Rare Earths are not found as free metals in the earth crust, rather within an agglomeration of Rare Earth elements that need to be separated for their individual or combined commercial use. Despite their name, Rare Earths are relatively abundant in the earths crust, however, they are often of low quality and rarely presented in economic concentration without beneficiation. China currently supplies approximately 95 per cent of the global Rare Earths market. More than 70 per cent of the supply of light Rare Earths are supplied from one mine in China. Mt Weld, with its very high grade contains light Rare Earths and is also high in Europium, a heavy Rare Earth.\n\nThe first point to note about Rare Earths prices is that there is significant variance in the relative market value for selected Rare Earths oxides. Secondly, the price of Rare Earths depends on the purity level, which is largely set by the specifications for each application. The table shows the average prices for a standard 99 percent purity of individual elements. Prices are quoted in US Dollars per kilogram on an FOB China and domestic China (the price inside China) basis. The domestic price is related to the FOB price and can be calculated by taking FOB price less VAT, less export taxes (which range for 15 per cent to 25 per cent), the export quota cost. There may be some timing differences between the movements of internal and external China prices. Note that higher purity oxides and other value added properties will attract higher prices than those shown.
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