Rare-Earth Economics: The Balance Problem

Rare Earth Deposits & Mining / Rare Earth Exploration, Mining, Processing, & Uses

Date posted: 07/03/13

Journal of Metals provides an update on the activities of the Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3), and focuses on the importance of recycling of rare earths to mitigate the so-called Balance Problem. The CR3 is a research center established by Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Colorado School of Mines, and KU Leuven. 28 corporations and national laboratories along with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation Industry University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) program are sponsors of the center. The balance between the demand of the economic markets and the natural availability of the REEs in ores is a major problem for the market of these elements.