Rare Element Resources
Known as “the seeds of technology,” rare earth elements (REEs) make today’s emerging technologies possible – from the miniaturization of electronics, to the enabling of “green” and medical technologies, to supporting essential defense, telecommunication, and transportation systems. REEs have unique magnetic, phosphorescent, and catalytic properties. In permanent magnets, they radically boost the magnetic strength, benefiting a wide array of uses.
Which Elements are They?
REEs are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered REEs since they tend to occur in the same mineral deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties, which includes being malleable with high melting and boiling points. Each of the REEs contain a subshell that houses f-electrons, which give them their magnetic and luminescent properties, and all are considered metals.
The mineral deposits at Bear Lodge contain both the magnet rare earth materials – neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), samarium (Sm) and terbium (Tb) – as well as cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), yttrium (Y), gadolinium (Gd), europium (Eu) and dysprosium (Dy). All these elements are on the 2022 U.S. Geological Surveys list of critical minerals per the Energy Act of 2020. The minerals on the list have been identified as critical for the U.S. due to their role in national security or economic development and by their clear risk of supply chain disruption.
Nd
Neodymium
Neodymium
Neodymium-Iron-Boron alloy (Nd2Fe14B) makes the most powerful magnets in the world. Loudspeakers, televisions and computer hard drives to make them smaller and more efficient. Electric motors and generators that rely on electromagnetism to operate Green technologies, like electric vehicles and direct-drive wind turbines. It is also used to create coherent light for lasers.
Common Uses
Pr
PRASEODYMIUM
PRASEODYMIUM
Praseodymium is used as an alloying agent with magnesium to create high-strength metals needed to make aircraft engines. It is also an amplifier in fiber optics and a key ingredient in solid fuel cells, carbon arc lights (used in film industry), and projector lighting.
Common Uses
Sm
SAMARIUM
SAMARIUM
Samarium, the hardest and most brittle of the REE’s, becomes a super achiever when added to cobalt and made into high-strength magnets. Samarium-cobalt magnets allowed the miniaturization of hundreds of items in the 1970’s including computer disk drives, headphones, and speakers. The magnets are difficult to de-magnetize and can be used at high temperatures, so they are critical for military defense system applications.
Common Uses
Tb
TERBIUM
TERBIUM
Terbium plays a crucial role in modern technology. It’s found in everyday items like flat screens and fluorescent bulbs, where it helps produce bright, vivid colors. When added to neodymium-iron-boron magnets, Terbium allows hybrid and electric vehicle motors to function efficiently at high temperatures. It’s also used to improve metal alloys, guide lasers with precision, and support the performance of various electronic devices.
Common Uses
Ce
CERIUM
CERIUM
Cerium is the most abundant of the rare earth elements, and that’s a good thing because we use it in so many ways! Cerium oxide is used in the glassmaking process to decolorize the glass, and is also used to polish glass, metal, and gemstones. It can also be used in refining petroleum and self-cleaning ovens. Widely used to automotive catalytic converters to reduce pollution, cerium in its oxalate form is utilized to treat seasickness and morning sickness.
Common Uses
La
LANTHANUM
LANTHANUM
Lanthanum is used to make specialty glass used in high-end camera lenses, telescopes, microscopes, rifle scopes, and binoculars. When added to cast iron and to steel, lanthanum improves those materials’ capability to be shaped. Lanthanum is also used for wastewater treatment and as a catalyst in petroleum refining. Lanthanum nickel-metal hydride rechargeable batteries power today’s laptop computers, telephones, and electric vehicles. Lanthanum carbonate is used to reduce phosphate levels in the blood of patients with kidney disease.
Common Uses
Y
YTTRIUM
YTTRIUM
Yttrium enhances the color red on your television screen and helps fighter-jet and rocket engines withstand extreme heat. Yttrium, while not officially a rare earth, acts enough like one to be considered an important member of the critical rare earth family. Every vehicle uses yttrium-based materials to improve the fuel efficiency and reduce pollution. Yttrium-based lasers are used commercially in industrial, medical, graphic arts, agricultural, and defense applications. It also increases the strength of aluminum and magnesium alloys and is used in electronic components for missile defense systems.
Common Uses
Gd
GADOLINIUM
GADOLINIUM
Gadolinium is commonly added to compounds to enhance resistance to high-temperature oxidation, making it valuable in industrial materials. In the medical field, gadolinium-based compounds are widely used as contrast agents in X-ray and MRI scanning systems, improving image clarity. It also plays a critical role in nuclear reactors, where it is used in shut-down mechanisms due to its ability to absorb neutrons. Additionally, it is used in the production of high refractive index glass and is found in certain television screens, contributing to image quality.
Common Uses
Eu
EUROPIUM
EUROPIUM
Europium is a rare earth element essential in modern lighting and display technologies. It is used to produce red and blue colors in TVs, computer screens, and smartphones, and is a key component in generating the red part of white light in energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps. Europium is also used in nuclear reactor control rods due to its strong ability to absorb neutrons.
Common Uses
Dy
DYSPROSIUM
DYSPROSIUM
Dysprosium is known for its thermal stability and magnetic strength, making it essential in a wide range of technologies. It is used to increase coerciveness in the drive motors of hybrid and electric vehicles, and in high-performance magnets for wind turbines and hard disk drives. Dysprosium is also used in control rods for nuclear reactors due to its neutron absorption ability, and plays a role in producing laser materials, infrared devices, and data storage systems. Additionally, it is used in fuel injectors, transducers, high-intensity lamps, and mechanical resonators.
Common Uses
While named “rare” earth elements, they are in fact not that rare and are relatively abundant in the Earth’s crust. What is unusual is to find them in quantities sufficient to support economic mineral development, especially in countries with more stringent mining laws and environmental programs.
REE's were first recovered as a by product of mining and recovering Uranium in the 1940's.
In the 1960's Color TV's were the first commercial application of REE's. The majority of REE's at that time were mined and processed in California.
By the 1990's China, through low wages and lax environmental laws, had come to dominate thee REE supply chain. Thus, capturing the dependency of other high-tech countries and geo-political adversaries. By 2000 China had captured 95% of the global REE market.
Identifying this national security risk, efforts by several administrations have resulted in the diversification of mining REE's and as of 2022 approx. 35% of REE minerals were being mined outside of China.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations have completed studies that indicate the U.S. is at risk because it does not have a secure source of a number of critical minerals, including REEs.
In support of building robust and secure supply chains for REEs and other identified strategic minerals, Congress has approved over $800M to fund research. For REEs, this includes areas such as sourcing, either through mining or recycling, developing innovative separation and recovery technologies, and increasing efficiency in existing applications to lower demand growth.
Under these initiatives, Rare Element Resources has received a commitment from the Department of Energy for a total of approximately $22 million, representing 50% of the total anticipated cost for development of a demonstration-scale plant to confirm the commercial viability of the Company’s innovative separation and recovery technology. This plant, which is expected to receive final permits in the summer of 2023 and begin construction later in 2023, is the next step in helping develop a secure, long-term source for the REEs critical to our high-tech world.