The Future of Economic Geology - Metals and Society: An Introduction to Economic Geology - page 143

Table 6.1 Uses of the rare earth elements
In 2006, the three main uses for REE in the USA were catalytic converters in cars (25%), catalysts
in petroleum refining (22%), and various metallurgical additive and alloys (20%). The
emergence of new technologies will rapidly change the situation. Consider, for example, the
following list
Lanthanum (La) - water treatment, rechargeable batteries
Cerium (Ce) - glass polishing, heavy 'mud' in oil drilling, catalysers
Neodymium (Nd) - small electric motors, magnets, hard drives in computers, headphones of
iPods
Europium (Eu) - red phosphor in flat TV screens
Dysprosium and terbium - alloys and phosphors in lamps and TV tubes, magnets and in the
cooling systems of nuclear reactors
A Toyota Prius contains 1 kg of neodymium and 10 kg of lanthanum
A wind turbine contains over 600 kg of rare earths
Fig. 6.1 Rare earth elements are essential for the construction of hybrid and electric cars
(Reproduced with permission of Matthew James of Lynas corporation)
and in carbonatites and related rocks (alkaline magmas composed of carbonate
minerals with few silicates). They also are concentrated in phosphates such as
monazite and apatite in detrital sediments, or are absorbed on clays. Table 6.2
lists the REE-bearing minerals in various types of ores.
Bayan Obo, a giant polymetallic (Fe-REE-Nb) deposit of uncertain origin, is
located in Inner Mongolia on the northern edge of the North China Craton, about
600 km northwest of Beijing. The deposit was found in 1927 and was first mined for
its iron. Current reserves are estimated at about 1.5 billion tons of ore grading 35%
Fe. This grade is less than that of the richest iron deposits in Brazil and Australia,
but was sufficient for mining in China. In addition to the Fe, the deposit contains a
vast amount of REE, a total of some 48 million mt with an average grade of about
6 wt.% of rare-earth oxides. This makes it the world's largest known REE deposit
and represents 30-40% of the world's REE resources, depending on the source of
information. The deposit also contains large amounts of Nb (Fig. 6.2 ).