Vietnam’s rare earths reserves stand at 22 million MT. It reportedly hosts several deposits with rare earths concentrations against its northwestern border with China, and along its eastern coastline. The majority of rare earths in the country can be found in primary ore deposits, with a smaller amount located in coastal placer deposits. While this potential was previously untapped, that has now changed as the country looks to become an alternative to China.

Unsurprisingly, China has the highest reserves of rare earth minerals at 44 million MT. The country was also the world’s leading rare earths producer in 2023 by a long shot, putting out 240,000 MT.

The next month, the US Department of Energy announced a US$30 million initiative to research and secure domestic supply chains for rare earths and battery metals such as cobalt and lithium. The government released a follow-up fact sheet about the progress made in these initiatives in February 2022. The Department of Energy announced a US$32 million investment in new rare earths production facilities in July 2023.

In February 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at reviewing shortcomings in America’s domestic supply chains for rare earths, medical devices, computer chips and other critical resources.

Top rare earths reserves by country Here’s an overview of rare earths reserves by country, with a focus on the eight countries whose reserves are over 1 million MT. Data is taken from the US Geological Survey’s latest report on rare earth elements.Reserves information is unavailable for a few rare earths producers, including Myanmar, which took the third spot for rare earths production last year. 1. China Reserves: 44 million MTUnsurprisingly, China has the highest reserves of rare earth minerals at 44 million MT. The country was also the world’s leading rare earths producer in 2023 by a long shot, putting out 240,000 MT.Despite its top position, China remains focused on ensuring that its rare earths reserves remain elevated. Back in 2012, the Asian nation declared that its reserves of these materials were declining; it then announced in 2016 that it would raise domestic reserves by establishing both commercial and national stockpiles.The country has also been reining in illicit rare earths mining for a number of years, shutting illegal or environmentally non-compliant rare earths mines and limiting production and exports. These production limits have been easing, and last year the country raised mining quotas by more than 8 percent over 2022 in its sixth consecutive increase.China’s dominance in both rare earth elements production and reserves has caused problems in the past. Rare earths prices surged when the country cut exports in 2010, resulting in an ongoing rush to secure supply elsewhere.In recent years, China has begun importing more heavy rare earths from Myanmar, for which the US Geological Survey does not have rare earths reserves data. While China has stricter environmental regulations, the same cannot be said for Myanmar, and the mountains along its border with China have been heavily damaged by rare earths mining.Rare earths prices soared to their highest level in 20 months, according to OilPrice.com, in early Q3 2023; this jump coincided with a temporary production halt in Myanmar, which accounted for 38 percent of China's rare earth materials imports in the first seven months of 2023. 2. Vietnam Reserves: 22 million MTVietnam’s rare earths reserves stand at 22 million MT. It reportedly hosts several deposits with rare earths concentrations against its northwestern border with China, and along its eastern coastline. The majority of rare earths in the country can be found in primary ore deposits, with a smaller amount located in coastal placer deposits. While this potential was previously untapped, that has now changed as the country looks to become an alternative to China.Vietnam’s rare earths production was minuscule in 2022 at 1,200 MT, but it was even less in 2023 at 600 MT. Vietnam is the only country outside of China to have a vertically integrated rare earths magnet supply chain, according to Reuters, and it has attracted interest from companies in a variety of sectors. The country's goal is to produce 2.02 million MT of rare earths by 2030. However, the arrests of six rare earths executives, including the chairman of Vietnam Rare Earth (VTRE), in October 2023 may put a kink in those plans. "VTRE’s chairman, Luu Anh Tuan, was accused of forging value-added-tax receipts in trading rare earths," reported Asia Financial. 3. Brazil Reserves: 21 million MTAlthough Brazil has the third largest rare earths reserves, the nation was not a major producer of rare earths in 2023, with production flat at a tiny 80 MT, on par with the previous year and even lower than its 2021 total of 500 MT. However, that will soon be changing as rare earths company Serra Verde began commercial production from its Pela Ema rare earths deposit at the top of 2024. Pela Ema is an ionic clay deposit that will produce the four critical magnet rare earth elements: neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium. According to the company, it is the only rare earths operation outside of China to produce all four of those magnet rare earths. 4. Russia Reserves: 10 million MTRussia produced 2,600 MT of rare earths in 2023, more than Brazil and Vietnam. The Russian government shared plans in 2020 to invest US$1.5 billion in order to compete with China in the rare earths market. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused some concern over possible disruptions to the rare earths supply chain in the US and Europe, and there are signs the government has had to put its domestic rare earths sector development plans on ice while it's mired in war. 5. India Reserves: 6.9 million MTIndia’s rare earths reserves sit at 6.9 million MT, and it produced 2,900 MT of rare earths in 2023, which is on par with the previous year. India has nearly 35 percent of the world’s beach and sand mineral deposits, which are significant sources of rare earths. The country's Department of Atomic Energy released a statement in December 2022 breaking down its production and refining capacity when it comes to rare earths. More recently, the Indian government was reported to be putting policies and legislation in place to establish and support rare earths research and development projects to take advantage of its reserve base. 6. Australia Reserves: 5.7 million MTWhile Australia was the fourth largest rare earths-mining country in 2023 at 18,000 MT of production, it has the sixth largest reserves in the world. Currently, its reserves stand at 5.7 million MT. Rare earths have only been mined in Australia since 2007, but extraction is expected to increase moving forward. Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC,OTC Pink:LYSCF) operates the Mount Weld mine and concentration plant in the country; it also runs a rare earths refining and processing facility in Malaysia. The company is considered the world’s largest non-Chinese rare earths supplier.Hastings Technology Metals' (ASX:HAS,OTC Pink:HSRMF) Yangibana rare earths mine is shovel ready, and the company recently signed an offtake agreement with Baotou Sky Rock for concentrate produced at the mine. Hastings expects the operation to produce up to 37,000 MT of rare earths concentrate annually and deliver first concentrate in Q2 2025. 7. United States Reserves: 1.8 million MTWhile the US reported the second highest output of rare earths in 2023 at 43,000 MT, the country takes only the seventh top spot when it comes to global rare earths reserves.Rare earths mining in the US now happens only at California’s Mountain Pass mine. Over the past few years, the Biden administration has made several moves toward strengthening the nation's rare earths industry. In February 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at reviewing shortcomings in America’s domestic supply chains for rare earths, medical devices, computer chips and other critical resources. The next month, the US Department of Energy announced a US$30 million initiative to research and secure domestic supply chains for rare earths and battery metals such as cobalt and lithium. The government released a follow-up fact sheet about the progress made in these initiatives in February 2022. The Department of Energy announced a US$32 million investment in new rare earths production facilities in July 2023. 8. Greenland Reserves: 1.5 million MTAlthough Greenland’s rare earths reserves number is close to that of the US, the island nation currently doesn't produce the metals. However, it does have two significant rare earths projects with large reserves: private company Tanbreez Mining's Tanbreez project and Energy Transition Minerals' (ASX:ETM,OTC Pink:GDLNF) Kvanefjeld project. The US Geological Survey only measures proven economic reserves, but in terms of total reserves for rare earths projects globally, they placed first and third, respectively, with 28.2 million and 10.2 million metric tons of total rare earth oxides.After signing an exploitation license with the government in 2020, Tanbreez is working on securing financing for its project's development; avenues being explored include discussions with independent oil and gas executives and the creation of critical metals NFTs. The company has its sights set on 2024 for production. While Energy Transition Minerals had previously signed a license for Kvanefjeld, it was revoked by Greenland's current government due to the company's plans to exploit uranium. The company submitted an amended plan that did not include uranium, but the updated version was rejected as well in September 2023.FAQs for rare earths reserves What are rare earth metals? Rare earth metals are a basket of 17 naturally occurring elements comprised of 15 elements in the lanthanide series, plus yttrium and scandium. Other than scandium, all rare earths can be divided into “heavy” and “light” categories based on their atomic weight. Heavy rare earths are generally more sought after, but light rare earth elements can of course be important too. Is lithium a rare earth metal? Lithium is not a rare earth metal. It is an alkali metal in the same group as sodium, potassium, rubidium and cesium. What is the global total for rare earths reserves? Global rare earths reserves amount to 130 million metric tons. With demand for rare earth minerals ramping up as hype about electric vehicles and other high-tech products continues, it will be interesting to see how the top producers contribute to future supply. What is the annual production of rare earths? According to the US Geological Survey, global rare earth minerals production in 2023 came in at 350,000 metric tons, up from 300,000 MT the previous year. The production of rare earths has ramped up aggressively in recent years — only a decade ago, global production was just above 100,000 MT, and it first broke 200,000 MT in 2019. Who is the largest producer of rare earth metals in the world? China has consistently been the largest producer of rare earths, and its 2023 production made up 240,000 metric tons of the world's 350,000 MT. In terms of specific rare earths mines, the top producer is the Bayan Obo mine in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in Northern China. The mine is owned by the state-owned Baotou Iron and Steel Group. Are there rare earth minerals in Europe? There are currently no rare earths mines in Europe, but there are multiple countries with reserves, including one with a significant new discovery. In early 2023, Swedish state-owned company LKAB announced it had identified the continent's largest rare earths deposit, the Per Geijer deposit, with rare earths resources of over 1 million MT of oxides. With the European Union focusing heavily on building its own supply chain with the European Critical Raw Materials Act, the Per Geijer deposit could develop into an important source of rare earths for the region.Several other countries in Europe hold significant rare earths reserves as well. Greenland hosts many deposits totaling 1.5 million MT of rare earths reserves along its coastline, with the majority located in the southwest of the country. The Gardar igneous province in the south hosts the largest ones.Countries in the Fennoscandian Shield — such as Norway, Finland and, of course, Sweden — also host rare earth deposits, as the region has similar mineralization to Greenland. What are the most technologically useful rare earth metals? Rare earth metals play a significant role in various technologies. They are often used in electronics such as laptops and smartphones. Rare earth oxides such as neodymium and praseodymium are used in magnets, aircraft engines and green technologies, including wind turbines and electric vehicles. Samarium and dysprosium are also used in rare earth magnets. Phosphor rare earths such as europium, terbium and yttrium are used in lighting, as are cerium, lanthanum and gadolinium. How are rare earths mined? Rare earth elements are either mined from open pits, like many other metals and minerals, or they are mined through in-situ leaching. The metals are found in hard-rock deposits, ionic clay deposits and mineral sands. Some minerals that are mined for rare earths are bastnäsite, monazite, loparite and xenotime.The open-pit mining process for rare earths is similar to that of other minerals: hard rock is mined, ore is separated from tailings and then it is refined. In in-situ leaching, which is also a common method of mining uranium, miners pump a chemical solution into an orebody. The solution dissolves the targeted materials into a brine that is then pumped back out of the ore and into collection pools. Rare earths mining also has a final step, which is the separation of the different rare earths from each other. Why is it difficult to mine rare earth metals? Although rare earths aren't as rare as you might assume from the name, finding economic deposits is very difficult. This is even more so the case for the heavy rare earths, as orebodies containing them are less abundant versus light rare earths.Another road bump for rare earths is the separation process. Because the rare earth elements all have similar chemical behavior to each other, they are very tough to separate, making the process difficult and expensive. The most common separation method is solvent extraction, but it is lengthy and can take hundreds to thousands of cycles to achieve high purity levels, according to the Science History Institute.Lastly, the environmental risks associated with rare earths mining mean even more care needs to be taken to minimize damage to the environment and to the people near the mine. Is rare earths mining bad for the environment? Rare earths mining can be very damaging to local environments, especially when it comes to illegal and unregulated mines. A major issue with mining rare earths is that the ore they are extracted from also often contains thorium and uranium, which are both radioactive. This means the separation of rare earths from this ore must be handled carefully, as the waste produced will be radioactive as well. Unfortunately, it is common for this radioactive waste to make its way into groundwater and streams, which is incredibly damaging to the environment and to nearby communities that rely on this water. This can be seen in the mountains of Southern China and Northern Myanmar, both of which have been heavily exploited for their rare earths. A report from Global Witness that investigates the effects of rare earths mining in these regions shows that mining in Myanmar has escalated in recent years after China began closing its own mines and outsourcing to the neighboring country. As of mid-2022, 2,700 illegal collection pools from in-situ leaching in the mountains had been identified, and they covered an area the size of Singapore. Those who lived in the region reported difficulty accessing safe drinking water and said local wildlife and fish were dying out.Additionally, the in-situ leaching process can damage the rocks that are being extracted. Global Witness found that over 100 landslides have already taken place in China's Ganzhou region as a result of this extraction, and the damage to Myanmar's mountains is substantial as well.

However, that will soon be changing as rare earths company Serra Verde began commercial production from its Pela Ema rare earths deposit at the top of 2024. Pela Ema is an ionic clay deposit that will produce the four critical magnet rare earth elements: neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium. According to the company, it is the only rare earths operation outside of China to produce all four of those magnet rare earths.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused some concern over possible disruptions to the rare earths supply chain in the US and Europe, and there are signs the government has had to put its domestic rare earths sector development plans on ice while it's mired in war.

With the European Union focusing heavily on building its own supply chain with the European Critical Raw Materials Act, the Per Geijer deposit could develop into an important source of rare earths for the region.

But with supply chain worries rising, it’s worth looking at which countries have the highest rare earths reserves. Many of the world’s major rare earths producers have large reserves, but some countries with high reserves have low output.

In 1932, Dr Edwin Land produced the world’s first commercially available polarising filter, which he called the Polaroid. Since then, polarising filters have become relatively common place, with sunglasses and camera lenses using them to reduce reflections. 3D films send selective images to each eye using differently polarised lenses, and a liquid crystal display (LCD) uses liquid crystal molecules between two polarising sheets – the molecules align themselves when an electric current passes between them, causing some frequencies of light to become blocked.

The country has also been reining in illicit rare earths mining for a number of years, shutting illegal or environmentally non-compliant rare earths mines and limiting production and exports. These production limits have been easing, and last year the country raised mining quotas by more than 8 percent over 2022 in its sixth consecutive increase.

Rare earthminerals

Reserves information is unavailable for a few rare earths producers, including Myanmar, which took the third spot for rare earths production last year.

Intensity – The intensity of light can be measured in a number of ways, but one method is to measure the power over a given area, so is often measured in Wm-2.

Transverse waves – Transverse waves have oscillations that are perpendicular to the direction of the wave’s travel, for example electromagnetic waves, seismic S (secondary) waves and the vibrations on a guitar.

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Lastly, the environmental risks associated with rare earths mining mean even more care needs to be taken to minimize damage to the environment and to the people near the mine.

Additionally, the in-situ leaching process can damage the rocks that are being extracted. Global Witness found that over 100 landslides have already taken place in China's Ganzhou region as a result of this extraction, and the damage to Myanmar's mountains is substantial as well.

How manyrare earthelements are there

Although Brazil has the third largest rare earths reserves, the nation was not a major producer of rare earths in 2023, with production flat at a tiny 80 MT, on par with the previous year and even lower than its 2021 total of 500 MT.

Global rare earths reserves amount to 130 million metric tons. With demand for rare earth minerals ramping up as hype about electric vehicles and other high-tech products continues, it will be interesting to see how the top producers contribute to future supply.

Rare earthmetals are also known as

Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Rare earthmining

Although Greenland’s rare earths reserves number is close to that of the US, the island nation currently doesn't produce the metals. However, it does have two significant rare earths projects with large reserves: private company Tanbreez Mining's Tanbreez project and Energy Transition Minerals' (ASX:ETM,OTC Pink:GDLNF) Kvanefjeld project.

Despite its top position, China remains focused on ensuring that its rare earths reserves remain elevated. Back in 2012, the Asian nation declared that its reserves of these materials were declining; it then announced in 2016 that it would raise domestic reserves by establishing both commercial and national stockpiles.

More recently, the Indian government was reported to be putting policies and legislation in place to establish and support rare earths research and development projects to take advantage of its reserve base.

Electromagnetic spectrum – The full electromagnetic spectrum is often counted as radio waves, microwaves, infra-red, visible, ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays, but the distinction between these is usually associated with how they are used and/or how they are generated. Terahertz is an example which can be used for many non-destructive imaging purposes.

The US Geological Survey only measures proven economic reserves, but in terms of total reserves for rare earths projects globally, they placed first and third, respectively, with 28.2 million and 10.2 million metric tons of total rare earth oxides.

Rare earth metals are a basket of 17 naturally occurring elements comprised of 15 elements in the lanthanide series, plus yttrium and scandium. Other than scandium, all rare earths can be divided into “heavy” and “light” categories based on their atomic weight. Heavy rare earths are generally more sought after, but light rare earth elements can of course be important too.

While Energy Transition Minerals had previously signed a license for Kvanefjeld, it was revoked by Greenland's current government due to the company's plans to exploit uranium. The company submitted an amended plan that did not include uranium, but the updated version was rejected as well in September 2023.

The open-pit mining process for rare earths is similar to that of other minerals: hard rock is mined, ore is separated from tailings and then it is refined. In in-situ leaching, which is also a common method of mining uranium, miners pump a chemical solution into an orebody. The solution dissolves the targeted materials into a brine that is then pumped back out of the ore and into collection pools. Rare earths mining also has a final step, which is the separation of the different rare earths from each other.

There is also other information in the light all around us that is invisible to humans; which is that light can be polarised. Whilst our human eyes may be incapable, some creatures have evolved eyes that can detect the difference between light rays polarised along different axes. The reason zebras (and other animals) have stripes may be to reduce attacks from biting flies that can sense this polarisation.

Although rare earths aren't as rare as you might assume from the name, finding economic deposits is very difficult. This is even more so the case for the heavy rare earths, as orebodies containing them are less abundant versus light rare earths.

If the zebra did not deter the tabanid flies, it could have a negative consequence on its ability to survive and successfully reproduce, as the tabanids can be vectors of several pathogens, and when irritated the animals’ grazing can reduce, decreasing both milk production and body mass.

Rare earth materiallist

India’s rare earths reserves sit at 6.9 million MT, and it produced 2,900 MT of rare earths in 2023, which is on par with the previous year. India has nearly 35 percent of the world’s beach and sand mineral deposits, which are significant sources of rare earths. The country's Department of Atomic Energy released a statement in December 2022 breaking down its production and refining capacity when it comes to rare earths.

Rare earth elements are either mined from open pits, like many other metals and minerals, or they are mined through in-situ leaching. The metals are found in hard-rock deposits, ionic clay deposits and mineral sands. Some minerals that are mined for rare earths are bastnäsite, monazite, loparite and xenotime.

The country's goal is to produce 2.02 million MT of rare earths by 2030. However, the arrests of six rare earths executives, including the chairman of Vietnam Rare Earth (VTRE), in October 2023 may put a kink in those plans. "VTRE’s chairman, Luu Anh Tuan, was accused of forging value-added-tax receipts in trading rare earths," reported Asia Financial.

Polarisation is a fascinating property of the electromagnetic spectrum. Let us take a whistle-stop tour of how polarisation is used in nature, some existing technologies that rely upon it, and how it may play a significant part in creating a guaranteed-private internet, secured by the laws of physics.

There are currently no rare earths mines in Europe, but there are multiple countries with reserves, including one with a significant new discovery. In early 2023, Swedish state-owned company LKAB announced it had identified the continent's largest rare earths deposit, the Per Geijer deposit, with rare earths resources of over 1 million MT of oxides.

Russia produced 2,600 MT of rare earths in 2023, more than Brazil and Vietnam. The Russian government shared plans in 2020 to invest US$1.5 billion in order to compete with China in the rare earths market.

Being able to sense the polarisation of light is surprisingly common in the animal kingdom. We know it is used by many arthropods (spiders, insects, crustaceans) and also cephalopods (squid, octopi) – where it is thought it may be used to improve vision in the absence of colour.

We can also polarise light by passing it through a polarising filter. By passing unpolarised light through a polarising filter half of the light will be absorbed by the filter, but the half that gets through will now be polarised to match that filter.

Rare earthelements periodic table

Melissa Pistilli has been reporting on the markets and educating investors since 2006. She has covered a wide variety of industries in the investment space including mining, cannabis, tech and pharmaceuticals. She helps to educate investors about opportunities in a variety of growth markets. Melissa holds a bachelor's degree in English education as well as a master's degree in the teaching of writing, both from Humboldt State University, California.

Unfortunately, it is common for this radioactive waste to make its way into groundwater and streams, which is incredibly damaging to the environment and to nearby communities that rely on this water. This can be seen in the mountains of Southern China and Northern Myanmar, both of which have been heavily exploited for their rare earths.

Whyrare earthmetals are calledrare

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In recent years, China has begun importing more heavy rare earths from Myanmar, for which the US Geological Survey does not have rare earths reserves data. While China has stricter environmental regulations, the same cannot be said for Myanmar, and the mountains along its border with China have been heavily damaged by rare earths mining.

Rare earths mining in the US now happens only at California’s Mountain Pass mine. Over the past few years, the Biden administration has made several moves toward strengthening the nation's rare earths industry.

China’s dominance in both rare earth elements production and reserves has caused problems in the past. Rare earths prices surged when the country cut exports in 2010, resulting in an ongoing rush to secure supply elsewhere.

Rare earthelements uses

Bees are excellent navigators, and it is thought that their sensitivity to polarisation may play a significant factor. Whilst the light that comes from the sun is unpolarised, as it hits our atmosphere it is scattered (causing light to appear to come from everywhere in the sky, not just from the sun). As it is scattered, a portion of the light becomes polarised. Whilst the polarising effect in the atmosphere is small, it does mean that when we study a cloudless sky, the light will be slightly polarised in circles around the sun. This means that even if a bee can only see a tiny portion of a cloudless sky, it will still know what the direction of the sun is – therefore helping it to navigate, giving a polarising-sensitive bee a selective advantage.

After signing an exploitation license with the government in 2020, Tanbreez is working on securing financing for its project's development; avenues being explored include discussions with independent oil and gas executives and the creation of critical metals NFTs. The company has its sights set on 2024 for production.

A report from Global Witness that investigates the effects of rare earths mining in these regions shows that mining in Myanmar has escalated in recent years after China began closing its own mines and outsourcing to the neighboring country. As of mid-2022, 2,700 illegal collection pools from in-situ leaching in the mountains had been identified, and they covered an area the size of Singapore. Those who lived in the region reported difficulty accessing safe drinking water and said local wildlife and fish were dying out.

Colour-blind – Approximately 1-in-12 men and 1-in-200 women have some form of colour blindness – where one type of the colour cone cells is absent, or does not work as expected (dichromacy). Approximately 3-in-100 000 people are totally colour-blind and only see in shades of grey.

Another example of polarisation in nature is when looking at the stripes of a zebra. Studies have shown that zebras are attacked less by tabanids (a biting horse-fly) than equivalent horses that are a solid colour, whether those horses were black, white, brown or grey. This is attributed to the coloured stripes on a zebra causing partial polarisation of the light in alternating directions, which can be viewed by camera using different filters. The studies demonstrate that putting alternating polarising stripes on a grey surface reduces the number of tabanids attracted, even though it would appear to a human as a totally homogenous, grey surface. They were also able to show that having these lines too close or too far apart reduced the effectiveness of this protection.

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Visible light – Only special because it is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans (and some other mammals) can sense. It has a frequency of approximately 4×1018-8×1018 Hz  and a corresponding wavelength of 740-380 nm.

Tetrachromats – Some humans have four cones in their eyes. Whilst they cover the same frequency ranges are the three cones, these additional cones give tetrachromats the chance to distinguish between more variations in colour than trichromats.

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The outlook for rare earths is supported by strong supply and demand fundamentals as the world heads into a new economic era with a focus on clean energy and technological advancements.

Rare earth metals play a significant role in various technologies. They are often used in electronics such as laptops and smartphones. Rare earth oxides such as neodymium and praseodymium are used in magnets, aircraft engines and green technologies, including wind turbines and electric vehicles. Samarium and dysprosium are also used in rare earth magnets. Phosphor rare earths such as europium, terbium and yttrium are used in lighting, as are cerium, lanthanum and gadolinium.

Rare earths prices soared to their highest level in 20 months, according to OilPrice.com, in early Q3 2023; this jump coincided with a temporary production halt in Myanmar, which accounted for 38 percent of China's rare earth materials imports in the first seven months of 2023.

According to the US Geological Survey, global rare earth minerals production in 2023 came in at 350,000 metric tons, up from 300,000 MT the previous year. The production of rare earths has ramped up aggressively in recent years — only a decade ago, global production was just above 100,000 MT, and it first broke 200,000 MT in 2019.

While the US reported the second highest output of rare earths in 2023 at 43,000 MT, the country takes only the seventh top spot when it comes to global rare earths reserves.

Light, as created by the sun or by a normal light bulb, will be unpolarised: that is, all the rays of light will be polarised along different axes. However, light can be polarised (or partially polarised) when it reflects off a reflective surface, at a shallow angle.

Case in point — mines in Brazil produced only 80 metric tons (MT) of rare earth elements in 2023, but Brazil’s rare earths reserves are tied for third highest in the world. Countries like this could become bigger players in the space in the future.

Discover more in The Peculiar Powers of Polarisation – in maths and in the quantum realm, where we look at its use in technology and the mathematics involved.

Several other countries in Europe hold significant rare earths reserves as well. Greenland hosts many deposits totaling 1.5 million MT of rare earths reserves along its coastline, with the majority located in the southwest of the country. The Gardar igneous province in the south hosts the largest ones.

Another road bump for rare earths is the separation process. Because the rare earth elements all have similar chemical behavior to each other, they are very tough to separate, making the process difficult and expensive. The most common separation method is solvent extraction, but it is lengthy and can take hundreds to thousands of cycles to achieve high purity levels, according to the Science History Institute.

Melissa Pistilli has been reporting on the markets and educating investors since 2006. She has covered a wide variety of industries in the investment space including mining, cannabis, tech and pharmaceuticals. She helps to educate investors about opportunities in a variety of growth markets. Melissa holds a bachelor's degree in English education as well as a master's degree in the teaching of writing, both from Humboldt State University, California.

Hastings Technology Metals' (ASX:HAS,OTC Pink:HSRMF) Yangibana rare earths mine is shovel ready, and the company recently signed an offtake agreement with Baotou Sky Rock for concentrate produced at the mine. Hastings expects the operation to produce up to 37,000 MT of rare earths concentrate annually and deliver first concentrate in Q2 2025.

China is the top producer of rare earths and also holds the largest rare earths reserves. Which other countries made the list?

While Australia was the fourth largest rare earths-mining country in 2023 at 18,000 MT of production, it has the sixth largest reserves in the world. Currently, its reserves stand at 5.7 million MT. Rare earths have only been mined in Australia since 2007, but extraction is expected to increase moving forward. Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC,OTC Pink:LYSCF) operates the Mount Weld mine and concentration plant in the country; it also runs a rare earths refining and processing facility in Malaysia. The company is considered the world’s largest non-Chinese rare earths supplier.

Vietnam’s rare earths production was minuscule in 2022 at 1,200 MT, but it was even less in 2023 at 600 MT. Vietnam is the only country outside of China to have a vertically integrated rare earths magnet supply chain, according to Reuters, and it has attracted interest from companies in a variety of sectors.

Melissa Pistilli has been reporting on the markets and educating investors since 2006. She has covered a wide variety of industries in the investment space including mining, cannabis, tech and pharmaceuticals. She helps to educate investors about opportunities in a variety of growth markets. Melissa holds a bachelor's degree in English education as well as a master's degree in the teaching of writing, both from Humboldt State University, California.

Here’s an overview of rare earths reserves by country, with a focus on the eight countries whose reserves are over 1 million MT. Data is taken from the US Geological Survey’s latest report on rare earth elements.

At school I loved an odd mix of subjects including science, maths and drama, and I spent a lot of free time biking and on my computer. Having dabbled in IT for a few years, I decided I missed talking to humans too much, so moved into teaching. These days I mainly teach teachers about physics, but I also get to discover and teach about new and interesting uses of science, including these quantum technologies. So far, teaching has taken to me Kazakhstan, Iraq, Canada, Iceland, Morocco and South Africa! I now have two young children, so I have much less free time, but I still like to spend some of it biking and on my computer.

China has consistently been the largest producer of rare earths, and its 2023 production made up 240,000 metric tons of the world's 350,000 MT. In terms of specific rare earths mines, the top producer is the Bayan Obo mine in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in Northern China. The mine is owned by the state-owned Baotou Iron and Steel Group.

To understand what polarisation is, we must first be comfortable with the idea that light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which travels as transverse waves. These waves are made up of electric fields and magnetic fields, oscillating in phase at 90° to each other. When we are drawing polarised light, to simplify the picture, we normally only draw the oscillating electric field.

Countries in the Fennoscandian Shield — such as Norway, Finland and, of course, Sweden — also host rare earth deposits, as the region has similar mineralization to Greenland.

Unsurprisingly, we humans look at the world around us with our peculiar human vision, and sometimes this limits our view of the world. Whilst it would be reasonable to assume that other creatures see the world in a similar way, this is not true. Indeed, our use of the phrase ‘visible light’, is also human-focussed; many animals’ eyes do not respond to the same part of the electromagnetic spectrum as human eyes do. Human eyes cover the portion 380 to 700 nanometers, using three types of cone with peak sensitivities corresponding to red, green and blue (unless you are colour-blind or perhaps even a tetrachromat). Some animals are sensitive to UV or infra-red, and many creatures have fewer or more than three types of colour-sensing cones. Some butterflies and mantis shrimps can detect up to 12 distinct wavelengths.

Selective advantage – A characteristic that gives an organism an advantage to its chance of surviving and reproducing. Over many generations this is likely to increase the chance of this being passed onto its descendants.

Rare earths mining can be very damaging to local environments, especially when it comes to illegal and unregulated mines. A major issue with mining rare earths is that the ore they are extracted from also often contains thorium and uranium, which are both radioactive. This means the separation of rare earths from this ore must be handled carefully, as the waste produced will be radioactive as well.