Rare earth elements are, well, rare. They are mostly a group of 15 metals ranging from atomic number 57 to 71. They include lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium. (Scandium and yttrium have similar chemical properties to these 15 rare earths, although their atomic numbers are much lower.)
It is very difficult (expensive) to separate individual elements from each other because they all have similar chemical properties.
So, if they are so rare and expensive, why don’t we just ignore them? Americans have plenty to think about right now without bothering with strange metals. What expenses will the tea party cut in order to balance the budget if they gain power in Congress? What will happen to health care? Is America going in the “right direction” (whatever that means)?
There are two reasons why we should be concerned about rare earths. One is that our electronic society cannot function without them. They are used in catalysts in petroleum refineries, in catalytic converters in cars, in rechargeable batteries, in fiber-optic cables, in permanent magnets, in lasers and in many other metallurgic and ceramic materials.
The second reason for concern is that we have to import almost all of our rare earths – about 17 million tons per year at a cost of some $200 million. More than 90 percent of the imports are from China, mostly from deposits in Inner (Chinese) Mongolia.
Our supply problem wasn’t serious 25 years ago. A mine at Mountain Pass, Calif., was the world’s largest producer of rare earths. We also had several options for importing rare earths. Our largest supplier was India, with smaller amounts coming from other countries.
Now, however, our supply sources are very different. The Mountain Pass mine closed about 20 years ago, although limited mining resumed in 2009. New mines are opening in Australia and Kyrgyzstan. None of these sources can compete with Chinese production.
The Chinese are using their virtual monopoly on rare earth production as a way to influence the world economy. They have put an embargo on rare earth shipments to Japan, forcing the Japanese to keep their manufacturing industries alive by recycling rare earths from old manufactured products. Japan is also opening low-quality mines in Vietnam and Kazakhstan.
As of this writing it is not clear whether China will extend its embargo on rare earth exports to the United States and Europe. Such an embargo would open a spectacular trade war in which the United States would start with a major disadvantage. In contrast to other industrialized countries, we have only a very small stockpile of rare earths.
Rare earths are only one of the products that China uses to dominate the world economy. Another metal is tungsten. America used to have abundant tungsten ore production in Nevada. Now, however, we import all of our tungsten, about half from China.
If you are wondering who to vote for, find out what they intend to do to get America out from under the thumb of China.
John J.W. Rogers is retired as the William R. Kenan Jr. professor of geology at UNC-Chapel Hill. He can be reached at jjwr@mac.com
