What are Rare Earth Metals (REMs)?
- Group of 17 elements = 15 lanthanides + scandium + yttrium
- Not rare in the Earth’s crust, but rarely found in concentrated, separable form
- Chemically similar, making separation and refining difficult
Why are Rare Earth Metals Important?
- Essential for permanent magnets (EV motors, wind turbines)
- Used in electronics, lasers, fibre optics and defence systems
- Enable energy use, motion and efficiency (not storage)
- Neodymium-based magnets are most critical
Rare Earth Metals vs Clean Energy Elements
- Rare earth metals
- Fixed group of 17 elements
- Used mainly for magnets, motors and high-tech hardware
- Clean energy elements
- No fixed group (lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, graphite, silicon)
- Used for energy storage, generation and transmission
- Rare earth constraint – processing and refining dominance
- Clean energy constraint – mining location and reserve concentration
- Rare earths enable energy use; clean energy elements store and move energy
Global Distribution of Rare Earth Metals
- China – ~44 million tonnes
- Vietnam – ~22 million tonnes
- Brazil – ~21 million tonnes
- Russia – ~10 million tonnes
- India – ~6.9 million tonnes
- Key insight – reserves are globally spread, but processing and refining are highly concentrated, mainly in China
