Rising rare‑earth demand spurs new mining, recycling and partnerships to diversify supplies and reduce geopolitical dependence.
A global scramble over rare earth elements is reshaping supply chains and geopolitics. China still dominates—about 44 million metric tons in reserves and roughly 270,000 tons mined in 2024—while producing more than 70% of global supply and processing about 90% of output.
New discoveries and evaluations are widening the map: the Dominican Republic is estimated at up to 100 million tons (unverified), Vietnam 21.6 million tons, Brazil and Russia about 20.4 million each, the United States about 1.9 million tons, and Greenland roughly 1.5 million tons largely untapped.
Rare earths—17 metallic elements, mainly lanthanides such as neodymium and dysprosium—are critical for permanent magnets in wind turbines, EV motors and military systems. Permanent magnet applications account for about 31% of demand; automotive catalysts and high‑performance alloys each represent around 18%.
Extraction and refining remain technically and environmentally challenging: processes are water‑ and chemical‑intensive, can produce radioactive byproducts, and may require huge ore volumes (for example, roughly 1,200 tonnes of rock to yield 1 kg of lutetium). Those costs helped concentrate processing capacity in China.
With the IEA projecting a 4–6× rise in demand by 2040, governments and industry are accelerating urban mining, e‑waste recycling, lower‑impact processing technologies, and strategic partnerships to diversify supplies and reduce single‑supplier leverage.