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Founded in 1966, Coherent is one of the world’s leading photonics manufacturers and innovators. With headquarters in the heart of Silicon Valley, California, and offices spanning the globe, Coherent offers a unique and distinct product portfolio that touches many different markets and industries.

Rare earthminerals

Although high rare earth prices between 2009 and 2011 enabled an increase in Chinese production, it also incentivised a surge in the exploration and development of rare earth projects globally. Despite several operations commissioning rare earth capacity outside of China, only a handful of companies maintained consistent production as prices declined between 2012 and 2016.

Scandium (Sc) is sometimes grouped with rare earths because of its similar chemical properties, though naturally scandium is more closely associated with aluminium deposits. The natural abundance of rare earths varies according to local geology, but the highest concentrations are typically found in alkaline complexes and carbonatites (a type of igneous rock).

Rare earthelements uses

With the addition of ROFIN in 2016, Coherent is now the world’s largest laser company, with over 5,000 employees and 20,000 customers. From components and accessories to scientific and commercial laser sources, to cutting-edge manufacturing tools, we are poised to lead the industry with the broadest portfolio of innovative photonics solutions.

Rare earthmining

While growth in rare earth magnet demand has outpaced growth in other applications, the consumption of rare earths (primarily La and Ce) for catalysts, polishing powders and metallurgical applications accounted for 42% of rare earth demand in volume terms in 2020, whilst permanet magnets accounted for 29%. In terms of market value, however, La and Ce demand made up only 3% and 4% of the market, respectively, while Nd accounted for 62%, Pr for 13% and Dy for 10.2%.

Our mission is to be the leading provider of lasers and laser-based solutions for scientific, commercial and industrial customers.

Concentrates of rare earth minerals are exclusively processed into refined products, either as mixed or semi-separated compounds or individual rare earth compounds. For magnetic applications, rare earth oxides must be further refined into rare earth metals and alloys, the requisite precursor materials for magnet manufacturing.

Coherent has designed a novel, thin-film technology (Patent #9,012,848) released to market as PowerMax-Pro which rapidly senses thermal changes due to incident laser energy. PowerMax-Pro represents a dramatic technological advancement in laser power measurement that combines the broad wavelength sensitivity, dynamic range and high power handling of a thermopile, but with a response speed a million times faster.

Commercial extraction of rare earths is dominated by a small number of mineralogies, including bastnaesite, ion-adsorption clays, monazite and xenotime, which together account for more than 95% of economic production.

REEs have numerous applications, being used in specialty ceramics, fluorescent lighting and PET scanners. New energy technologies, specifically, wind turbines and electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains, have spurred demand for rare earth permanent magnets, with neodymium (NdFeB) magnets commanding the largest market share. Rare earth magnets largely use Nd, Pr and, to a lesser extent, dysprosium (Dy) or terbium (Tb).

REEs, also known as lanthanides, are a group of 15 elements ranging from lanthanum to lutetium in the periodic table. They can be separated into two categories:

How manyrare earthelements are there

Rare earth materiallist

You can read more on this and other issues pertaining to the REE market in the selection of slides we have compiled from our recent webinar. This includes charts on:

At Lane 2018 our focus will be on laser measurement business unit based near Portland, Oregon, USA, and more specifically on our new transverse thermoelectric sensor technology.

The high response speed of PowerMax-Pro sensors is particularly advantageous in commercial applications, where it enables CW laser power and pulsed laser energy to be sampled much more frequently, resulting in increased throughput and improved process control.

Rare earths have been an ever-present and longstanding member of many critical raw material lists. The geographic concentration of rare earth mining and refined production has long raised concerns over the potential for supply disruption and the wide-ranging end-use markets they serve. Around 90% of NdFeB magnet manufacturing currently takes place in China, despite efforts to diversify mined and refined supply. This raises geopolitical concerns.

Rare earthelements periodic table

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The light REEs are predominantly recovered from mineral concentrates of monazite and bastnaesite in China, the US, Australia, India and Madagascar, but also, to a lesser extent, from the mineral loparite, mined in Russia.

Whyrare earthmetals are calledrare

The global transition to a lower-carbon future has fuelled significant interest in the rare earths industry. Prices have risen, resulting in a diverse pipeline of projects in terms of geography and mineralogy. The majority have been known and explored for more than a decade, but suffered from a lack of market investment due to fluctuating conditions and competition for investment from battery material-focused projects.

Rare earthmetals are also known as

We recently held a webinar on the global market for and trends in REEs. Fill in the form to receive a complimentary copy of the presentation slides. Read on for an introduction to the minerals and the market.

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Most heavy REEs are sourced from ion-adsorption clay deposits and xenotime mineralisation in Myanmar and China, with minor volumes sourced from Australia.

Refined production is heavily centred in China, where domestic production is supported both by domestic mining operations and imports of ores and mineral concentrates. China increased its proportion of global refined supply from 45% of global production in 1991 to in excess of 97% in 2009. Low prices and a migration of downstream customers into the Chinese market resulted in the closure or suspension of many non-Chinese operations. Unofficial or illegal production of rare earths also contributed to China’s dominance, where heavy REE-enriched deposits in southern provinces were targeted in a bid to capitalise on high prices in the late 2000s. As prices fell in the early 2010s, the environmental and social damage caused by illegal mining prompted a state-led crackdown on said operations.

In 2020, China accounted for 85% of global production of refined rare earth products, with other Asian countries (Malaysia, India and Vietnam) and comparatively minor European operations accounting for the remainder. China also consolidated its domestic rare earth industry into six state-owned enterprises, giving it greater control over the supply and pricing of rare earth exports globally.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are lustrous, silvery-white, soft heavy metals with a vast array of industrial applications. They’re used in the electrical and electronic industries, the oil industry, aviation and the manufacture of glass and lasers, among other things. However, their use in magnet technologies, in particular, provide an opportunity to improve the efficiency of and/or miniaturise critical electronic components. The development of high strength rare earth permanent magnets has proven crucial to the development of certain new energy technologies.

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