Talk:Rare-earth element

• Evans, C. H (1996). Episodes from the history of the rare earth elements. ISBN 9780792341017.
• Saez; Caro (1998-06-01). Rare earths. ISBN 9788489784338.
• Nordenskiold, B. A. E. (1900). "On the Discovery and Occurrence of Minerals containing Rare Elements". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 56: 521. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1900.056.01-04.29.
• Rancke-Madsen, E. (1975). "The Discovery of an Element". Centaurus. 19 (4): 299. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0498.1975.tb00329.x.
• Witt, Otto N.; Theel, Walter (1900). "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Ceriterden". Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft. 33: 1315. doi:10.1002/cber.190003301228.
• Crell, Lorenz Florenz Friedrich (1788). Chemische Annalen für die Freunde der Naturlehre, Arzneygelahrtheit, Haushaltungskunst und Manufakturen.
• Chemische Annalen für die Freunde der Naturlehre, Aerznengelartheit, Haushaltungskunde und Manufakturen. 1796.

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 8 January 2024 and 20 April 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Grishaplantman (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Warmedforbs (talk) 01:25, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

There have been numerous new geopolitical developments with regards to REEs as they become increasingly important with the rise of EVs. For instance, there is lots of pressure from the west to break China's monopoly in the industry. MP Materials is on the verge of producing REEs independently from China, Gina Rinehart has entered the industry, and both the Biden and Trump administrations have imposed tariffs on REEs from China. Should we include these developments in this entry? I am not even seeing anything about MP materials here. Frankserafini87 (talk) 21:19, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

Yes. And even more geopolitical issues now in early 2025! Chipotle (talk) 12:31, 19 April 2025 (UTC)

After reading some reviews of the toxicology of REEs I was disappointed to read "On human health" in this article. It is full of nonsense. Almost every single reference was completely misrepresented. I wonder if this should be investigated as something more than ignorance. Johnjbarton (talk) 23:20, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

Ok it looks like most of the content was added by a student in 2018. By their nature students need supervision: someone should have helped this student. Johnjbarton (talk) 23:58, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

Only going off the first reference, Hirano and Suzuki, it looks like the student skipped to the end and left with the takeaway of "Mortality studies reveal that RE are not highly toxic", ignoring the intratracheal and inhalation exposure effects. I imagine the same happened elsewhere. Reconrabbit 00:04, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

Sorry that was after my edits. I've changed this entire section. The inhalation effect leads to pneumoconiosis. I'll try to clarify that. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:19, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

Oh, I see now. I was wondering where the egregious issues were, but didn't realize you had made so many edits. Great! Reconrabbit 01:26, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

 Done Item is fixed. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:49, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

Is this section appropriate for an encyclopedia? Seems like newspaper content to me. Johnjbarton (talk) 04:18, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

Recently there's geopolitical tension surrounding rare earths so I believe it is appropriate but maybe not in this article, as rare earths become essential for the energy transition Pancho507 (talk) 00:45, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

The article says

• Yttrium was found in the mineral "ytterbite" (renamed to gadolinite in 1800), which was discovered by Lieutenant Carl Axel Arrhenius in 1787 at a quarry in the village of Ytterby, Sweden and termed "rare" because it had never yet been seen. Arrhenius's "ytterbite" reached Johan Gadolin, a Royal Academy of Turku professor, and his analysis yielded an unknown oxide ("earth" in the geological parlance of the day), which he called yttria.

These sentences have two sources. One is an obscure off-line article by Gschneidner; the other one is an online page from a Philadelphia museum.

The content is internally inconsistent: is the mineral called "yttria" or "ytterbite"? The refs are confusing. The museum site talks about the defn of "rare" and "earth"; the rest is Gschneidner evidently. To say that "Yttrium was found in the mineral" is strained: the element was not discovered for at least another 75 years.

This 40 page booklet also by Gschneidner is available online

• Gschneidner, K. A. (1964). Rare Earths: The Fraternal Fifteen. United States: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information.
• Although the existence of the rare earths dates back to the formation of the earth, man's first acquaintance with them occurred in 1787. Little did Lt. C. A. Arrhenius of the Swedish Army realize that his attraction to a unique black mineral, which he stumbled on while examining a number of ores in a quarry in Ytterby (a small town near Stockholm, Sweden), would set off the most complex element hunt in the history of science.
• YTTERBIUM, atomic number 70, was discovered by J. C. G. Marignac in 1878 and obviously is named for the town of Ytterby.

I will change the content to match these refs. Johnjbarton (talk) 16:58, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

Advantages of rare earths such as neodymium permanent magnet rotors vs copper core rotors as seen in early Tesla model S motors, neodymium is used in the magnets of permanent magnet electric motors which have no slippage nor associated efficiency losses unlike induction squirrel cage and copper core rotors, due to the high flux of the magnets due to the neodymium, power density can be higher and helps eliminate slippage, these magnets are the most powerful permanent magnets in mass production except for expensive cobalt samarium and neodymium permanent magnet motors are the most efficient and power dense in mass production excluding superconducting motors which are impractical due to the use of liquid gases

exact usage of rare earths in parts such as neodymium magnets in end user products including:

EVs where they are inside electric motor rotors as a crucial component in magnets in rotors in permanent magnet motors used in almost all EVs due to top efficiency and power density,

neodymium magnets are also used in drone and electric aircraft motor rotors because the use of neodymium in magnets, combined with the use of a rotor in the motor lined with magnets in a permanent magnet motor configuration allows for top power to weight ratios for motors combined with high efficiency,

hard drive voice coils and motors in voice coils they improve seek times replacing old stepper motor mechanisms, phone vibrators and speakers where they improve electrical efficiency and thus battery life, in EC motors or plug fans, compressors used in HVAC where they replaced induction motors in fans and compressors due to increased efficiency brought by neodymium permanent magnet motors replacing induction motors in HVAC

Use of permanent magnet generators in wind turbines which eliminate the need for an exciter and associated slip rings and efficiency losses, maintenance requirements, gearless wind turbines

Use in elevators where gearless neodymium permanent magnet motors replaced DC motors and induction ac motors and allowed machine room less elevators such as Kone ecodisc to be invented which are used in many buildings, reduced space requirements, improved efficiency, these motors have higher torque than their AC geared predecesors, because of the increased torque neodymium permanent magnet motors could be used inside wheels in EVs without any gearing. Many low rise buildings built after the creation of the machine room less elevator do not have any provision for an elevator machine room.

Use in virtually all white LEDs as ce:YAG in virtually all new lighting fixtures and lamps since 2018?, and other phosphor mixtures for white light and some phosphor converted red car led tailights, LCD backlight in most TV's and computer monitors

Higher efficiency than earlier phosphors in fluorescent lights and electrodeless lights

Specific chemical reactions at industrial scale for chemical commodities? That use rare earths and advantages over prior catalysts

Cerium oxide glass polishing grinding and cutting used in camera lenses, other hard brittle materials like granite, silicon semiconductor wafers, chemical mechanical polishing in semiconductors?

Neodymium glass laser amplifier used in nif fusion facility and other pulsed lasers

Erbium doped amplifiers in fiber optic communications, they drive the modern internet in ISP DWDM or ROADM? metro and long distance national networks and submarine cable amplifiers Pancho507 (talk) 00:06, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Sorry but such a list is not helpful. According to Wikipedia's policy on verification we need reliable sources. If you have sources please let us know, or just add the content yourself. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:03, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

As an added point: the section "Uses" section in this article should only be a summary. It should not include uses specific elements. For example, we should not discuss Yttrium aluminium garnet, that belongs on the YAG page. We should not discuss eg neodymium magnets, that belongs on neodymium magnets, etc. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:20, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Lithium is not an REE. While REEs are important in electric motors, and electic motors are important for electric cars, and lithium is used in batteries in electric cars, there's no other relevance here except in the popular imagination. I propose to remove all references to Lithium here since it is not an REE and has its own article where access to supply and recycling can be discussed.

Example:

"Economically viable pegmatites are divided into Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) and Niobium-Yttrium-Fluorine (NYF) types; NYF types are enriched in rare-earth minerals."

Proposed Edit (remove all LCT reference since none of Li Cs or Ta is a REE(

Yttirum and other REEs can found in Niobium-Yttrium-Fluorine, a "economically viable" type of pegmite

Example:

China processes about 90% of the world's REEs and 60% of the world's lithium. As a result, the European Union imports practically all of its rare earth elements from China. The EU Critical Raw Materials Act of 2023 has set in action the required policy adjustments for Europe to start producing two-thirds of the lithium-ion batteries required for electric vehicles and energy storage. In 2024, an EU backed lithium mining project created large scale protests in Serbia.

Proposed Edit: remove all refernce to Lithium thus:

China processes about 90% of the world's REEs and as a result the European Union imports practically all of its rare earth elements from China.

KevinCuddeback (talk) 21:49, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

I agree with the last one and made an edit. As for the other one, please don't put "economically viable" in quotes. If the source says its economically viable, its economically viable, else don't say it. Johnjbarton (talk) 22:55, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

I made a change to the LCT passage (actually removing all reference to L, C, or T) and focusing on NYF as a REE-rich pegmite KevinCuddeback (talk) 20:38, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

The source

• Patel, Himesh (July 1, 2023). "Rare Earth Elements". Mining Engineering Online. Retrieved 14 September 2025.

claims that

• Rare earth elements (REEs), also referred to as rare-earth oxides (REOs) are 17 elements primarily recovered from a handful of minerals.

However other modern sources use "rare-earth oxides" to mean oxides of rare earths, eg

• Sato, S., Takahashi, R., Kobune, M., & Gotoh, H. (2009). Basic properties of rare earth oxides. Applied Catalysis A: General, 356(1), 57-63. Oxides of rare earth metals, including Sc and Y as well as lanthanoids, are frequently used as catalyst promoters and/or supports.

There are many similar articles.

The historic meaning of "earth" was "oxide", so a rare earth oxide would be a an "oxide oxide" unless you understand as in the above source, the oxide of a metal from the rare-earth category. In my understanding "Rare earth element", the topic of the article, is an element derived from an oxide (earth). Thus the topic of the article is not synonymous with "rare earth oxide". Johnjbarton (talk) 02:48, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

Hi Johnjbarton. I added it to the lead because I kept coming across the term, and that was the first source that popped up in Googling. There are many references using the term, but perhaps this is one that makes it clear? "Resources and Reserves are generally stated as a Rare Earths Oxide (REO), which is that targeted final product from many mining facilities." I have now created a terminology section (before seeing this) because I think the article should somewhere define all of these terms that keep popping up in news and other articles, for the layperson. I can come back to this, or feel free to add or move what I have added. Some of those terms could no doubt be expanded. The article could do with a WP:LEADFOLLOWSBODY revamp really, but I'm not about to do that now. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 03:22, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

Thanks! Yes the reference you give, Rare Earths Oxide (REO) makes it clear that "rare-earth oxide" is not a synonym for "rare-earth element", but rather that REO is the oxide of REE. For example the source says

• CREO is a set of oxides the US Department of Energy, in December 2011 defined as critical due to their importance to clean energy requirements and their supply risk. They are the oxides of Nd, Dy, Eu, Y and Tb.

So mining and extraction is measured in units of REO, but they are not the same as REE.

The Terminology section is not correct in my opinion. Johnjbarton (talk) 16:43, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

@Laterthanyouthink I think the content of the "Terminology" section should be moved to "Extraction and production" with changes to make it clear that the units of REE mining are based on tons of REO extracted. Johnjbarton (talk) 16:47, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

That's fine by me, but it still needs the terminology heading there because there are incoming links to it from the various abbreviations, which now target the wrong section. Maybe just move that single sentence currently left in Terminology to just under the "Rare earth elements" section? Which, incidentally, I've just noticed does not have the hyphen, which should probably be consistent throughout the article. Maybe rename that whole section to something like "Properties and classification" or something like that? Laterthanyouthink (talk) 00:08, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

I fixed the links I believe. Johnjbarton (talk) 02:38, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Great, thanks. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 05:35, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

This source has a lot of information on deposits that is frankly much more interesting than the country by country mish-mash we have now.

• Smith, M. P.; Moore, K.; Kavecsánszki, D.; Finch, A. A.; Kynicky, J.; Wall, F. (2016-05-01). "From mantle to critical zone: A review of large and giant sized deposits of the rare earth elements". Geoscience Frontiers. Special Issue: Giant Mineral Deposits. 7 (3): 315–334. doi:10.1016/j.gsf.2015.12.006. ISSN 1674-9871.

Johnjbarton (talk) 03:05, 27 September 2025 (UTC)

@Ishandutta2007 Please add a source for "Reserves pre capita". Why is this encyclopedic knowledge? I have never heard of any connection between mining ore in a country and its total population that would be notable. I don't think we should include this information unless a reliable source also does. Johnjbarton (talk) 17:27, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

Per capita means division by population, for source of population I can add https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population

should I ? Ishandutta2007 (talk) 12:27, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

In economics all metrics are useful only when observed per capita or else they are totally meaningless.

Large country will have large reserves, tiny country will have tiny reserves. That's quite obvious. Only Per capita measures helps us understand if that country have sufficient to meet the needs of its people or not. Ishandutta2007 (talk) 12:31, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

USA and India are in top 10 which may apparently make you feel they have plenty but when you check per capita numbers you realise they don't have sufficient to meet their needs and have to rely on imports to survive. Ishandutta2007 (talk) 12:36, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I just wanted to point out that this source does not cite a single reference, and was written by someone not in the field but who proclaims to use AI. I wonder if it isn't a bunch of made-up numbers. ~2025-38160-78 (talk) 13:45, 3 December 2025 (UTC)

The citation numbers in wikipedia are not stable to edits, so I assume this point is about

• Zadeh, John (28 July 2025). "Complete Guide to All 17 Rare Earth Elements Ranked". Discovery Alert. Retrieved 15 September 2025.

Johnjbarton (talk) 16:48, 3 December 2025 (UTC)

The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion:

• Global rare-earth element deposits.webp
• Rare Earth Elements Map 01.webp
• Rare Earth Elements Map 02.webp

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 02:12, 8 January 2026 (UTC)