What are rare earth elements and why are they important?
STORY: EDITORS NOTE: THIS SCRIPT AND VIDEO HAVE BEEN REFILED DUE TO A U.S.-CHINA TRADE DEAL BEING REACHED WITH A FRAMEWORK TO REMOVE CHINESE EXPORT RESTRICTIONS ON RARE EARTH MINERALS. THE STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED ON FEBRUARY 28, 2025.
Rare earth minerals are used in almost every technology you can think of.
They're present in cellphones, medical devices, wind turbines, weapons and much more.
But what are they? And why are they important? And are they actually rare?
:: What are rare earths and why are they important?
:: Julie Michelle Klinger, Geographer
'So the term rare earth elements, it refers to 17 chemically similar elements within the Lanthanide series.'
This is Professor Julie Michelle Klinger, a geographer and senior visiting fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences.
'So, if you can picture the periodic table, it's that bar at the bottom. Elements 57 to 71 plus scandium and yttrium.'
Reuters' special correspondent on commodities, Eric Onstad, has a bit of the history.
:: Eric Onstad, Specialist Correspondent, Commodities, Reuters
'The elements were first discovered by a Swedish miner in 1787 near a village called Ytterby and that's reflected in the name of two rare earths, yttrium and ytterbium. Another rare earth, promethium, was named by the wife of one of the discoverers after the Greek god who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans. China is by far the dominant producer. They account for 60% of mine production and 90% of processed rare earths. But interestingly, this wasn't always the case. In the 1980s, for instance, the United States was the biggest producer and Europe had one of the biggest processing plants in the world.'
:: What are they used for?
KLINGER: 'They are often described as the vitamins or the spice of industry because they have enabled our technologies to get smaller and faster and stronger and more resilient.'
Elements like lanthanum and cerium, some of the most common rare earths, are used in TVs and lighting...
While the application of erbium and yttrium can range from nuclear power to lasers.
ONSTAD: 'There are two broad categories that have really got the spotlight. The first one is military uses, and that can be from night goggles, to precision missiles, to radar. And of course, that is a very sensitive issue for nations wanting to guard their access to those kinds of minerals. The second area is regarding the energy transition. And there are four specific rare earths that are used to make super-strong permanent magnets that are used in motors for electric vehicle and for wind turbines. So that is key for most nations' zero-carbon targets and cutting greenhouse gases.'
:: What is the environmental impact of extraction?
KLINGER: 'It's really because of the challenges, the heavy energy and resource and pollution risks that are associated with refining rare earth elements, that production has concentrated historically in so few places.'
Processing rare earths often involves the use of solvents, which can produce toxic waste.
More environmentally friendly technologies are being developed, but they are not yet widely used.
ONSTAD: 'The other issue is that some rare earth deposits are radioactive. They include uranium and thorium. And so, some countries are not interested in having that be mined in their country.'
:: Are they actually rare?
But are they actually rare? Not really...
ONSTAD: 'They are found all over the world. And in terms of the deposits, no, they are not actually rare. What's rare about them is sometimes they are found in very small quantities. And in addition to that, they're mixed with all kinds of other minerals. So, the difficulty is sometimes extracting each single rare earth from all the other minerals that are involved in the deposit. "
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