The global hunt for rare earths aims to stop the Chinese monopoly

Rare earths are vital both for the green revolution and for technological manufacturing, so the international effort to identify new supply strategies, including recovery from waste and mining by-products, should come as no surprise. Right on this front Sweden, South Africa, Australia And United States they aspire to become avant-garde and in fact suggest a strategy of emancipation from dependence on Chinese supplies. In fact, it should be remembered that, according to the data collected by the EU Commission, Beijing holds 63% of global mining of these minerals and 85% of refining. Not to mention the production of 90% of the rare earth magnets (Neomidium, Iron and Boron) which are used in wind turbines and in electric vehicles.

The underlying theme is that, net of the fragile geopolitical balances, i rare earth prices they have become so high as to justify the search for alternative sources. Among these emerges the solution proposed by the Swedish mining company lkab which aims to extract rare materials from the debris and by-products of iron mining. Moreover using the technology of the Norwegian REEtecwhich according to experts has a environmental impact lower than the traditional extraction processes used for the separation of rare earths in China. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) has estimated that at 325 mineral sand deposits worldwide there are about 16.2 million tons of rare earths – world reserves (already discovered) are calculated between 120 and 150 million tons. At the same time the US Idaho National Laboratory calculated that every year, due to the production of phosphoric acid alone, no less than 100,000 tons of rare earths are wasted in waste.

The international waste recovery strategy

According to Adamas Intelligence and Reuters consultants, the Swedish Lkab project is one of six international projects (outside China) which by 2027 will make it possible to recover over 10,000 tons of rare earths from sand and iron-related mining activities. Neodymium And Praseodymium (NDPr). Basically 8% of the projected demand for these two key minerals for the green electric sectorand consequently such a large volume capable of reducing the estimated deficit by 50%.

“At the moment these projects are the most basic achievable result,” he confirmed Ryan Castilloux, CEO of Adamas Intelligence. “But demand, relative to production, is set to grow in the short to medium term, so there is an opportunity for these easily accessible sources of supply.” A request also fueled by the so-called Net Zero plan suggested by the United Nations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions: it is impossible to achieve it without also bringing into play green solutions and technologies, which require rare earths.

Lkab’s approach will also be replicated by African Rainbow Minerals in Phalaborwa, northeastern South Africa, but sui waste from phosphate mining accumulated since the 1950s. When fully operational, production by 2016 should reach 1,850 tons of NdPr oxides per year. And so will Iluka in Australia by treating tons of mining by-products accumulated in the 1990s at the Eneabba site, and those coming from other sites, to produce around 2,700 tons of NdPr oxides. The rare earth refinery is expected to open in 2025. Phoenix Tailings instead, it will exploit a technology developed by a group of researchers from theMIT in Boston to recover rare earths from waste materials of an old iron ore mine in the New York area. “There is no waste, zero emissions and we are doing it competitively with Chinese prices”, assured the CEO of the company Nick Myers. Once fully operational, they plan to produce 2,589 tonnes of NdPr oxides per year by 2026.

Then there is the case of the US Energy Fuelsusually specialized in uranium productionwhich purchased a mineral sands by-product, namely Monazite, from the chemical company Chemours to mine rare earths. The goal is to remove the uranium and then send the mixed earth carbonate to the Canadian Estonia branch Neo Performance Materials for separation. Also by 2026, it aims to have its own plant capable of producing between 1,500 and 3,000 tons of NdPr oxides per year. Finally, the Australian VHM is planning its own rare earth refinery which, starting from 2027, should be able to produce around 850 tons of NdPr oxides per year.

It takes too long to open new mines

Ideally the most effective solution to solve the problem of rare earth availability would seem to be to open new mines, but this is not the case as it takes a lot of time. Lkab has identified the largest European rare earth deposit at Kiruna, a city in northern Sweden about a hundred km from the borders with Norway and Finland. The problem is that, considering the authorization procedures and then the intervention operations, it will take about 10-15 years for a stable and profitable extraction. Instead the same Lkab project to recover rare earths, fluorine, gypsum and phosphorus from the by-products of two iron ore mines – already existing in northern Sweden – should be completed in about 4 years.