“Rare Earth Metals”: a 237-Year-Old Misnomer
Rare Earth Minerals
First published June 21, 2025
Rare earth metals, critical to national defense, climate control, modern communications and a digital world are not rare but are very hard to extract. They are among the most abundant metals in the earth’s crust, but they do not form ore deposits and their separation from admixture with other metals and purification are the challenge. Gold and platinum are among the rarest metals on earth but are not “rare earth metals”. In 1788, the term “rare earth” was what a miner in Ytterby, Sweden called an unusual black rock he uncovered. The ore was called “rare” as it had never been seen before and “earth”’ because that was the 18th century geological term for rocks that could be dissolved in acid. He designated it “yttrium”. The prefix “ytt” for the site of the discovery in Ytterby.
The periodic table with the 17 rare earth minerals highlighted
Over time, 17 rare earth metals were discovered and fall into the middle of the periodic table. The periodic table contains 118 chemical elements. These elements are arranged by increasing atomic number, starting with hydrogen (atomic number 1) and ending with oganesson (atomic number 118). The atomic number indicates the number of protons in the nucleus, a unique identifier of each element.
Other examples of rare earths include terbium, scandium and lanthanum. Evidence indicates that supernovae (exploding stars) formed rare metals. These metals have unique magnetic, optical and catalytic properties that make possible modern life. Rare earth metals allow the manufacture of super magnets. Their superior magnetic quality permits the efficiency of many technologies, including hybrid and electric vehicles, mobile phones, televisions, computers, wind turbines, loudspeakers, aircraft controls, robots, and factory automation equipment. The inclusion of very small amounts of rare earth elements provide the vivid colors that allowed the development of pleasing color television.
The rare earth compounds dysprosium, europium and terbium are fluorescent under ultraviolet light, making them critical to anti-counterfeiting approaches. When small amounts of these specific rare earth metals are in genuine products, it is easy to identify counterfeit forms when illuminated under an ultraviolet light.
Rare earth elements are critical for making green energy products. They are required to make wind turbines, catalytic converters, hybrid cars, rechargeable batteries, energy efficient light bulbs and solar panels. One of the most frequent uses of rare earth metals is the manufacture of electric bicycles. Rare earth magnets permit zero emission transport. These minerals, e.g. geranium and gallium, are indispensable to the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution as semiconductors are the backbone of data processing and machine learning. Rare earth metals are vital to the production of national defense systems such as precision-guided missiles, jet aircraft, radar and secure communications.
Although the Pentagon is stockpiling these elements, a reliable supply chain is a critical need. Today, China provides 98% of the rare earth metals and a domestic supply is a key goal of the United States. The U.S. government has invested in domestic rare earth mining, refining, and manufacturing capacity. It is supporting mineral research and recycling. Tax credits incentivize domestic rare earth magnet production. The U.S. is also exploring extracting rare earth minerals from unconventional sources like coal ash and mine waste. We are collaborating with international partners to diversify sources and establish processing and manufacturing hubs. All these steps are an effort to secure the supply of these chemical elements, now critical for modern life.
The Ukraine has a disproportionately high, untapped, reserve of rare earth metals. Perhaps, that is another impetus for Putin’s criminal and inhumane behavior and Trump’s requirement for access to them for any U.S. support as the Ukrainians battle the Russian invasion and its devastating consequences.