China’s new technology achieves ‘unprecedented’ rare earth production speed

A new method for mining rare earth metals that is better for the environment has been developed by Chinese scientists

Reading Time:2 minutes

Conventional rare earth mining can have damaging environmental impacts, but a new method developed in China could be good news for the sector. Photo: Reuters/Stringer

Published: 10:00am, 12 Jan 2025

A more sustainable way to increase rare earth production, while decreasing mining time, energy use and limiting waste, has been developed by Chinese researchers.

Based on electric fields, the new method has achieved an “unprecedented” rare earth recovery rate of 95 per cent, while shortening mining time by 70 per cent and achieving electricity savings of 60 per cent.

The method also showed a 95 per cent decrease in ammonia emissions compared to conventional methods, which come from leaching agents used in mining, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

“Rare earth elements (REEs), particularly heavy REEs (HREEs), are key enablers of the rapid transition to a decarbonised world,” the team from the CAS Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry wrote in a paper published in peer-reviewed journal Nature Sustainability on January 6.

Rare earth metals such as cerium, lanthanum and neodymium are used in a variety of low-carbon technologies, including making magnets for wind turbines, catalytic converters and batteries.

Despite the critical role of rare earth metals in developing low-carbon technology, their supply is limited due to the “disastrous” environmental record associated with their mining.