How many rare earth elements are there

Related Frequently Asked Questions. Which mineral commodities used in the United States need to be imported? American Geosciences Institute. How do we use rare earth elements? Geological Survey. What are critical minerals, and why are they important? Permanent magnets are an essential component of modern electronics used in cell phones, televisions, computers, automobiles, wind turbines, jet aircraft and many other products.

This graph shows the major industrial uses of REEs forecasted for While not a current producer of REEs, Canada is host to a number of advanced exploration projects and some of the largest reserves and resources measured and indicated of these metals, estimated at almost 15 million tonnes of rare earth oxides. Learn more about why rare earth elements are important. China remains virtually the only producer of the valued heavy REEs.

This year graph shows REE production by China compared with the rest of the world. In , China produced an estimated , tonnes, while the rest of the world produced an estimated 81, tonnes. Again, they are rarely found in extractable concentrations. Before there was relatively little demand for rare earth elements.

At that time, most of the world's supply was being produced from placer deposits in India and Brazil. In the s, South Africa became the leading producer from rare earth bearing monazite deposits.

At that time, the Mountain Pass Mine in California was producing minor amounts of rare earth oxides from a Precambrian carbonatite. The demand for rare earth elements saw its first explosion in the mids, as the first color television sets were entering the market.

Europium was the essential material for producing the color images. The Mountain Pass Mine began producing europium from bastnasite, which contained about 0. This effort made the Mountain Pass Mine the largest rare earth producer in the world and placed the United States as the leading producer. China began producing notable amounts of rare earth oxides in the early s and became the world's leading producer in the early s. Through the s and early s, China steadily strengthened its hold on the world's rare earth oxide market.

They were selling rare earths at such low prices that the Mountain Pass Mine and many others throughout the world were unable to compete and stopped operation. At the same time, world demand was skyrocketing as rare earth metals were designed into a wide variety of defense, aviation, industrial, and consumer electronics products.

China capitalized on its dominant position and began restricting exports and allowing rare earth oxide prices to rise to historic levels. In addition to being the world's largest producer of rare earth materials, China is also the dominant consumer.

They use rare earths mainly in manufacturing electronics products for domestic and export markets. Japan and the United States are the second and third largest consumers of rare earth materials.

It is possible that China's reluctance to sell rare earths is a defense of their value-added manufacturing sector. That was an awakening for rare earth consumers and miners throughout the world.

Mining companies in the United States, Australia , Canada , and other countries began to reevaluate old rare earth prospects and explore for new ones.

High prices also caused manufacturers to do three things: 1 seek ways to reduce the amount of rare earth elements needed to produce each of their products; 2 seek alternative materials to use in place of rare earth elements; and, 3 develop alternative products that do not require rare earth elements. This effort has resulted in a decline in the amounts of rare earth materials used in some types of magnets and a shift from rare earth lighting products to light-emitting diode technology.

In the United States, the average consumption of rare earths per unit of manufactured product has decreased, but the demand for more products manufactured with rare earth elements has increased. The result has been higher consumption. Chinese companies have been purchasing rare earth resources in other countries. In China Non-Ferrous Metal Mining Company bought a majority stake in Lynas Corporation, an Australian company that has one of the highest outputs of rare earth elements outside of China.

They also purchased the Baluba Mine in Zambia. Mines in Australia began producing rare earth oxides in New mineral resource assessments conducted by the United States Geological Survey identified significant resources outside of China.

This provides an opportunity for other countries to become important producers now that China is not selling rare earth materials below the cost of production. REE production chart: This chart shows China's dominance in the production of rare earth elements between and Don't miss out. Renew your membership, and continue to enjoy these benefits. Not Now. Grab your lab coat. Let's get started Welcome! It seems this is your first time logging in online.

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Thank you! Petrochemicals A whole new world for rare earths How the technologically important metals rose from obscurity to ubiquity by Stephen K. Ritter August 28, A version of this story appeared in Volume 95, Issue Almost extinct in the US, powdered laundry detergents thrive elsewhere in the world.

Rare-earth oxides clockwise from top center : praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, and gadolinium. In brief The rare earths, a collection of 17 elements including the lanthanides—lanthanum to lutetium—along with scandium and yttrium, have become indispensable components in many essential technologies of modern life, including smart phones, LEDs, and medical imaging.

Credit: Courtesy of Grant Luchmann. Gd 5 Si 2 Ge 2 , a material created at Ames Laboratory, exhibits a giant magnetocaloric effect: Its temperature can be altered by exposing it to a changing magnetic field, a property that could be used in high-efficiency refrigeration.

Ames Laboratory scientist Ikenna Nlebedim holds samples of neodymium-iron-boron magnets sourced and manufactured entirely in the U. Subscribe ». You might also like Natural protein captures rare-earth elements better than synthetic chelators.

Share X. To send an e-mail to multiple recipients, separate e-mail addresses with a comma, semicolon, or both. Submit Sending Mike Jarvis August 28, PM. Interesting story. More info on rare earths at USGS. Steve Ritter August 30, PM. Thanks for point to this reference. Geological Survey is a great resource for U. Chris Stock August 29, PM. The graphic at the top of this article is misleading.

Scandium and yttrium are more similar to lutetium, and should be placed above it and lawrencium on the Periodic Table -- not above lanthanum. This is a good point, one generating a lot of debate over the years.

One can consider scandium, yttrium, and all the lanthanides as being in group 3 of the periodic table--they each have in general three ionizable electrons, two s and 1 d.

The lanthanides beyond La to Lu also have f electrons. Some periodic tables only put Sc, Y. Some only consider Sc and Y as truly belonging to group 3. Should the location be based on the electron configuration, or the similarity of chemical properties? Can of worms now open. Both claim for cheaper and quicker REE separation. What is the view of author on these techniques?