China discovered a new type of rare earth mine that is easy to exploit

This discovery has the potential to rewrite China’s tradition of “rare earths being heavy in the south, light in the north,” according to the research team from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Heilongjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in a publication in the journal Acta Petrologica Sinica.

New rare earth mines are located in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. According to SCMPunlike the clay-rich mines in southern China, which require chemical leaching to extract rare earth elements, the mines in the northeast consist of loose gravel and sand formed from natural freeze-thaw cycles. This difference makes extraction more efficient because chemical leaching can be expensive and harmful to the environment, leaving up to 25% of rare earth elements unrecovered.

In the new study, a group of scientists conducted field surveys and analyzed samples in many places in Heilongjiang and Jilin. They found unusually high concentrations of both light and heavy rare earth elements in several northern locations. Some samples from Jilin showed exceptionally high concentrations of heavy rare earth elements compared to neighboring areas.

Rare earth elements (REEs) include the 15 lanthanides in the periodic table and the two transition metals scandium and yttrium. They are essential for the production of high-performance lasers, wind turbines, electric vehicle motors, smartphones and other advanced equipment.

They do not exist naturally in pure form but are often mixed in minerals belonging to the silicate, oxide, carbonate or phosphate groups. However, in the new type of mine in northeast China, they are stored in separate grains such as monazite and xenotime, which simplifies mining.

Theo Interesting Engineeringa heavy rare earth element that is especially valuable due to its scarcity and strategic importance to electric vehicles as well as defense systems. China’s heavy rare earth resources are usually concentrated in the south, but new findings show that they are more widely distributed than scientists once thought.

The research team believes that the new discovery could strengthen China’s leading position in the global rare earth market. According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) last month, China currently accounts for about 60% of global rare earth mining output used for magnets, while the market share in refining reaches more than 90%. The dominance is even more pronounced downstream as the country accounts for nearly 95% of permanent magnet production.