Rare earth elements (REMs) play an indispensable role in many industries, from high-power magnets for electric power generation to rechargeable battery components and optical devices.
China held 95% of the global REM production until very recently, thanks to government backing, low labor costs, and lax environmental regulations which allowed it to gain an unrivaled position in production.
But this could change.
The global demand for rare earth elements is driven by several factors. Chief among them is the rapid expansion of electronics and high-bandwidth optical fibers in developing countries like India. This growth fuels demand for dysprosium, neodymium, gadolinium and yttrium - vital components found in digital displays, computer monitors, mobile phones and other electronic devices.
Renewable energy transition is another significant demand driver. Governments worldwide are implementing stringent policies to curb carbon emissions, creating the demand for cutting-edge technology like permanent magnets composed of neodymium or dysprosium for use in wind turbines, solar cells, and electric vehicles.
Current rare earth mining and refining production comes predominantly from China, which has caused investors and end-use industries great concern given their wide ranging end markets and the risk of geopolitical disruption in supply chains.
As such, many investors and end-users are seeking to diversify their supply chains, creating an opportunity for African countries to leverage the rich endowments of key commodities found therein and forge strong global supply chain partnerships - in the case of rare earths this means increasing value addition while strengthening trade partnerships with Western companies that specialize in batteries.
Noting the limitations of new rare earth mineral discoveries is important; even with their full production capacities being realized years after being launched as viable alternatives to Chinese supplies. At present, Western consumers will continue to rely heavily on China for their rare earth needs; however, as clean energy technology improves over time this may change. Tesla recently unveiled that their next-generation permanent-magnet EV motors will not contain any rare earth elements, reducing reliance on China as a source for REEs and contributing to long-term sustainability of green energy, along with global economic health. This development could prove game-changing.
Rare earth elements are increasingly in demand due to consumer durables and non-conventional energy applications. Rising disposable incomes and technological breakthroughs in developing countries have spurred the production of consumer electronic products like tablets, laptops, mobile phones and digital cameras; additionally stricter carbon emission regulations and environmental concerns have spurred hybrid electric vehicle adoption which utilize rare earth magnets as part of their construction.
Rare-earth metal supplies are severely constrained due to limited mines, high costs and no available technologies that could increase production. Furthermore, raw material prices frequently fluctuate putting manufacturers of end use products at a disadvantage whereby either additional costs must be absorbed or prices must rise in order to stay profitable.
Rare-earth elements are highly concentrated among producers and traders, who are vulnerable to physical disruptions, trade restrictions or other developments in major producing countries - particularly given that most production takes place in China. Due to these factors, rare-earth element markets remain unstable.
In order to address these challenges, DOE's Offices of EERE and FE held the Rare Earth Supply Chain Roundtable and Workshop at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO. The event brought together stakeholders across the upstream-midstream rare earths supply chain including industry, academia, Federal government agencies and national labs in order to identify opportunities for increased collaboration that would strengthen U.S. capabilities for critical minerals research and development (R&D).
Participants discussed the complete supply chain from upstream to midstream, from extraction and concentration of rare earths from conventional and unconventional sources to isolation into rare earth oxides and their eventual conversion into metals and alloys. The workshop focused primarily on manufacturing neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, with numerous R&D options identified for both upstream and midstream rare earths; some areas require further investigation. This includes improving the efficiency and cost-competitiveness of solvent extraction, process intensification, novel ligands and magnetic nanofluid separations. Furthermore, the workshop highlighted the need to enhance environmental and social performance as consumers and investors seek out more responsible and environmentally conscious minerals producers.
http://howtoinvestingoldrwax468.raidersfanteamshop.com/making-a-purchase-in-rare-metals
Since 2010, rising demand and geopolitical tensions have thrust rare earth elements to the forefront of public awareness. Essential ingredients in an array of important technologies, from permanent magnets found on electric vehicles to rechargeable battery components and advanced military weapons; their increased prominence has caused challenges to their supply, mining and processing to surface as well.
Rare earth elements (REEs) are scattered throughout Earth's crust in minute quantities, making their extraction costly and energy intensive. Lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), and praseodymium (Pr) are some of the easiest REEs to locate while heavier rare earths such as europium (Eu), dysprosium (Dy), are much harder to source and extract.
Reducing energy and environmental costs by mining, chemical processing and refining, manufacturing skills and assembly. Each process comes with its own set of unique costs: to produce neodymium magnets one must use neodine to capture its elements; however, this requires considerable heat production as well as toxic waste such as hydrofluoric acid, sulfur dioxide and radioactive thorium and uranium being generated during this process.
Even with these challenges, REE production remains concentrated; China accounts for 60-70 percent of the global market. China's dominance can be explained by various factors including government support, cheap labor costs and lax environmental regulations as well as factories being more efficient at producing REEs than foreign competitors.
REEs are essential components of many high-tech applications, from permanent magnets and lithium batteries to LED lights and LED display modules. Unfortunately, however, their extraction and refinement is often forgotten about.
As demand for REEs increases, companies and governments need to plan accordingly. When shortages occur, they can rely on stockpiles as backup. Unfortunately, however, much of the National Defense Stockpile consists of unprocessed REE ores that need refining by Chinese refineries; plus new legislation prohibits using magnets sourced from China, Russia or North Korea (Hsu 2019).
To secure long-term supplies of metals essential to life, governments should prioritize policies that foster geopolitically secure international supply chains and environmentally sustainable mining and refining practices, while encouraging flexibility where this helps promote technological superiority.
Businesspeople look to new technologies as the keystones to future expansion, while in energy's green technology can reduce emissions and mitigate climate collapse. Unfortunately, however, production of such new tech requires companies to mine rare earth elements (REEs).
Rare earth metals -- composed of the 15 lanthanides from the periodic table plus Scandium and Yttrium -- occur at low concentrations in natural minerals, making it hard to locate. Their chemical properties also make separation challenging. Unfortunately, current mining practices are costly and toxic - often taking more than 30 pounds of dirt, 9 cubic meters of water, high levels of radioactive material, as well as significant amounts of radioactive waste, to produce one ton of rare earth metals; waste storage facilities contain them until finally released into rivers or streams for eventual distribution into water systems.
Mining Rare Earth Elements (REEs) can have serious negative impacts on national security as demand for these raw materials rises. China is taking control of REE production through government support, cheap labor and lax environmental regulations - currently producing 60-70% of global REE supply while simultaneously securing rights to additional reserves; in comparison, the United States only produces 14% and Australia six. An Australian company in southeastern Wyoming claims to have found what may be North America's largest REE deposit and plans on extracting it using less harmful methods than currently employed.
Recycling offers one solution to this problem. Every year, millions of tons of electronic waste is produced containing valuable metals and rare earths such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium that could meet about 30% of future demand if recovered through recycling infrastructure; unfortunately most developed nations lack such systems.
Other solutions for the REEs crisis include engineering products to require less or no REEs and finding alternative sources. BMW and Renault have both created electric vehicles using less REEs in their batteries; and Tesla uses no REE magnets at all in its motor. Furthermore, numerous scientists and researchers have discovered methods of replacing REEs with alternative metals.