Rare-Earth Elements: Strategic Importance

Rare-earth elements (REEs) — 17 metals including scandium, yttrium and the 15 lanthanides such as neodymium, dysprosium and europium — are foundational to modern technology.
They enable high-performance permanent magnets in electric vehicle motors, wind-turbine generators and aerospace systems; act as phosphors in LEDs and displays; and serve catalytic and specialist roles across electronics, defence and nuclear sectors. REEs’ useful behaviors stem from 4f electron configurations that yield strong magnetic and sharp luminescent properties with high environmental stability.
Economically abundant in the crust but geologically dispersed, REEs are hard to extract and refine. Typical ores occur in bastnäsite, monazite and ion-adsorption clays; extraction often uses large open-pit operations on low-grade material and generates waste that can include thorium and uranium, requiring careful radioactive-waste management and water/chemical controls. Chemical separation is technically intensive because neighbouring rare-earth ions behave similarly, unlike crude-oil distillation’s simpler separations.
The midstream is highly concentrated: IEA data show roughly 91% of separation/refining capacity and about 94% of sintered-magnet production located in China, prompting export-control and security concerns. Countries are prioritizing downstream refining and magnet manufacturing — including exploration of deep-sea sediments — to build supply-chain resilience and strategic autonomy for green transitions and defence industrial bases.