Rare Earth Elements

What are Rare Earths?

The Japanese call them the seeds of technology. The US Department of Energy calls
them technology metals. They make possible the high tech world we live in today everything
from the miniaturization of electronics, to the enabling of green energy and medical technologies,
to supporting a myriad of essential telecommunications and defense systems. They are the
elements that have become irreplaceable to our world of technology owing to their unique
magnetic, phosphorescent, and catalytic properties.

Which Elements are They?

Rare earth elements are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically
the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare
earth elements since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit
similar chemical properties. While named rare earths, they are in fact not that rare and are
relatively abundant in the Earth's crust. What is unusual is to find them in quantities significant
enough to support economic mineral development.

With rare earths, a little goes a long way. The amount of rare earths used in high tech equipment
is nominal but almost always critical to the units performance. For example, an iPhone uses
eight rare earths for everything from its colored screen, to its speakers, to the miniaturization of
the phones circuitry. While the amount of rare earths in each phone is very small, the quantity of

phones sold each year is impressive. According to Apple, in 2012 over 125 million iPhones were
sold worldwide, up from 72 million in 2011.

Where do They Come From?

China became the world's dominant producer of rare earths in the 1990s. Because China sold
rare earths at very low prices, mines like Molycorps Mountain Pass in California and others
throughout the world were unable to compete. By 2000, China accounted for more than 95% of
world rare earth production.

China is also the dominant consumer of rare earths, which they use mainly in the manufacture of
electronics products for domestic use as well as export. Japan and the United States are the
worlds second and third largest consumers of rare earths. In 2010 and 2011, Chinese exports of
rare earths fell, driven predominately by increasing domestic consumption. China also
announced they may require imports by 2014 of certain rare earths, some that are
deemed critical by the U.S. Department of Energy1
In a normal market, supply reductions would trigger price increases. At that point, new sources
would be developed. The long lead time between discovery and production means there is no
quick way to increase supply in the rare earth market. End-users are at a significant
disadvantage by only having one major supplier. (Other sources are being developed,
including the Bear Lodge Project, but none are currently in full production or can provide a full
suite of all the rare earth elements.) These factors have resulted in a great deal of uncertainity in
the market place and significant price volatility.
According to the 2013 Worldwide Threat Assessment2 of the National Intelligence Office, rare
earths are essential to civilian and military technologies and to the 21st-century global economy,
including green technologies (e.g., wind turbines and advanced battery systems) and advanced

defense systems. This is why developing a domestic source, like the Bear Lodge Project, is
critical.

Websites of Interest
Rare Earth Technology Alliance - www.rareearthtechalliance.com/
Mineral Education Coalition www.mii.org
Wyoming Mining Association - www.wma-minelife.com
Northwest Mining Association - www.nwma.org
National Mining Association www.nma.org
Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration - www.smenet.org
Mining & Metallurgical Society of America -www.mmsa.net
Metals Pages - www.metal-pages.com
ProEdge Wire Rare Elements - http://investorintel.com/rare-earth/

Governments Agency Websites

Local
Sundance Chamber of Commerce - sundancewyoming.com
Upton Chamber of Commerce - www.uptonwyo.com
Crook County - www.crookcounty.wy.gov
Weston County - www.westongov.com

State
Northeastern Wyoming Economic Development Coalition - www.newedc.com
Department of Agriculture - wyagric.state.wy.us
Game and Fish - gf.state.wy.us
Office of State Lands & Investments - lands.state.wy.us
State Engineers Office - seo.state.wy.us

Abstract

The future availability of rare earth elements (REEs) is of concern due to monopolistic supply
conditions, environmentally unsustainable mining practices, and rapid demand growth. We
present an evaluation of potential future demand scenarios for REEs with a focus on the issue
of comining. Many assumptions were made to simplify the analysis, but the scenarios identify
some key variables that could affect future rare earth markets and market behavior. Increased
use of wind energy and electric vehicles are key elements of a more sustainable future.
However, since present technologies for electric vehicles and wind turbines rely heavily on
dysprosium (Dy) and neodymium (Nd), in rare-earth magnets, future adoption of these
technologies may result in large and disproportionate increases in the demand for these two
elements. For this study, upper and lower bound usage projections for REE in these
applications were developed to evaluate the state of future REE supply availability. In the
absence of efficient reuse and recycling or the development of technologies which use lower
amounts of Dy and Nd, following a path consistent with stabilization of atmospheric CO 2 at 450
ppm may lead to an increase of more than 700% and 2600% for Nd and Dy, respectively, over

the next 25 years if the present REE needs in automotive and wind applications are
representative of future needs.

Defense and Aerospace

Whether advancing military defense technologies or space

programs, rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial toinnovations in flight. Ceramics
containing the rare earth element cerium, for example, are central to the U.S. Space
Shuttle program. Cerium is also used in several other space shuttle components.
Spacecraft and guided missiles use atomic batteries made from promethium.
Stabilizers and mold formers for exotic light-weight jet engine turbines, stabilizer
material in rocket nose cones, and laser crystals specific to spectral characteristics
for military communications, use yttrium and other lanthanides.
REEs are central to the entire spectrum of defense technologies that are vitally
important to military forces in many countries. REES are used in many ways, with
varying purity concentrations and metallurgies. The directional capabilities
of precision-guided munitions in missiles and guided bombs rely on REEs, as do
lasers used in target interrogators, target designators and rangefinders. REEs are
also found in electronic counter measures, coatings, optical equipment, as well as in
communications devices radar systems and displays.
The electrical systems in aircrafts use samarium-cobalt permanent magnets to
generate power. These magnets are also essential to many military weapons
systems. In addition, aircrafts use small high-powered rare earth magnet actuators
that control their various surfaces during operation. Heat-resistant ceramic coatings
are applied to jet engines as a barrier to protect metal alloys. The ceramic coating
maintains its heat-resistant durability thanks to yttrium oxide, which prevents the
zirconia from transforming from a tetragonal to monoclinic structure.
Terfonal-D is a rare earth alloy made of terbium, iron and dysprosium that is used in
high-power sonar on ships and submarines. Stealth helicopters use Terfenol-D
speakers in their noise cancellation technology blades and NdFeB magnets.
Rare earth elements are also a large component in the future of defense and
aerospace technology. Unmanned aircraft such as drones and advanced jet aircraft
are all dependent on rare earth elements.

LATEST NEWS
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Rare Earth Elements: Not So Rare After All [CBS News]
View All Rare Earth Elements News
Rare Earth Technology Alliance

NTRODUCTION

Rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a group of seventeen elements in the Periodic
Table including Scandium, Yttrium and 15 Lanthanoids with Z ranging continuously from 57
to 71 ( La Lanthanum, Ce-Cerium, Pr- Praseodymium, Nd-Neodymium, Pm- Prometheum,
Sm-Samarium, Eu Europium, Gd Gadolinium, Tb-Terbium, Dy-Dysprosium, HoHomium, Er- Erbium, Tm- Thulium, Yb-Ytterbium and Lu- Lutetium) . Scandium and
yttrium are considered rare earths since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the
lanthanoids and exhibit similar chemical properties.
The term "rare earth" arises from the minerals from which they were first isolated, which
were uncommon oxide-type minerals (earths) found in Gadolinite extracted from one mine in
the village of Ytterby, Sweden. However, with the exception of the highly-unstable
prometheum, rare earth elements are found in relatively high concentrations in the earths
crust with cerium being the 25th most abundant element in the earth's crust at 68 parts per
million.
USE IN INDUSTRY

Rare earth elements are used in many modern technological devices, including
superconductors, samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron high-flux rare-earth magnets,
electronic polishers, refining catalysts and hybrid car components. Rare earth ions are used
as the active ions in luminescent materials used in optioelectronics applications, most notably
the Nd-YAG laser. Erbium-doped fibre amplifiers are significant devices in optical-fibre
communication systems. Phosphorus with rare earth dopants are also widely used in cathode
ray tube technology such as television sets. The earliest color television CRTs had a poorquality red; europium as a phosphor dopant made good red phosphors possible. Yttrium iron
garnet (YIG) spheres have been useful as tunable microwave resonators. Rare earth oxides
are mixed with Tungsten to improve its high temperature properties for welding, replacing
thorium which was mildly hazardous to work with. Many of these are essential ingredients in
mobile phones, video game machines, computers and even green technologies. Tiny amounts
of rare earths dysprosium or terbium might soon be used in electric cars as these let batteries
work at high temperatures.
WORLD PRODUCTION SCENARIO

Rare earth elements are used in many modern technological devices, including
superconductors, samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron high-flux rare-earth magnets,
electronic polishers, refining catalysts and hybrid car components. Rare earth ions are used
as the active ions in luminescent materials used in optioelectronics applications, most notably
the Nd-YAG laser. Erbium-doped fibre amplifiers are significant devices in optical-fibre
communication systems. Phosphorus with rare earth dopants are also widely used in cathode
ray tube technology such as television sets. The earliest color television CRTs had a poorquality red; europium as a phosphor dopant made good red phosphors possible. Yttrium iron
garnet (YIG) spheres have been useful as tunable microwave resonators. Rare earth oxides

are mixed with Tungsten to improve its high temperature properties for welding, replacing
thorium which was mildly hazardous to work with. Many of these are essential ingredients in
mobile phones, video game machines, computers and even green technologies. Tiny amounts
of rare earths dysprosium or terbium might soon be used in electric cars as these let batteries
work at high temperatures.
A few sites are under development outside of China, the most significant of which are the
Nolans Project in Central Australia, the remote Hoidas lake project in northern Canada and
the Mt. Weld project in Australia. The Hoidas Lake project has the potential to supply about
10% of the $1 billion of REE consumption that occurs in North America every year.
PROCESSING TO OBTAIN RARE EARTHS

Due to the phenomenon known as lanthanide contraction, yttrium, which is trivalent, is of

similar ionic size todysprosium and its lanthanide neighbors. Due to the relatively gradual
decrease in ionic size with increasing atomic number, the rare earth elements have always
been difficult to separate. Even with eons of geological time, geochemical separation of the
lanthanides has only rarely progressed much farther than a broad separation between light
versus heavy lanthanides, otherwise known as the cerium and yttrium earths. Rare earth
minerals, as found, usually are dominated by one group or the other, depending upon which
size-range best fits the structural lattice. Thus, among the anhydrous rare earth phosphates, it
is the tetragonal mineral xenotime that incorporates yttrium and the yttrium earths, whereas
the monoclinic monazite phase incorporates cerium and the cerium earths preferentially. The
smaller size of the yttrium group allows it a greater solid solubility in the rock-forming
minerals that comprise the earth's mantle, and thus yttrium and the yttrium earths show less
enrichment in the earth's crust, relative to chondritic abundance, than does cerium and the
cerium earths. This has economic consequences: large ore bodies of the cerium earths are
known around the world, and are being actively exploited. Corresponding ore bodies for
yttrium tend to be rarer, smaller, and less concentrated. Most of the current supply of yttrium
originates in the "ion adsorption clay" ores of Southern China. Some versions of these
provide concentrates containing about 65% yttrium oxide, with the heavy lanthanides being
present in ratios reflecting the Oddo-Harkins rule: even-numbered heavy lanthanides at
abundances of about 5% each, and odd-numbered lanthanides at abundances of about 1%
each. Similar compositions are found in xenotime or gadolinite.
INDIAN RARE EARTHS LIMITED (IREL)

The first non-strategic value addition activities of IREL in tonnage quantities was concerned
with production of composite rare earth chloride, oxide and fluoride to start and later
separation of 99.9% pure oxide of individual rare earths like Ce, La, Nd and Pr by multistage solvent extraction and fractional precipitation techniques. Oxides of this metal in
higher purities are also prepared by RED in kilo gramme quantities using ion exchange
technology.
Besides chemical processing of monazite both zircon and ilmenite were found worth value
addition from commercial angle.
A dry grindin mill working on the principal of self attrition was commissioned by Chavara in
the year 1970 to grind the as separation zircon sand to about 4.5m size (called zirflour) for its
application in the ceramic industries. Much later, a wet mill with silica as grinding media
was commissioned at Chavara to introduce yet another value added material called micro-zir
having mesh size in the range of 1 to 3 mm finding specialized application as opacifier. In
addition to such physical value addition, the MK unit had set up a small chemical plant to
produce zircon frit, zirconium chloride, etc. The plant, however, is limited in size and meant
primarily for making supply of zircon firt to Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad. In yet
another effort on value addition to zircon, a pilot plant (capacity-3.5 TPA) was set up

OSCOM to produce a whole range of zirconia stabilized with CaO, MgO and rare earths.
The most talked about value addition activity of IREL is setting up of a Chemical plant at
OSCOM consisting of a Synthetic Rutile Production unit-an Acid Regeneration Unit. The SR
facility is equipped with two roasters, two calciners, sixteen digestors for carrying out
reduction of ilmenite, leaching of reduced ilmenite with concentrated hydrochloric acid. The
leached liquor is treated in the AR unit to regenerate 20% grade HCl for its recycle and reject
iron as fine iron oxide powder. The SR unit was stopped in 1997 as it was not financially
viable. The company now intends to use the roasters and calciners for the production of
partially value added materials like reduced and metallized ilmenite.
Contributed by: Central Geological Laboratory
CHQ, GSI