{"id":333061,"date":"2025-04-16T17:54:05","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T12:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=333061"},"modified":"2025-04-16T17:57:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T12:27:56","slug":"rare-earth-minerals-significance-challenges-explained-pointwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/rare-earth-minerals-significance-challenges-explained-pointwise\/","title":{"rendered":"RARE EARTH MINERALS &#8211; Significance &amp; Challenges &#8211; Explained pointwise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recently, China has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals &amp; magnets that are crucial for the world&#8217;s car, semiconductor &amp; aerospace industries. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Chinese government ordered restrictions on the export of six heavy rare earth metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90 percent of which are produced in China in retaliation to the increase in tariff on the Chinese imports by the USA\u2019s President Trump.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;text-align: center\"><strong>Table of Content<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%\"><a href=\"#h1\">What are Rare Earth Elements, their characteristics &amp; sources?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h2\">What is the utility of Rare Earth Elements?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h3\">What is the current status with respect to the reserves of Rare Earth Elements?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h4\">What is the strategic significance of Rare Earth Elements?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h5\">What are the reasons behind the limited production of Rare Earth Elements in India?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h6\">What steps can be taken to boost domestic production?<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><b><a id=\"h1\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">What are Rare Earth Elements, their characteristics &amp; sources?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements in the periodic table. It comprises <\/span><b>15 lanthanides elements<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutetium), plus <\/span><b>Scandium <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and <\/span><b>Yttrium<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>The rare earths are actually not \u2018rare\u2019 in nature; they occur abundantly but are often not concentrated enough to undertake viable extraction.<\/li>\n<li><b>Characteristics<\/b>: REEs are characterized by high density, high melting point, high conductivity, and high thermal conductance. REEs are classified into Heavy REE and Light REE.<\/li>\n<li><b>Sources<\/b>: REEs do not occur in a free state. They are found in mineral oxide ores. The principal sources of rare earth elements are <b>Bastnaesite<\/b>, <b>Xenotime <\/b>(commonly found in mineral sand deposits), <b>Loparite <\/b>(occurs in alkaline igneous rocks) and <b>Monazite<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b><a id=\"h2\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">What is the utility of Rare Earth Elements?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1.<\/strong> Rare earths are used in small quantities but have <\/span><b>qualities that make them essential<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For example, <\/span><b>Neodymium<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a critical component for permanent magnets and has the ability to carry material 1,300 times its own weight. Neodymium-based permanent magnets are key components in <\/span><b>EV traction motors and wind turbines<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Like neodymium, <\/span><b>Dysprosium <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is also an important component of permanent magnets that will be used in EVs and wind turbines.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>2. Europium <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is necessary for <\/span><b>LED bulbs and colour television screens<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><b>Samarium<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is used in <\/span><b>optical lasers.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>3.<\/strong> Several rare earths also have important uses in emerging hi-tech medical technologies. Further they make the refining of crude oil into gasoline more efficient and are used in many specialty metal alloys. Their sector-wise uses include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Aerospace and Defence:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Used in precision-guided munitions in missiles, high-power sonar on ships and submarines, stealth helicopters, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Healthcare<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: used in medical imaging devices, such as MRIs, modern surgical machines.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Clean Energy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Used in wind turbines, electric car batteries and energy-efficient lights (LEDs and CFLs).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Nuclear Energy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: useful for controlling nuclear reactions and is used in control rods.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Electronics<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Used as phosphors in cathode ray tubes, fluorescent lamps and X-ray intensifying screens.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Chemicals, Oil Refining, and manufacturing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Make the refining of crude oil into gasoline more efficient and are used in many specialty metal alloys.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b><a id=\"h3\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">What is the current status with respect to the reserves of Rare Earth Elements?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n<h5><b><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">National<\/span>:<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">India is almost 100% import dependent for most rare earths. However, India has great potential for domestic production as it possesses the 5th highest reserves of rare earths in the world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>In India, significant rare earth minerals found are <strong>ilmenite, sillimanite, garnet, zircon, monazite<\/strong>, and <strong>rutile<\/strong>, collectively called <strong>Beach Sand Minerals<\/strong> (BSM).<\/li>\n<li>Monazite is the principal source. Monazite is mainly found in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and Jharkhand. According to the India Minerals Yearbook (2019), India had 12.47 million tonnes of Monazite Resources.<\/li>\n<li>They are classified as atomic minerals and are therefore not at par with other minerals. The reason that they are classified as atomic minerals is because some of these elements occur in the earth\u2019s surface along with thorium and uranium which are radioactive minerals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><b>International<\/b><\/span><b>:<\/b><\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The total world reserves are estimated at 120 million tonnes of Rare Earth Oxides equivalent content (REO). Out of this, <\/span><b>China <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">alone accounts for 44 million tonnes followed by <\/span><b>Vietnam <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and <\/span><b>Russia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">China holds the leading position among producers of rare earth oxides with 140 thousand tonnes. The other major producers are <\/span><b>Myanmar, Australia, USA, Russia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and <\/span><b>Malaysia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Concentrated\/partially-processed intermediate products are further processed at many locations in Europe, USA, Japan and China.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b><a id=\"h4\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">What is the strategic significance of Rare Earth Elements?<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>1. Multiple Uses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: They are used in multiple hi-tech applications and processes like EVs, Medicinal appliances, LEDs etc. that domestic production of such elements becomes inevitable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>2. Rising Demand: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The multifarious uses of rare earth elements in new age technologies shows that their demand is going to rise in future. For instance, the current demand of\u00a0 <\/span><b>Neodymium <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">in India is small, at around 900 tonnes per annum, because domestic manufacturing of EVs and wind turbines is still limited. However, as manufacturing of EVs and wind turbines picks up, the demand for neodymium is estimated to rise sharply by 6-7 times by 2025 (6,000 tonnes) and by 18-20 times by 2030 (20,000 tonnes).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>3. Reducing Import Bill<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: India is almost 100% import dependent for most rare earths which creates a huge pressure on foreign exchange. Further, prices of rare elements are consistently rising due to the rising demand. For instance, the global price of neodymium has risen sharply from under US$ 100 per kg in 2018 to over US$ 200 per kg at present.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>4. Highly Concentrated Supply Chain (CHINESE DOMINANCE)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: The global supply scenario for rare earths is highly concentrated, much more than oil and hydrocarbons, which poses a strategic challenge. Until 2023, China produced 99 percent of the world\u2019s supply of heavy rare earth metals, with a trickle of production coming out of a refinery in Vietnam. But that refinery has been closed for the past year because of a tax dispute, leaving China with a monopoly. China also produces 90 percent of the world\u2019s nearly 200,000 tons a year of rare earth magnets, which are far more powerful than conventional iron magnets. Japan produces most of the rest and Germany produces a tiny quantity as well, but they depend on China for the raw materials. In 2010, following a dispute with Japan over Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, <\/span><b>China shut down exports of Rare Earth Elements to Japan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Recently, China halted the export of critical minerals in retaliation for the Tariff War initiated by the USA\u2019s President Trump. Given India\u2019s border dispute, China might resort to similar tactics in future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>5. Huge potential<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: India has greater reserves than the US and Australia, only behind China, Vietnam, Russia, and Brazil. With Russia embroiled in conflict, the onus is on India to emerge as a supplier not just for domestic use but for international consumption.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><a id=\"h5\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">What are the reasons behind the limited production of Rare Earth Elements in India?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1.<\/strong> Rare earth materials are not concentrated enough in many geographical locations with respect to <\/span><b>commercial viability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It is expensive to commercially produce them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>2.<\/strong> At present they are classified as atomic minerals. The<\/span><b> mining for rare earths is reserved exclusively for government companies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Currently, there are only two companies \u2013 <\/span><b>Indian Rare Earths Ltd<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (IREL, owned by GoI) and <\/span><b>Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (owned by Kerala government) that can mine them. Further, their production capacities and technological capabilities are limited which is why India is import dependent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>3. IREL\u2019s primary source of revenues is not rare earths<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Most of its income comes from the production and marketing of other minerals contained in beach sands. Since its revenue does not depend upon rare earth elements, <\/span><b>IREL has little need to produce and research<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. IREL has poor incentives to refocus itself as a globally competitive rare earth extraction and processing firm. This has restricted India to be a low-cost exporter of rare earth oxides instead of higher value-added products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>4.<\/strong> The present system (clubbing rare earth elements with atomic minerals) ends up <\/span><b>separating the rare earths ecosystem from other R&amp;D ecosystems<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> like electronics or metallurgy. This severely impacts the overall umbrella of strategic research, undercutting the interdisciplinary nature of modern research work. R&amp;D is dominated by DAE and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), with negligible participation by the Academia and private sector. The situation is similarly disintegrated with regards to exploration. The Geological Survey of India (GSI), Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) and Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) operate in overlapping spheres while working in siloes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>5. Beach sand mining<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> was permitted until a few years ago but was<\/span><b> banned in 2016<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in an attempt to conserve strategic minerals including rare earths and thorium.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><a id=\"h6\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">What steps can be taken to boost domestic production?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>1. The Ministry of Mines has recently proposed moving the 17 rare earths<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> elements outside the ambit of atomic minerals so that commercial mining by private entities and other PSUs can take place. Further, Private players can be mandated not to extract thorium and uranium from monazite rock or beach sands and restrict themselves to rare earths.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>2.<\/strong> Based on availability and criticality of rare earths, the <\/span><b>Ministry of Mining has conducted an analysis for prioritizing efforts in both exploration and foreign acquisition<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. India has an established relative abundance of Light Rare Earths: elements from Lanthanum to Samarium. The initial focus can be on extraction of these elements. Efforts are already on to discover Lithium deposits as well. A joint venture of 3 PSUs, named <strong>Khanij India Bidesh Limited (KABIL)<\/strong>, has been entering into long-term contracts for India\u2019s critical mineral needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>3.<\/strong> The government can create a new<\/span><b> Department for Rare Earths (DRE)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> under the Ministry of Mines. This DRE should oversee policy formulation and focus on attracting investment and promoting R&amp;D. It could coordinate with other agencies to<\/span><b> partner directly with groupings such as the Quad<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. This will help in building up a strategic reserve as a buffer against global supply crises.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>4.<\/strong> The government should also create an autonomous regulator,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the<\/span><b> Rare Earths Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It would resolve disputes between companies in this space and check compliance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>5.<\/strong> IREL can be de-merged into two different entities with appropriate amendments to the Atomic Energy Act. One entity can focus exclusively on Thorium extraction and can be retained under the Department of Atomic Energy. The other entity can specialise in other available rare earth processing and can be under the control of the proposed DRE.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>6.<\/strong> A <\/span><b>consolidation in the exploration of rare earths is necessary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The National Mineral Exploration Policy, 2016 had a proposal to set up the <\/span><b>National Centre for Mineral Targeting<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (NCMT) to replace the present system of having committees within the Geological Programming Board of the Geological Survey of India. NCMT has not been created yet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>7. Private industry must be incentivised<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and enabled to set up processing capabilities beyond the extraction phase. Such a move will be crucial for higher value added products having robust domestic supply chains. Private industry linkage is necessary to promote R&amp;D Ecosystem as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>8.<\/strong> The Government should have <\/span><b>Rare Earth Strategic Reserves<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, similar to the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. Having Rare Earth Strategic Reserves can help provide a <\/span><b>consistent demand environment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, as well as a <\/span><b>fallback at times of any unfavourable<\/b> <b>action<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by the Chinese Government.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Conclusion<br \/>\n<\/b><\/h5>\n<p>The time is right to focus on boosting the indigenous supply of rare earth metals that currently contribute a total value of nearly US$ 200 billion to the Indian economy. A sustained supply is also essential to reduce its dependence on Chinese imports and truly realize the vision of <i>Atmanirbhar Bharat<\/i>.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 914.64px\"><strong>Read More<\/strong> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-economics\/china-restricts-exports-of-rare-earths-impact-9945497\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Indian Express<\/a><br \/>\n<strong>UPSC Syllabus GS 1<\/strong> &#8211; Distribution of Key Natural Resources across the world<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, China has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals &amp; magnets that are crucial for the world&#8217;s car, semiconductor &amp; aerospace industries. The Chinese government ordered restrictions on the export of six heavy rare earth metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90 percent of which are produced&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/rare-earth-minerals-significance-challenges-explained-pointwise\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">RARE EARTH MINERALS &#8211; Significance &amp; Challenges &#8211; Explained pointwise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10391,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333061\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}