-
Rare Earth Production Outside of China
Mines in Australia began producing rare earth oxides in 2011. In 2012 and 2013 they were supplying about 2% to 3% of world production. In 2012 the Mountain Pass Mine came back into production, and the United States produced about 4% of the world’s rare earth elements in 2013. Production in Brazil, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam continued or increased. New…
-
History of Rare Earth Production and Trade
Pre-1965 Before 1965 there was relatively little demand for rare earth elements. At that time, most of the world’s supply was being produced from placer deposits in India and Brazil. In the 1950s, South Africa became the leading producer from rare earth bearing monazite deposits. At that time, the Mountain Pass Mine in California was producing minor amounts of rare earth oxides…
-
Are These Elements Really “Rare”?
Rare earth elements are not as “rare” as their name implies. Thulium and lutetium are the two least abundant rare earth elements – but they each have an average crustal abundance that is nearly 200 times greater than the crustal abundance of gold. However, these metals are very difficult to mine because it is unusual to…
-
Critical Defense Uses
Rare earth elements play an essential role in our national defense. The military uses night-vision goggles, precision-guided weapons, communications equipment, GPS equipment, batteries, and other defense electronics. These give the United States military an enormous advantage. Rare earth metals are key ingredients for making the very hard alloys used in armored vehicles and projectiles that shatter upon…
-
Uses of Rare Earth Elements
Rare earth metals and alloys that contain them are used in many devices that people use every day such as computer memory, DVDs, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, catalytic converters, magnets, fluorescent lighting and much more. During the past twenty years, there has been an explosion in demand for many items that require rare earth metals.…
-
What Are Rare Earth Elements (REEs)?
Rare earth elements are a group of seventeen chemical elements that occur together in the periodic table (see image). The group consists of yttrium and the 15 lanthanide elements (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium). Scandium is found in most rare earth element deposits and…
-
REE – Rare Earth Elements and their Uses
-
Other Uses of Hematite
Hematite is used for a number of other purposes. It is a very dense and inexpensive material that is effective at stopping x-rays. For that reason it is used for radiation shielding around medical and scientific equipment. The low cost and high density of hematite and other iron ores also makes them useful as ballast…
-
Uses of Hematite (Healing Stone)
Some people believe that carrying pieces of tumble-polished hematite, known as “healing stones,” will bring relief from certain medical problems. There is no scientific proof that this use of hematite has any positive effect beyond being a placebo. Using hematite as a “healing stone” or a “healing crystal” can actually be harmful because it diverts…
-
Uses of Hematite (Gem Material)
Hematite is a minor gem material used to produce cabochons, beads, small sculptures, tumbled stones, and other items. The material used to manufacture these products is a silver-colored hematite with a solid, uniform texture. The bright silver color of hematite and its “weighty feel” make it a very popular tumbled stone.