Rare Earth Metals

Mattison Peters

Overview

• What REEs are and where they are used• History of REEs• Supply and demand issues

• Global demand• China’s dominance• Price

• Environmental and public health issues• Mining expansion, recycling, and

alternatives

17 Rare Earth Elements

• 15 Lanthanides, Scandium and yttrium

• Plentiful, but minerals (concentrated forms) are rare and difficult and costly to extract

• Radioactivity typical around deposits

• Elements classified as light or heavy

• Five REEs on DOE’s list of most critical materials (2010): dysprosium, neodymium, terbium, europium, and yttrium

Commercial Uses

Defense Applications

Precision guided munitionsLasersSatellite communicationSpeakersAircraft generatorsDisplays (TVs and computer monitors)Radar and sonar systemsNight vision goggles

History

• 1990: 12 rare earth factories in US• 6,000 jobs

• China had lower prices, so eventually all companies moved there

Global annual demand currently 134,000 tons

124,000 tons produced annually, the rest comes from above-ground stocks

120,000 of 124,000 tons produced in China

Demand projected to rise to 180,000 tons in 2012

Supply and Demand

World Mine Production and Reserves (2009 Data)

Country Production (Metric Ton)

Reserves (Metric Ton)

United States Insignificant 13,000,000 Australia Insignificant 5,400,000

Brazil 650 48,000 China 120,000 36,000,000

Commonwealth of Independent States

Not available 19,000,000

India 2,700 3,100,000 Malaysia 380 30,000

Other countries Not available 22,000,000 World total (rounded) 124,000 99,000,000

China’s Dominance

China’s Dominance

REE output grew from 2,600 tons in 1996 to 39,000 tons in 2006China limiting REE exports: 50,000 tons in 2009 down to 30,000 tons in 2010

More internal demand, reducing mine output and illegal operations

Tax rare earth exports up to 25% May limit exports to finished products instead of

oxides and metals as well Cut off exports to Japan for 2 months in end of 2010 Prices continue to go up

Prices

• Some elements’ prices increased tenfold in the last year

• In June prices doubled in only two weeks• Dysprosium oxide

(used in permanent magnets) went from $700-740 to $1,470 per kilogram

Projected Supply and Demand

Environmental and Public Health Issues

Steps in Rare Earth Material Production

Mining from mineral depositsSeparating the mined ore into rare earth oxidesRefining into metals with different puritiesAlloying metals together to enhance propertiesManufacturing alloys into components such as permanent magnets

Environmental Impacts of Production: Strip Mining

• Alters soil composition and can eliminate soil microorganisms

• Displaces wildlife

• Landslides and erosion

• Runoff in streams

Environmental Impacts of Production: Air Emissions

• Harmful air emissions containing fluorine and sulfur

• Radioactive particles in air• Thorium• Uranium

• China’s REE industry produces 13 billion cubic meters of waste gas a year• More than five times the amount flared

annually by all miners and oil refiners in the U.S.

Environmental Impacts of Production: Water Pollution

• 25 million tons of wastewater per year

• Radioactive thorium and uranium

• Heavy metals such as cadmium• Sulfuric acid from processing• Wastewater enters groundwater

and streams

Environmental Impacts of Production: Water Pollution

• Acidic and radioactive wastewater pumped to “tailing lakes”

Public Health and Social Issues

Contaminated water unfit for humans, animals, and even crops

Farmers in Baotou, Inner Mongolia must find new land to grow on

Radioactivity causes cancer, skin and respiratory diseases, osteoporosis

Dalahai in Baotou: 66 villagers died of cancer between 1993 and 2005

Toxic air emissions turn workers’ hair white and make their teeth fall out

Illegal mines run by gangs that terrorize locals and workers at the legal mines

• Mining expansion• Recycling• Alternatives

Current Efforts

Planned Expansion of Mining

• Mountain Pass Mine, CA• Molycorp intends to reopen mine and

refinery in 2012

Planned Expansion of Mining

• Mount Weld, Australia• Linas Corporation scheduled to begin at

end of this year

• ~10 mining projects underway throughout Canada

Vertical Integration

• Facilities in US and Japan that produce magnets, but REEs imported from China

• Ames laboratory researching improved magnet processing techniques

• Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP)• Processing plant under construction in

Malaysia• Clearance given in early July, 2011

Underwater Mining Potential?Japanese scientists recently found REE reserves in deep-sea mud in the Pacific Ocean

3,500-6,000 m below surface at 78 locations Contain less radioactivity than most land sites

A one-square-kilometer section near Hawaii is said to contain 25,000 tons of REEsCould pump mud up to surface and separate by acid leachingUnderwater mining adds difficulties and costs for equipment and ship time, damage to underwater ecology

Plenty of unanswered questions still

Recycling

Many projects underway to develop technologyChallenge because REEs alloyed with other metals in production process

Difficult to separate due to chemical similarities

Separation methods using acids Generates hazardous waste

Japan leading current recycling efforts Hitachi (magnet manufacturer) uses 4 large devices to saw

open compressors, separate machine to break open disk drives and expose rare earth metals

June 2011- H.R. 2284, The Responsible Electronics Recycling Act, introduced

Provision for rare earth recycling and recovery research at DOE

Alternatives

Philips Econova: First television without

rare earth elements

Toyota working with Tesla Motors to develop alternative for hybrid enginesAdvanced Research Projects Agency- Energy accepting applications for funding to develop alternatives

Closing Thoughts

Demand will continue to grow, and China won’t continue to meet global demand

Mining practices aren’t sustainable Research should focus on alternatives

and recovery methods Carefully evaluate benefits of

alternative energy sources