[News Terms] Rare Earth Elements, Essential Materials for Electronic Civilization

Rare earth mineral 'Gadolinite' discovered in a Swedish mine in the late 18th century. / Photo by Wikipedia capture

Rare-Earth Elements (희토류, Rare-Earth Element) refer to rare minerals containing the 'rare-earth element group.' They are gaining attention as key raw materials for advanced industries such as electric vehicles and eco-friendly energy facilities, but differences in reserves by country have become a source of resource conflicts.

The first rare-earth element discovered by humanity was 'Gadolinite,' found in a Swedish mine in the late 18th century. It attracted the interest of the chemistry community due to its unique properties compared to common minerals, and subsequent research revealed that gadolinite contained a large amount of specific elements. These elements are collectively called the 'rare-earth element group.'

The rare-earth element group consists of 17 elements on the periodic table: Lanthanum (La), Cerium (Ce), Praseodymium (Pr), Neodymium (Nd), Promethium (Pm), Samarium (Sm), Europium (Eu), Gadolinium (Gd), Terbium (Tb), Dysprosium (Dy), Holmium (Ho), Erbium (Er), Thulium (Tm), Ytterbium (Yb), Lutetium (Lu), Scandium (Sc), and Yttrium (Y). All of these have strong magnetism and thermal conductivity, making them essential raw materials for electronics, electric motors, magnets, industrial lasers, and batteries.

China is the world's number one rare earth element reserve holder and producer.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey in 2019, about 120 million tons (t) of rare-earth elements are currently buried on Earth. China has the largest reserves with 44 million tons, followed by Vietnam (22 million tons), Brazil (21 million tons), Russia (21 million tons), and India (6.9 million tons). Notably, China accounts for 60% of the world's rare-earth mining volume and produces 85% of refined products processed from raw ore, making it a dominant rare-earth powerhouse. Last year, China consolidated its market dominance by merging five state-owned rare-earth companies to launch the 'China Rare Earth Group.'

As rare-earth elements are core raw materials for electronic civilization, countries have begun to devise measures to reduce their dependence on China for rare-earths. MP Materials, the only company owning a rare-earth mine in the U.S., is building a rare-earth processing facility in Texas with government subsidies. In South Korea, KSM Metals, the domestic subsidiary of Australian rare-earth company ASM, established the country's first rare-earth alloy manufacturing plant in Ochang, Chungbuk.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.