# Rare earths

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

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/

Battery & magnet · No. 30

- EU strategic
- EU critical 2023
- US critical 2025
- India critical 2023
- HHI 4,862 · highly concentrated
 Battery & magnet · Foundation · Matter

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 **Ore**Bastnaesite, monazite or ion-adsorption clay
2. 2 **Concentrate**Floated or leached into mixed concentrate
3. 3 **Separation**Acid cracking and solvent extraction
4. 4 **Oxides**Individual oxides such as NdPr
5. 5 **Metals**Reduced to metals and alloys
6. 6 **Magnets**NdFeB magnets, catalysts and phosphors
 Covered in [What makes something a commodityCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/what-is-a-commodity/)[From ground to marketCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/from-ground-to-market/)[Reserves, stocks and depletionCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/reserves-stocks-depletion/)[How commodities moveCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/how-commodities-move/)[Criticality and geopoliticsCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/criticality-and-geopolitics/)

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## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/links/index.md)