Chinese rare earth “riding the dust”

Most people probably don’t know much about rare earth, and don’t know how rare earth has become a strategic resource comparable to oil.

To put it simply, rare earths are a group of typical metal elements, which are extremely precious, not only because their reserves are scarce, non-renewable, difficult to separate, purify and process, but also because they are widely used in agriculture, industry, military and other industries, which is an important support for the manufacture of new materials and a key resource related to the development of cutting-edge national defense technology.

Rare Earth Mine (Source: Xinhuanet)

In industry, rare earth is a “vitamin”. It plays an irreplaceable role in the fields of materials such as fluorescence, magnetism, laser, optical fiber communication, hydrogen storage energy, superconductivity, etc. It is basically impossible to replace rare earth unless there is extremely high technology.

-Militarily, rare earth is the “core”. At present, rare earth exists in almost all high-tech weapons, and rare earth materials are often located at the core of high-tech weapons. For example, the Patriot missile in the United States used about 3 kilograms of samarium cobalt magnets and neodymium iron boron magnets in its guidance system for electron beam focusing to accurately intercept incoming missiles.The laser rangefinder of M1 tank, the engine of F-22 fighter and the light and solid fuselage all depend on rare earth. A former US military officer even said: “The incredible military miracles in the Gulf War and the asymmetric control ability of the United States in local wars after the Cold War, in a certain sense, it is rare earth that has made all this happen.

F-22 fighter (Source: Baidu Encyclopedia)

—— Rare earths are “everywhere” in life. Our mobile phone screen, LED, computer, digital camera … Which one does not use rare earth materials?

It is said that every four new technologies appear in today’s world, one of them must be related to rare earth!

What would the world be like without rare earth?

The Wall Street Journal of the United States on September 28th, 2009 answered this question-without rare earth, we would no longer have TV screens, computer hard disks, fiber optic cables, digital cameras and most medical imaging equipment. Rare earth is an element that forms powerful magnets. Few people know that powerful magnets are the most important factor in all missile orientation systems in US defense stocks.Without rare earth, you have to bid farewell to space launch and satellite, and the global oil refining system will stop running. Rare earth is a strategic resource that people will pay more attention to in the future.

The phrase “there is oil in the Middle East and rare earth in China” shows the status of China’s rare earth resources.

Looking at a picture, the reserves of rare earth mines in China are simply “riding the dust” in the world. In 2015, China’s rare earth reserves were 55 million tons, accounting for 42.3% of the world’s total reserves, which is the first in the world. China is also the only country that can provide all 17 kinds of rare earth metals, especially heavy rare earths with outstanding military use, and China has a larger share.Baiyun Obo Mine in China is the largest rare earth mine in the world, accounting for more than 90% of the reserves of rare earth resources in China. Compared with China’s monopoly potential in this field, I’m afraid even the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which holds 69% of the world’s oil trade, will lament.

 

(NA means no yield, K means the yield is small and can be ignored. Source: American Statistical Network)

 

The reserves and output of rare earth mines in China are so mismatched. From the above figure, although China has high rare earth reserves, it is far from being “exclusive”. However, in 2015, the global rare earth mineral output was 120,000 tons, of which China contributed 105,000 tons, accounting for 87.5% of the world total output.

Under the condition of insufficient exploration, the existing rare earths in the world can be mined for nearly 1,000 years, which means that rare earths are not so scarce in the world. China’s influence on global rare earths is more focused on output than reserves.