WHAT ARE RARE EARTHS?
Rare earth elements are chemical elements including yttrium, scandium and 15 lanthanide elements (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium).
RARE EARTHS
The rare earth elements are all metals and have many similar properties, and that often causes them to be found together in geologic deposits. They are also referred to as “rare earth oxides” because many of them are typically sold as oxide compounds.
Rare earth oxides such as neodymium and praseodymium are expected to grow in demand due to their use in technologies such as magnets, aircraft engines, and specialty glass as well as green technologies including wind turbines and hybrid cars.
WHAT ARE RARE EARTHS USED FOR
The main uses of rare earths, based on 95% of TREO consumption over 10 years, can be grouped into eight categories:
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Battery alloys: used in rechargeable batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, power tools, etc
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Catalysts: used in catalytic converters, fuel cracking catalysts, etc
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Ceramics, pigments and glazes: used in applications which necessitate high-temperature stability
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Glass polishing powders and additives: used in optical glass to mobile phones and LCD screens
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Metallurgy and alloys: added to liquid steel during steelmaking
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Permanent magnets for use in motors
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Phosphors: used in lamps and backlighting
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Other uses in chemicals, materials, and technologies such as communications, defense and healthcare.
Source: Statista
RARE EARTH MARKET GROWTH IS ACCELERATING DRIVEN BY MAGNETS (NdPr)
RARE EARTH MARKET OVERVIEW
RARE EARTH RESERVES WORLDWIDE AS OF 2020 (120 MILLION METRIC TONS)
GLOBAL REO PRODUCTION IN 2020
(240,000 METRIC TONS)
Source: Statista
Source: Statista
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According to the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority (MRPA), Mongolia has more than 3 MILLION TONNES of rare earth elements.
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China produced a 58 (140,000 metric tonnes) percent share of the total global rare earth mine production, making it by far the world’s largest rare earth producer
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The KB Project will produce 12,400 metric tonnes of REO annually, approximately 5% of current global REO production
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The proportion of other countries reached an all-time high of 42% (100,000 tonnes)
Demand
• Demand for REEs has been forecast to increase, expecting growth of 6–7 % per year until 2025.
• China remains the largest consumer of REE oxides and metals, accounting for 65 - 70% of the market share
• Global consumption of rare earths reached 167,000 tonnes of TREO in 2020 and is forecast to increase to 280,000 tonnes by 2030
• The high-tech industry is the driver of this industry’s future growth
• The main technology is the use of magnets
EV MARKET IS GROWING RAPIDLY…
• Passenger EVs have grown from 450,000 in 2015 to almost 3.2 million units in 2020.
• 95% of EVs using permanent magnet motors by 2019
• Most EVs need about 1kg of rare earths for their magnet motors
• In 2019, about 5,000 tonnes of rare earth permanent magnets were used in EVs worldwide.
• By 2030, the number may rise to between 40,000 and 70,000 tonnes on a global level
Automakers commit to all-electric future
