Sources of Rare Earth Elements in the U.S. and the World - 2020

Rare Earth Deposits & Mining

Campbell and three co-authors reported during an on-line 2020 AAPG Conference that REEs are distributed throughout the universe and solar system, moon, meteorites, Earth’s crust, sea-floors, coal and lignite, and groundwater. The authors also discussed:

• Mineralization processes on Earth, often associated with U and Th,
• REE Deposits and Mines: China, U.S.(Texas, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Alaska), Australia, Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia.
• History of REE Development: REE offer special properties for industrial applications …. Expanding use.
• As new REE applications were developed by the academic-industrial Complex in U.S. and Overseas,
• Major worldwide research efforts began in early 2000s with explosion of technical papers after 2010 dealing with exploration projects, nature of REE in deposits in the U.S. and worldwide,
• REE demand, mining, and prices have increased (with some pullback) as China held back price-controlled REE supplies with the REE Price Boom of the 2010-2013.
• Other REE sources are being sought as coproducts of metalliferous mining, recycling of electronic waste, coal-lignite, waste ash, byproducts of phosphate mining, deep-sea nodules and mattes, but with some environmental concerns along supply chain.
• Competition in REE mining and processing depends ore grade of specific REE availability with REE demand expanding … mine production only amounting to about 170,000 metric tons in 2018, but increased to 210,000 tons in 2019, (Rare Earth Oxides produced worldwide), and likely increase by 7% to 12%/yr in the future …. The current Pandemic notwithstanding.