We take our mobile phone, television, fridge, and computer for granted as part of our daily lives but we would find it very difficult to do without any of them.
MOst of us are also aware of the need to save energy and to use clean technology because of the issue of global warming and climate change. Who nowadays does not use energy saving light bulbs?
What all these products have in common is that a group of 17 special elements called rare earth metals play a crucial part in making all of them work.
Without one particular element to make its permanent earth magnet, the hard disc in your computer would not be possible. Permanent magnets are used in many clean energy technologies, like the generators for wind turbines and the rare earth lanthanum metal is used in the nickel metal hydride battery in hybrid cars.
Compact fluorescent energy-saving light bulbs use the rare earth metals europium, terbium and yttrium and will not work without them. The red and green coilours on TV screens are produced by rare earth elements.
Rare earth metals are therefore crucial to 21st century life and technology and they have been in the headlines recently. The reason for this is that there are no substitutes for them, they are very difficult and expensive to extract from the ores that contain them and the vast majority, approximately 97%, of the world's current stocks are in China, which is also the only country that has the technology and expertise to make them.
The production and use of these elements has increased dramatically in recent years. Before 1960 annual production was at 2 ktons and it grew at a rate of about 10% per year, reaching 124 ktons in 2010. By 2014 an estimated 200,000 tonnes are expected to be needed globally.
Originally rare eath metals wer mined and produced in California but by 1985 China had begun to export mixed rare earth metals and by the mid-90s was exporting separated metals. In recent years the country has moved into making and exporting finished products that incorporate them, and increasingly has restricted export of the raw materials.
The argument is that China needs to create more employment for its vast population who are looking to relocate to jobs in the manufacturing sector and while this is an understandable development for its domestic economy, it has meant that China needs to keep more of what it produces and therefore limit exports.
Although there are deposits of rare earth elements in ore in other parts of the world, particularly in the US, where a mine has been brought back in use, they are in small quantities and the expertise in extraction at a rate that is economical is not yet at the Chinese level and this is the origin of the current concern about cost and supply that has prompted the US, the EU and Japan to file a case with the World Trade Organisation contesting China's export restriction.
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Rare earth metals are essential components of many pieces of technology, including the clean technology of wind turbines. Approaching 97% of the global stocks are in China. By Ali Withers. http://www.denver-trading.com
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