Also 'Europe is on the hunt for Rare lands: a group of metallic elements of fundamental importance in the components of high-tech materials. From the renewable economy to the aerospace one passing through electric cars and optical fiber: rare earths are fundamental for today's and tomorrow's economy. EU member states meet their needs for these elements to a large extent through imports, especially from China - the main supplier - which over the years has been able to maintain, with massive public investments, a vast network of refining of raw materials, leading today many producers of the planet to export their minerals. A primacy that has allowed for years to increase prices and also to impose export quotas on many of these products – in the last year China has increased prices by 50-90% – but also to have a significant impact on thetechnology: extracting them is particularly polluting, both for the substances used and for the waste it produces.
But the race towards rare earths concerns all the great protagonists on the geopolitical chessboard. Those who own them will be able to gain positions of great advantage over the rest of the world. And those without it, on the other hand, risk finding themselves in a position of total economic as well as political dependence. As we have already seen for energy, but it would be even worse. And nobody wants to repeat the gas disaster. This is why Europe has decided to recover "ground" on rare earths but not only by digging. The EU aims to identify strategic projects along the entire supply chain, including in the recovery e recycling of the raw material: from production waste and industrial waste.
What are rare earths?
It is 17 items of the periodic table: namely cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb) and yttrium (Y).
They are essential for the production of everything related to the most innovative and green sectors of the industry of the future, for example: electric cars, renewables, digital development but also in the medical sector and even in the petrochemical sector, such as in the oil refining process .
Many sectors for which the demand for these precious metals is destined to rise, also to achieve the goal of replacing hydrocarbons and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Where are rare earths found?
World reserves of rare earths are found throughout the world, but are especially widespread in China, Brazil e Russia. In reality, the minerals we are talking about are very present in the subsoil, the problem is the processing necessary to extract them, separate them and make the whole process economically sustainable.
Before China, the USA was the world leader in the extraction and use of rare earths, but the high impact on the environment deriving from mining led to restrictive laws which effectively limited both extraction and refining . Among the major producers, China is followed by Australia, Russia, Brazil, Vietnam, India and a number of African countries. Before the discovery in Sweden, the rare earth reserves already identified were estimated at 120 million tons, of which 45 million in China, 22 in Vietnam, 21 in Brazil, 12 in Russia and 7 in India.
Rare earths, maxi-deposit in Sweden: turning point for Europe?
In the deep north of Lapland Sweden, in the city of Kiruna, the largest "mine" in Europe was discovered. According to initial estimates, reserves amount to over one million tons. In particular, scanium, lanthanum and niodemium have been found, essential minerals for the production of "magnets", primary components for electric motors and wind turbines. If the estimates are confirmed, the mine could satisfy the entire demand for magnets for the next few years. The problem is always the same: the enormous difficulty of processing and extracting the pure, laborious and highly polluting mineral. Reason why it will take years before the Swedish mine is operational.
