From The Economist:
... What makes the rare earths so special is the way they can react with other elements to get results that neither could achieve alone. They are used, a pinch here and a pinch there, to make powerful permanent magnets for lightweight electric motors, phosphors for colour television and flat-panel displays, catalysts for cars and chemical refineries, rechargeable batteries for hybrid and electric cars, generators for wind turbines, as well as numerous optical, medical and military devices. To give just one example, every Toyota Prius has over 25 pounds of lanthanum in its nickel-metal hydride battery.
A misnomer if ever there was one, the rare earths may be strategic and in short supply but they are certainly not rare....
... With worldwide demand for rare-earth metals amounting to 134,000 tons last year, and only 124,000 tons being produced, the difference has had to be made up from dwindling stockpiles. By 2012, demand is expected to reach 180,000 tons, which could exhaust the world’s remaining inventory. The result has been panic throughout industrial countries....
... the richest source of rare-earth metals in America. The Mountain Pass mine, on the Californian high plateau, lies on restricted land close to the Nevada border. The discovery was made by prospectors looking for uranium, only to be disappointed when the radioactive samples sent for analysis turned out to contain nothing more than worthless lanthanides along with traces of thorium. That was in 1949. Today, some of the more valuable rare earths can fetch $1,000 a pound ($2,200 per kilogram)....
Also: USGS Fact Sheet on Rare Earth Metals. Photo of Mountain Pass Mine: USGS.
In other news.... China blocks shipments of all rare earth minerals to Japan.
