Hunting planes for nuclear reactor rods and smartphones, minerals of rare earths are essential for a wide range of products. As geopolitical and commercial tensions increase, the domination of China both to mining and transformation means that these niche metals have become a tour to be used against adversaries.
In response to the punitive rates imposed by Washington, Beijing earlier this month added seven rare land to its export control list. Although metals really occur quite often in the earth’s crust, they are not frequently found in concentrated deposits. They can also require a process in several steps to isolate individual elements – and China not only controls mining, but the vast majority of global refining capacity.
The United States, on the other hand, has almost no treatment capacity for targeted metals, according to data from Consultancy Project Blue.
Beijing said it establishes controls because metals are used in advanced technologies and for powerful magnets, and are therefore considered to be double -use items – which means materials with civilian but also military applications.
“These products and elements have an impact directly on the development of key technologies and support industries on other major markets,” said David Merriman, research director of Project Blue. “This improves the lever effect of China in any negotiation.”
Here are some of the main applications of the seven metals – out of 17 on the commonly accepted list of rare earths – which are now on the restricted list of Beijing.
Terbium
This soft and silver metal can be found in the bulbs, while it also allows vibrant colors on smartphone screens, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. The terbium adds temperature resilience to the magnets used in planes, submarines and missiles. This is “one of the most difficult elements to find” because it represents less than 1% of the total content of rare land in most deposits, said the US Defense Ministry.
China exports up to 85% of its terbium to Japan, while other destinations include South Korea and the United States, which takes approximately 5%, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Chinese customs data.
Yttrium
YTTRIUM is used to treat liver cancer and in the production of lasers for dental and medical surgeries. It also increases the strength of alloys, and its resistance to heat and shocks means that it is ideal for superconductors at high temperature.
Yttrium was extracted as a Mountain Pass mine in California, but the concentrates are exported for treatment because there is no entirely commercial separation installation in the United States. According to US Geological Survey, around 93% of American imports from YTTRIUM compounds come from China during the four years to 2023.
Dysprosium
The name of this shiny metal is derived from the Greek to obtain difficult to obtain.
Resistant to high temperatures, dysprosium is mainly used in alloys for magnets deployed in engines or generators. It is particularly important for clean energy transition because magnets are used in wind turbines and electric vehicles. A form of dysprosium can also be used in nuclear reactor control rods because it easily absorbs neutrons.
China has sent more than half of its dysprosium to Japan, and about a 10th in South Korea, while only 0.1% of this goes to the United States. Australia Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. should extend its factory to Malaysia to produce dysprosium and terbium by June.
Gadolinium
If you have already had an MRI, you may well have received an injection of a colorful colorinium color, which reacts with magnetic forces to improve the visibility of body organs in medical imaging.
Gadolinium is also effective in improving the performance of alloys. The addition of small amounts of mineral can improve resistance to high temperatures and oxidation, useful for metals used to make magnets, electronic components and data storage disks.
Its absorbing capacity in neutrons in fact also makes an ingredient for the heart of nuclear reactors.
Lutetium
It is a hard and dense metal, unlike most other targeted elements.
Lutetium is used a chemical catalyst liquid in oil refiners. The United States bought almost all of its metal supply from China, which also exports a small quantity to Japan.
Samarium
Samarium-Cobalt alloys appear on an American list of critical metals for potential storage.
Once commonly found in headphones, it is used in super magnets that are in turbines and cars, as well as wider defense applications, as it can remain magnetic at higher temperatures. Samarium also goes into optical lasers and nuclear reactors.
Scandium
The metal is appointed according to Scandinavia because it was discovered for the first time in the Northern Europe region. Scandium can be extracted from mining residues or as a sub-product of mining for uranium or other metals.
Baseball bats and bicycle frames can contain traces of scandium. Given its low density and high fusion point, metal is also used to make components for hunting plans. Its radioactive properties also make it ideal as a tracer in oil refining or in underground pipes to detect leaks.
Scandium was produced for the last time in the United States over 50 years ago, according to the USGS. For SCANDIUM and YTTRIUM combined, the country now takes 14% of Chinese exports, according to customs data, while Japan is the largest buyer. In the European Union, there is also no current scandium production, but a project will be put into service next year.
Outside the list: neodymia, praseodymium
The neodymium and the praseodymium are not targeted in this series of commercial salvs. These two metals, however, are by far the elements of the rare land the most common because of their important role in the manufacture of permanent loving motors.
The neodymium and the praseodymium convert the electricity stored in a moving battery – to run the wheels of an electric vehicle, for example. They can also work in the opposite direction to transform the movement into electricity, for example from the spinning of the blades of wind turbines.
MP Materials reopened Mountain Pass in the Mojave desert in California in 2018, the only operational mine of the rare land in the country which now has refining capacities. Last year, the United States produced 1,130 tonnes of refined neodymium-pseodymium, according to the Blue project.
This is compared to more than 58,300 tonnes produced in China.
–Aude the help of Spe Chen and Jane Pong.
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