
• EU critical 2023
• US critical 2025
• India critical 2023
• HHI 4,862 · highly concentrated

In 2010 an American miner told Congress its 17 rare-earth scientists faced about 6,000 in China.

Chart: Illustration: Rare earths

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Rare earths are 17 near-identical metals that occur together. Light ones come from bastnaesite and monazite rock; heavy ones come mostly from clays in southern China.

Three things to know

1. Rare earths are not rare: world reserves of over 75 million tonnes equal roughly 190 years of mining.
2. China cut rare-earth export quotas by 40% in 2010, and prices spiked before collapsing after 2011.
3. China takes 60.5% of traded rare-earth compounds, drawing in intermediates such as Myanmar's to separate them.

The journey

1. 1 OreBastnaesite, monazite or ion-adsorption clay
2. 2 ConcentrateFloated or leached into mixed concentrate
3. 3 SeparationAcid cracking and solvent extraction
4. 4 OxidesIndividual oxides such as NdPr
5. 5 MetalsReduced to metals and alloys
6. 6 MagnetsNdFeB magnets, catalysts and phosphors

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