Rare Earth Metals May Trigger Wars

    Underneath these salt flats in Uyuni, Bolivia, lies one of the world's largest lithium reserves.

 

• Alternative energy is not the cure for energy security.
• A handful of countries, including China, dominate the markets for many rare earth metals.
• More domestic mining and new technologies for extracting the useful metals are needed. 

Breaking the fossil fuel addiction has a lot of nice benefits, but increasing energy security is not one of them, say researchers studying supply and demand of scarce metals used in making solar panels, wind generators and other alternative energy technologies.

There is a long list of elements, mostly rare metals, that are currently mined only in a handful of countries. Without them a lot of new technologies would be stopped in their tracks. What's needed are new sources, which means more mining and better technologies for extracting the useful metals from ores.

"We are almost completely dependent on imports," said geologist James Burnell of the Colorado Geological Survey. "Trade wars are developing with the rare earth elements."

Burnell is slated to present a paper about the resource demands of alternative energy technologies on Nov. 2 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver.

Elements such as gallium, indium, selenium, tellurium and high-purity silicon are needed to make photovoltaic panels. For high capacity batteries like those used in hybrid and electric cars, manufacturers need zinc, vanadium, lithium and rare earth elements. Fuel cells require platinum group minerals.

One of the world's biggest suppliers and consumers of scarce metals game is none other than China, said Burnell. They are already beginning to throw their weight around. A possible sign of what's ahead for many important elements may be China's recent announcement about the element indium, which is used to make flat panel displays. China supplies the world with indium, Burnell said.

"They put the world on notice that they will stop exporting indium in the future," said Burnell.

Another strategic element that China could soon stop exporting is neodymium, which is used to make high-strength magnets for gearless wind generators. China is planning on building 330 giga-watts of wind generator capacity within its own borders. That will require more neodymium than they currently export, Burnell said.

Other big players are Chile and Argentina, which supply the Western world with lithium, cobalt and manganese.

"The bottom line is that we really have to look for more," said Burnell. There is a disconnect in the public mind about alternative energy tech and the mining required to get the elements needed for those technologies, he added.

"There are 30 pounds of rare earth metals in a Prius," said Burnell. Those have to be mined somewhere and if they are not mined domestically, there are energy security issues.

Among the countries that are particularly concerned about by China's announced slowdown in exporting some rare earth elements is Japan, said Yasushi Watanabe of the Institute for Geo-Resources and Environment in Tsukuba, Japan. Watanabe is also scheduled to present a paper on the matter at the same meeting.

Among the things Watanabe is looking at are the sorts of rocks that need to be explored to find new sources in other countries. There will also be a great need to find new ways to extract the valuable metals from different ores in which they are found, he said.

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Boeing Launches Search for Crucial Rare Earth Elements

Boeing has signed a deal to deploy remote sensing technology to map out U.S. deposits of rare earth elements. The rare earth family of minerals is the real-life version of the precious element "unobtanium" in James Cameron's movie "Avatar." 

They are used to make everything from military hardware to humble cell phones, but could soon be in short supply as worldwide demand outstrips mining production in China.

The aerospace and defense giant announced today that it will confirm rare earth mining claims held by U.S. Rare Earths, Inc. at locations in Idaho and Montana and also aid in the search for new deposits.

They’re very interested in finding and validating domestic reserves," said Patrick Kennedy, public relations coordinator for U.S. Rare Earths.

This marks the latest step in a global race to hunt down rare earth deposits. China currently supplies as much as 97 percent of the world's rare earth oxides, but has recently taken steps to cut back on exports and feed the growing demands of its own industries.

New rare earth mines in the U.S., Australia, Canada and South Africa won't start up until at least 2014, based on industry estimates. But major corporations such as General Electric and Toyota have begun quietly moving to secure their own supplies in case of a shortfall.

Staking out the deposits

Early lab analyses by Boeing have confirmed "light" and scarcer "heavy" rare earth elements in samples from the U.S. Rare Earths holdings.

One of the highest concentrations of rare earth elements appeared in a previously unannounced deposit staked out at North Fork, Idaho. Surveys showed about 5.8 percent rare earth elements on average within the deposit's rocks, said Ed Cowle, CEO of U.S. Rare Earths.

"We have found the total rare earth percentage in the North Fork area is much higher than anything we’ve found before," Cowle told TechNewsDaily.

North Fork notably contains large quantities of the rare earth element neodymium – a very magnetic substance used in everything from computer hard drives to wind turbines and Toyota's Prius hybrid car. Airliners and fighter jets also make use of neodymium.

Some North Fork samples showed neodymium concentrations as high as 3.7 percent.

Boeing also plans to tour U.S. Rare Earths deposits at Lehmi Pass, on the border between Idaho and Montana, and at Diamond Creek, Idaho, in late September.

Between the Lehmi Pass and Diamond Creek reserves, U.S. Rare Earths holds most of the current known deposits of "heavies" in the U.S., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

High-tech prospecting

Boeing's remote sensing technology will "greatly enhance" U.S. Rare Earth's capabilities in searching for new deposits of rare earth elements, according to Cowle.

The technology – the details of which have not been revealed – can scan wide areas from airplanes or satellites, and then identify rare earth elements or other substances based upon their spectral fingerprints – electromagnetic emissions that reveal a substance's chemical nature.

Boeing's decision to bring its technology to bear in the hunt for rare earth elements is not surprising, given that it is a massive end user of the metals.

Rare earth elements remain crucial not only for current consumer products such as cell phones, PCs and TV displays, but also for military technologies.

Tank sights, lasers, radar, missile-guidance systems, satellites and aircraft electronics all use rare earth elements, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office in an April report.

Still, U.S. Rare Earths cautioned that the findings represent just the first step down a long road toward opening new U.S. mines and building new refineries. Rebuilding an independent U.S. supply chain could take up to 15 years, according to experts.

Just one U.S. company, Molycorp, is currently producing rare earth materials from its stockpiles.

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