________________________________________________________________________________________ Rare
Earth Elements
Environmentally, we don’ t want to do any more mining than necessary
in operation), North American deposits are of lower quality than those operating in China and Australia. However, Stephen argues the gap is narrow enough to bridge.
“ The bottom line is that the deposits are close enough in quality that they might be able to support a domestic supply chain with a little government support, particularly if prices remain high,” he explains.“ The increased costs of mining rare earths in a supply chain of this type might be offset by savings in other parts of the processing and manufacturing stages.”
Light and heavy
Rare earth elements fall into two broad categories: light rare earth elements and heavy rare earth elements. Light rare earths are more abundant and feature across a wide range of products; they also carry strong magnetic properties. Heavy rare earths, while less common, are valuable because they improve magnet stability at high temperatures, which is a critical requirement for electric vehicle motors and wind turbines operating in demanding environments.
The study finds a clear geographic divide across the continent. US deposits contain predominantly light rare earth elements, while heavy rare earth deposits concentrate in Canada.“ For light rare earths, the US could do a good job of supplying itself, and for heavy rare earths, we would do best to co-operate with Canada,” says Stephen.
A measured path
The researchers carefully note that more mining is not automatically better. Oversupply drives prices down, pushing producers out of business and undermining any nascent domestic industry before it takes hold. The study, supported by Ford Motor Company, advocates a measured, governmentguided approach to developing North American production.
“ With this study, we are trying to give a framework of information that might allow a more systematic evaluation of deposits, and to avoid an overconcentration of support for deposits which might not, in the long run, be competitive,” Stephen notes.“ Environmentally, we don’ t want to do any more mining than necessary.” Beyond mining, the researchers emphasize building a fully integrated processing infrastructure within North America. Previously, rare earth elements mined in the US were exported to China for processing – a dependency the current study is designed to help reverse.
Next, the team plan to examine whether domestic rare earth supply can meet demand for electric vehicles and other applications through 2050, focusing on the processing and recovery rates of four key magnet elements: neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. ■
Read the full study at sciencedirect. com
Researchers and authors include Stephen Kesler, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Greg Keoleian, Professor of Sustainable Systems at U-M’ s School for Environment and Sustainability; Christian Hitt and Jacob Cieply of U-M Center for Sustainable Systems; Hyung Chul Kim, Robert DeKleine, and James Anderson of Ford Motor Company’ s Research and Innovation Center.
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