Why are rare earth metals so precious?
China is blocking the export of these important minerals. Does make them so special?
Nodium Iron Boron Magnett in a barrel in a barrel before being crushed into a powder in a factory in Tianjin, China.
Dug Conter/Bloomberg via Getty Image
In response to President Donald Trump’s tariff on China, which is currently 145 percent, the country has played its trump card: rare earth metal. With other minerals which are important for defense and industry, China has effectively done Stalled export Seven of these important metals, as well as products, such as magnets, include them. China produces 90 percent of the world’s rare Earth, as well as 90 percent of the powerful magnets made with these metals – which drives the wind turbines, jet engines and motors of electric vehicles. The suspension is likely to severely interrupted the US industry.
Does rare make the earth so special?
Rare Earth is silver-gray metal. There are 17 of them, ranging from Lanthanem (atomic number 57) to Luttium (atomic number 71), and most of them are in their line in the periodic table due to their unusual nuclear structure. Their arrangement of electrons can give them remarkable properties such as smartphones and luminesnex used for magnetism screen. They are often added to small amounts of other metals to increase their performance; Magnets with rare earth can be 15 times powerful like them without them. China has effectively blocked the export of the following rare Earth: Samarine, Gadolinium, Terbium, Discanderum, Scandium, Yatrium and Luttium.
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Why are they rare?
“Rare Earth is actually not all rare,” says the geologist of Nevada University, Reno, Reno. “What is rare rare earth deposited you can really remove the rare earth.” Although most of the rocks are rare earth trace, there are only a few places on Earth where their concentration is enough to be financially viable for their extraction. China has soil accumulated with relatively high concentrations of the rare rare Earth. The US has an active mine in Mountain passes, California, which mostly produces light rare earth. But in 2024 all the ore of 45,000 metric tons was removed – sent to China for processing. This is because refining the rare earth – in particular, separating them from each other – requires a lot of energy, as well as environmentally harmful chemicals such as hydrochloric acid. In addition, low Chinese prices made financially unacceptable processing in the US.
What can America do now?
In a short time, the US can reduce its trade war with China. In the long run, it can develop other sources of rare earth, either between its colleagues or within its boundaries abroad. “There is a significant amount of potential mines in Texas and Nebrasca in the US, but there is no meaning until you find the entire supply chain.” Mining and processing need to be developed in hand.
Another possible source of rare earth is recycling. Hard drives of old computers, mobile phone batteries, all have rare earth. But in these sources, all these metals are mixed with other ingredients, which make them difficult to recycle, describing Jovit. Researchers are working on the problem and come up with imaginative solutions such as using chemicals produced by bacteria to separate the desired metals. There is already a company located in Texas Magnet Recycled Hard Drive. The rare earth lies in every house – a verified gold mine. Finding ways to use them will benefit not only consumers and industry but also our planet.
