Critical Minerals Ignite Geopolitical Storm

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.geosociety.org/news/pr/11-66.htm

Critical Minerals Ignite Geopolitical Storm

For Immediate Release
10 October 2011
GSA Release No. 11-66

The clean energy economy of the future hinges on a lot of things, chief among them the availability of the scores of rare earth minerals and other elements used to make everything from photovoltaic panels and cellphone displays to the permanent magnets in cutting edge new wind generators. And right out of the gate trouble is brewing over projected growth in demand for these minerals and the security of their supplies.

Last year, for instance, China restricted the export of neodymium, which is used in wind generators. The move was ostensibly to direct the supplies to toward a massive wind generation project within China. The effect, however, is to create a two-tiered price for neodymium: one inside China and another, higher price, for the rest of the world, explained economics professor Roderick Eggert of the Colorado School of Mines. The result could be that China not only will control the neodymium supply, but the manufacture of neodymium technology as well.

The geopolitical implications of critical minerals have started bringing together scientists, economists and policy makers who are trying to cut a path through the growing thicket of challenges. In that spirit, on Monday, October 10, 2011, Eggert and other professors will be presenting their research alongside high-level representatives from the U.S. Congress and Senate, the Office of the President of the U.S., the U.S. Geological Survey, in a session at the meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis.

Among the basics that need to be grasped to understand the current state of affairs is how rare these minerals and elements really are. Some are plentiful, but only found in rare places or are difficult to extract. Indium, for instance, is a byproduct of zinc mining and extraction. It is not economically viable to extract unless zinc is being sought in the same ore, Eggert explained, Others are just plain scarce, like rhenium and tellurium, which only exist in very small amounts in the Earth’s crust.

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[kristopher]

1. Good basic summary.

Good to see something that isn't sensationalized.

[northoftheborder]

2. This is example of important news to consider.

[amerikat]

3. I had just Googled for what the world was running out of.

Then saw your post. I was looking up Helium in particular.

Fresh water seems to be the most common resource in short supply.

Helium is extracted from natural gas. Helium is used in heliarc welding,
especially important for welding aluminum. Also helium is used in cryogenic
vacuum pumps necessary for extremely low vacuum pressures need for making some PV
products and for the manufacture of computer chips.

China doesn't have a monopoly on rare earth elements. They are available elsewhere
including the US. Most of the US production was abandoned because China did it cheaper.

I worked in solar, the two short elements were indium and gallium. Like you said
both are small byproducts of mining for other elements.

I always enjoy your posts. They are most informative for me because I
follow advances in alternative energy.

Thanks for posting OK.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. The USGS released an extensive study on US supplies/production of “rare earth elements” last year

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5220/

Here’s a particularly important passage:

…

Although rare earth elements are relatively abundant in the Earth’s crust, they are rarely concentrated into mineable ore deposits.

The estimated average concentration of the rare earth elements in the Earth’s crust, which ranges from around 150 to 220 parts per million (table 1), exceeds that of many other metals that are mined on an industrial scale, such as copper (55 parts per million) and zinc (70 parts per million). Unlike most commercially mined base and precious metals, however, rare earth elements are rarely concentrated into mineable ore deposits. The principal concentrations of rare earth elements are associated with uncommon varieties of igneous rocks, namely alkaline rocks and carbonatites. Potentially useful concentrations of REE-bearing minerals are also found in placer deposits, residual deposits formed from deep weathering of igneous rocks, pegmatites, iron-oxide copper-gold deposits, and marine phosphates (table 2).

…

Rare earth elements are typically obtained as a byproduct or coproduct of mining other mineral commodities.

When the economic viability of a mining project is assessed, the potential mineral products are divided into principal products and byproducts. The principal product, for example zinc in a zinc mine, contributes most to the value of the minerals produced. Generally, returns from the principal product are sufficient to pay the costs of mining and processing. All other products are referred to as byproducts, whose returns typically bolster the overall profitability of a mine. Where two or more products of essential value are obtained, they are called coproducts. A salient feature of rare earth elements mining is that REE-rich minerals may be byproducts or coproducts of mining other mineral commodities.

Mine production decisions are driven by demand for principal products, not for byproducts. Thus, production of byproduct REE will vary subject to changes in demand for principal products and will be relatively unresponsive to demand for REE. China currently (2010) accounts for about 96 percent of global rare earth elements production (table 7). Of a total production of 120,000 metric tons, about 55,000 metric tons was produced as a byproduct of the Bayan Obo iron mine. This fact means that at least 44 percent of world rare earth elements production is a byproduct. Of the remaining Chinese production, about 25,000 metric tons is produced in southern China as a primary product from ion-adsorption deposits. The status of remaining Chinese production is unclear. The balance of global REE production is as a byproduct. Conceivably, as much as 90 percent of global rare earth elements production is as a byproduct or coproduct.

…

[amerikat]

5. I am encouraged by the explosion of technology

I hope we can make good use of it.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Indium, rhenium, and tellurium share an unusual property ...

naturally occurring In, Re, and Te in the Earth's crust each consist more of very long-lived radioactive isotopes than stable ones. Te-128 has the astounding half-life of 2.2 septillion years, and both Te-128 and Te-130 (t_1/2 790 quintillion yr) decay by the rare double-beta emission. In & Re each have only one stable isotope. If one or two fundamental constants were just a litte bit different, these might not have any stable isotopes at all.