China's recent move to restrict rare earth exports may cause prices to skyrocket, prompting some people to fear its impact.
The Lanthanides (scandium, praseodymium, neodymium and samarium) and Yttrium Earths (yttrium, dysprosium, gadolinium and terbium) can generally be divided into groups according to chemical similarities; europium and erbium however are excluded due to their unique properties and should be considered separate entities.
REEs boast the unique physical, chemical, magnetic, and luminescent properties needed to produce efficient devices that are lighter weight and smaller in size. They have become integral to many green technologies like hybrid vehicles, LED lights, and flat-screen televisions; but can only be found in low concentrations in minerals which makes their extraction from Earth difficult.
Consumer electronics became more widely utilized with REEs in consumer electronics throughout the 90s and 2000s. Bell Labs developed erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, boosting signals in long fiber-optic cables that reduced telephone and internet calls costs; cell phones use lanthanum in cameras to reduce distortion; neodymium magnets improve sound quality in speakers; while yttrium and erbium phosphors create vibrant colors with energy-efficient screens.
Rare Earth Elements (REEs), although only comprised of a small percentage of metal content in many rare earth products, are essential. Without REEs these products would simply not exist; their components play a vital role in high-tech products like laptop computers, cellular phones and flat-screen TVs; moreover they play key roles in military technology as components for electronic displays, lasers and guidance systems.
Due to their unique properties, rare earth elements (REEs) have become a source of significant tension between mining companies and governments. Many fear that limited supplies of REEs could result in global technology shortages; as a result, some bold solutions such as opening up Amazon rainforest for mining or collecting rare earths from ocean floors seem plausible solutions.
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As the world transitions toward greener energy sources, demand for REEs is expected to skyrocket. Mining companies must locate new supplies quickly or face greater competition for raw material supplies. REEs are being recovered not only from traditional land deposits but also deep sea mud, coal ash and red sand deposits. New techniques will enable more effective mining of these vital earth materials. Isotope-based analyzers offer much broader coverage of REEs than tube-based analyzers, offering direct analysis for elements like Lanthanum (La), Cerium (Ce), Praseodymium (Pr), Neodymium (Nd), Samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), Gadolinium (Gd), Terbium (Tb), Dysprosium (Dy), Holmium (Ho), Erbium (Er) and Yttrium (Y). These analyzers offer precise determination over all REEs for industrial applications where precision across an extensive spectrum is crucially needed across REEs. This comprehensive coverage makes isotope-based analyzers superior for industrial applications demanding precise determination across REE range.
New technology is often held out as the solution to many of our most pressing challenges: high-flying startups offer immense growth potential; industrial research produces cost-cutting machinery and automation; green technologies offer more sustainable ways of using earth's resources - but some new products require companies to unearth rare earth elements for manufacturing purposes. But behind all this hype lies an unsavoury truth: making some of these innovations requires companies to mine rare earth elements from mining operations around the globe.
Rare Earth Elements (REE) do not refer to specific minerals; rather they represent minerals with less common concentrations compared to other metals. Due to this scarcity they are commonly found as oxide compounds spread across geologic deposits in small quantities - making their classification into REEs an appropriate term. While a number of countries produce rare earths globally, China dominates world production largely fueled by foreign demand that makes its mining industry highly vulnerable geopolitically.
Due to their widespread usage in high-tech applications, rare earth oxide prices are driven upward by demand for them. Restricting exports gives a single country significant political leverage in global markets when restricting REE exports - this was demonstrated when China restricted REE exports for domestic manufacturing purposes and to prevent proliferation of nuclear fission weapons in 2010.
Rare earth production remains robust despite geopolitical concerns; REEs are used in manufacturing permanent magnets used in electronics like cell phones, TV screens and computers as well as automobiles and jet aircraft. Furthermore, they can be found in catalysts, phosphors for LCD/fluorescent lights as well as polishing compounds - other major uses being catalysts and polishing compounds.
Consumers will embrace new technology reliant on these elements for as long as production costs remain relatively low, but as demand surges it could soon become too costly for many individuals to afford the latest gadgets and hybrid vehicles. This would have an immense ramification on Texas, home to large reserves of rare earths; Texas has made great strides toward commercialising its resources with hopes that leading the nation in high-tech manufacturing and renewable energy production could become its calling card.
REEs are integral components of high-tech products such as cell phones and televisions, computer monitors and printers, automobiles, wind turbines and jet aircraft - to name just some of their many applications. Many of these "green" applications require less energy consumption and resources to manufacture (Exhibit 1).
REE metals play a pivotal role in national security technology, from lasers and infrared imaging systems for military drones and satellites, to wind energy technologies like hybrid electric vehicles, nickel metal hydride batteries for consumer electronics devices and glass polishing and ceramic lighting.
Geologically speaking, REEs aren't particularly rare: they're found throughout Earth's crust in relatively low concentrations and often mixed together or combined with radioactive elements like uranium and thorium. But REE deposits are difficult to access: often disaggregated into individual crystals that require costly separation and refining processes to make them economically viable.
REEs gained prominence during the 20th century as physicists studied their properties and created applications for them. For instance, samarium and cobalt magnets were employed by engineers in radar detectors that function at higher temperatures in the 1960s; Scandium and yttrium were added to aluminum alloys in order to strengthen and lighten them, improving jet fighter aircraft performance in the 1980s; laser research led to the creation of yttrium-aluminum-garnet target designators target designators target designators target designatorss that function similarly.
Rare earth elements (REEs) have seen increased worldwide demand as nations strive to develop green technologies and secure themselves against possible security risks. The United States relies solely on REE imports from China; therefore, all its net-imports come through this route. As shown in Exhibit 2,
REEs are essential in high-tech manufacturing, making their prices highly unpredictable and volatile. When prices began to spike, entrepreneurs came up with radical ideas for mining operations to exploit REEs ranging from digging them out of Amazon rainforests to harvesting them off the Moon - with some proposals even seeming farfetched at first but becoming possible when demand drives prices upward or governments provide subsidies that subsidise production costs.
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Rare earth compounds make up several pounds of each battery used to power an electric or hybrid-electric car, and as more people purchase such cars to address issues related to energy independence, climate change and other concerns, demand will grow even faster for these elements. While other substances may serve as replacements in certain applications for REEs in these circumstances, their effectiveness tends to be reduced while costs increase accordingly.
Rare Earth elements include yttrium and the 15 Lanthanide Metals (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium promethium gadolinium samarium europium dysprosium holmium erbium terbium ytterbium and lutetium). Scandium also falls within this group but it is not classified as one.
Rare earths can often be found bundled together in phosphorites, sedimentary rocks that contain high concentrations of the element phosphorous. Phosphorites form when sea or ocean water saturated with phosphorous becomes saturated through temperature shifts and other influences; precipitated rare earths then precipitate out from this mineral concentrate before being processed further to produce oxides used in high-tech applications.
Rare earth oxides can be extracted from various mineral deposits around the world. China leads in production and holds most of the global reserves; however, new technologies have opened the door for mines outside China - in 2011 Australia began producing rare earth oxides while Molycorp reopened Mountain Pass Mine two years later. Furthermore, United States and other nations are exploring strategies to decrease their dependence on Chinese suppliers by using acidic wastewater as a source for REE extraction.
Though they are essential metals, many are unaware of their short supply. Prices of REEs spiked dramatically in 2010 when China restricted exports in order to ensure enough for domestic manufacturing; the sudden panic buying drove prices even higher and Japan, US, and EU filed trade complaints against them at WTO against this policy.
Sustainable metal production depends on consumer and manufacturer willingness to pay more for ethically produced materials, and mechanisms should be put in place both inside and outside government to make this happen.