Mining and Exploration Guides
Mining guide · 44 articles

Rare Earths and Critical Minerals

Rare earth elements turn up in magnets, electric cars, wind turbines, phones, semiconductors and defence systems, yet supply is concentrated in few places. These articles map where reserves and mines are, from the US and Australia to Thailand’s Chatree, Burundi and beach sand deposits, and look at the rarest and most valuable minerals along the way.

Investors will find profiles of rare earth companies, ASX and US miners, and ETF lists, with a separate set tracking prices for neodymium, praseodymium, NdPr and cerium. Geologists and supply chain staff can turn to the pieces on demand projections, transport problems and the environmental side of mining these elements.

44articles

Main guides

The most complete pages on this topic
Main guideRare Earth Metals Reserves by Country, per USGSChina holds 44 million of the world’s 75-million-plus tons of rare earth reserves, says USGS. Country reserves, mine output and where the big mines are.Read article →Main guideRare Earth Mining in Canada: Reserves and CompaniesCanada holds 830,000 tonnes of rare earth reserves but mined none in 2025, per USGS. The deposits, the 17 elements and the Canadian companies to watch.Read article →Main guideUSGS Rare Earths Summary 2026 PDF and Key FiguresWorld rare earth output was 390,000 tons of REO in 2025, per the February 2026 USGS summary. Links to past PDFs, US consumption and scandium data.Read article →Main guideWhat Are Rare Earth Elements? The 17 Metals DefinedRare earth elements are 17 metals: the 15 lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Which are light or heavy, how rare they really are and where deposits form.Read article →Main guideRare Earth Elements List: All 17 Metals and Their OresThe 17 rare earth elements with symbols, atomic numbers and uses, plus the ore minerals and mines they come from and how they differ from critical minerals.Read article →Main guideNeodymium Price per kg: Oxide and NdPr Price HistoryNeodymium oxide fell from a $134/kg yearly average to $56/kg within two years, USGS data show. Oxide and NdPr price history, and the US $110/kg floor.Read article →

Case studies from our exploration projects

All case studies →
Farmonaut case studyMapping Nigeria’s Lithium with Satellite Remote SensingLithium-bearing zones mapped across Nigeria by remote sensing.Read the case study →Farmonaut case studyPolymetallic Exploration: Gold, Silver, UraniumOne scan covering gold, silver and uranium targets.Read the case study →Farmonaut case studyProven 12 g/t Non-Alluvial Gold Detection Using Satellite Technology in Kenya12 g/t non-alluvial gold confirmed in Kenya after satellite targeting.Read the case study →Farmonaut case studyCobalt Mapping in DRC: Satellite-Based Mineral ExplorationCobalt targets mapped in the DRC from satellite data.Read the case study →

Reserves, deposits and mining countries

9 articles
Rare Earth Reserves by Country, With China on TopCountry-by-country overview of rare earth minerals, deposits and reserves.Read article →USGS Rare Earth Reserves by Country, With China on TopWhat the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries report on rare earth reserves by country.Read article →US Rare Earth Minerals Map: Strategic Mining InsightsMap of US rare earth deposits, with notes on mining activity and supply chain plans.Read article →Rare Earth Mines US: Secure Strategic Supply for the FutureRare earth mines across the US and the strategic and environmental questions they raise.Read article →Chatree REE: Unlocking Thailand’s Rare Earth PowerChatree in central Thailand, once a gold mine, now drawing interest for rare earth elements.Read article →REE Israel: Unleashing Strategic Rare Earth PowerIsrael has no large rare earth mines, so its tech sector relies on sourcing and recycling.Read article →Burundi Political Risk in Rare Earth Mining: Geopolitical ChallengesPolitical risk in Burundi and what it means for rare earth mining and supply.Read article →Beach Sand Mining for Rare Earths: Timeless StrategiesExtraction methods and economics behind mining beach sands for rare earths.Read article →Rare Earth Minerals in India and What They Are Used ForBastnäsite, monazite, xenotime and other rare earth minerals, with their uses in India.Read article →

The rarest and most valuable minerals

3 articles
What Is the Rarest Ore in the World? Seven ContendersPainite leads a list of seven minerals ranked as the rarest ore, with reasons for their scarcity.Read article →The 10 Rarest Minerals on EarthProfiles each of the ten rarest minerals on Earth and why their scarcity matters.Read article →The Most Expensive Rare Earth Minerals, RankedSeven of the most valuable rare earth metals and the magnets and batteries that depend on them.Read article →

Prices and demand outlook

7 articles
Global Demand Projections for Rare Earth ElementsProjected global demand for rare earth elements across energy, magnets and infrastructure.Read article →Cost of Rare Earth Elements: Essential Uses & Full ListFull list of rare earth element costs, from cheap cerium to costly dysprosium and terbium, with uses.Read article →Elements of Mining: Rare Earth List & Price GuidePrice trends for each element on the rare earth list, and the extraction hurdles behind them.Read article →Rare Earth Metal Prices, Per Gram & Historical DataPer-gram prices for rare earth metals, with historical data showing how far elements differ.Read article →Rare Earth Price Per Ton, Cerium Price & Mineral RatesPer-ton prices for rare earths and cerium, alongside other mineral rates.Read article →NDPR Metal & Rare Earth Price Trends and ImpactNdPr metal price trends and their knock-on effects for magnet makers and miners.Read article →Neodymium Price per Kg: Global Trends and InsightsNeodymium priced per kilogram as metal or oxide, and how NdFeB magnet prices follow it.Read article →

Companies, stocks and ETFs

9 articles
Best Rare Earth Mineral Companies & Their Impact on the IndustryLeading rare earth companies and the part each plays in global supply.Read article →Top 10 Rare Earth Mining Companies in the USTen US rare earth mining companies worth knowing as the country builds its own supply.Read article →Australian Rare Earths: Top Rare Earth Stocks & CompaniesAustralian rare earth stocks and companies, and where they fit in global supply.Read article →Arafura Rare Earths Limited Forecast and AnalysisForecast and analysis for Arafura Rare Earths Limited against rising critical mineral demand.Read article →Dysprosium Mining Companies and Where Supply Comes FromDysprosium mining companies and the wider supply outlook for this strategic rare earth.Read article →Cobalt Mining Stocks in Canada’s Critical Minerals PushCanada’s critical minerals sector, with a look at its cobalt mining stocks.Read article →Rare Earth ETF List: 17 Rare Earth Elements ETFsList of rare earth ETFs set out next to the 17 elements they give exposure to.Read article →Critical Minerals ETF: 7 Powerful Trends Shaping the FutureTrends behind critical minerals ETFs and what drives the miners inside them.Read article →Global X Rare Earths ETF: Insights on Global Rare Earth Consumption and Leading Rare Earth CompaniesGlobal X Rare Earths ETF, rare earth consumption patterns and the companies the fund holds.Read article →

Uses in defence, energy and technology

8 articles
Rare Earth Elements in Defense: 7 Key AdvantagesHow rare earth elements give defence technology an edge, set out as seven advantages.Read article →Defense Applications of Rare Earths: 7 Key InnovationsStealth and other advanced defence systems that depend on rare earth elements.Read article →Which Rare Earth Metals Electric Cars UseWhich rare earth minerals and metals go into electric cars and why.Read article →Electric Vehicle Rare Earth Minerals: Key TrendsNeodymium and dysprosium in EV motor magnets, and how car sales drive their demand.Read article →Mining Electric Cars: Rare Earth Minerals for Sustainable EV Supply ChainsSourcing rare earths for EV supply chains and the environmental trade-offs involved.Read article →Rare Earths in Wind Turbine Generators: Ongoing ChallengesRole of rare earths in wind turbine generators and the supply problems still unsolved.Read article →Rare Earth Metals in Semiconductors: Advances and InnovationsSemiconductor uses of rare earth metals, plus mining and recycling trends.Read article →List of Rare Earth Metals in Cell Phones: Names & MeaningNames and meaning of the rare earth metals found inside cell phones.Read article →

Environmental and logistics challenges

2 articles
Environmental Impacts of Rare Earth Mining: 7 ChallengesSeven environmental problems rare earth mining causes, from habitat loss to toxic waste.Read article →Logistical Challenges in Transporting Rare Earth MineralsSupply chain risks and practical hurdles in moving rare earth minerals from mine to market.Read article →

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Rare earths and critical minerals: what the terms mean

The rare earth elements are a fixed chemical group of 17 metals: the 15 lanthanides from lanthanum to lutetium, plus scandium and yttrium. Geologists split them into light rare earths (lanthanum through to europium or so, including neodymium and praseodymium) and heavy rare earths (gadolinium onward, including terbium and dysprosium, with yttrium usually grouped alongside them). Our article on what rare earth elements are lists all 17.

“Critical minerals” is a policy term, and it means something different. Each government keeps its own list of minerals that matter to its economy or defense and whose supply could be disrupted. The US list is maintained by the USGS, the EU sets one under its Critical Raw Materials Act, and Australia publishes its own. Rare earths appear on all of them, but so do lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, tungsten and many others. So every rare earth is a critical mineral in most countries, while most critical minerals aren’t rare earths. “Strategic minerals” is an older, looser term for much the same idea.

Where rare earth deposits form

Rare earths aren’t especially rare in the crust. Cerium is about as common as copper. What’s rare is a deposit where they’re concentrated enough, in minerals that can be processed economically. Most production comes from a few deposit types:

  • Carbonatites and alkaline intrusions, the source of large hard-rock mines such as Mountain Pass in California and Mount Weld in Western Australia. The ore minerals are mostly bastnäsite and monazite, rich in the light elements.
  • Ionic adsorption clays, where weathering of granite leaves rare earths loosely held on clay surfaces. These are the main source of heavy rare earths, mostly in southern China and Myanmar, and they’re now being explored in Australia, Brazil and Africa.
  • Heavy mineral sands, the beach sand minerals that are mined mainly for ilmenite, rutile and zircon. Monazite and xenotime come out as by-products. Monazite contains thorium, which adds radioactive-waste handling to the processing.

Our country guide to rare earth reserves and production uses USGS figures to show where these deposits are, and beach sand mining for rare earths covers the mineral sands route.

Why dysprosium and terbium get so much attention

The biggest use of rare earths by value is the neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnet, found in electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators, hard drives, speakers and many defense systems. Neodymium and praseodymium (sold together as NdPr) make up most of the rare earth content. Small additions of dysprosium or terbium let the magnet keep its strength at high temperature, which matters in a hot traction motor. Because the heavy elements come mostly from ionic clays and are separated mostly in China, a supply problem for dysprosium has an outsized effect on magnet makers elsewhere. China has also used export licensing on rare earth materials and processing technology, which is why searches pairing dysprosium with China, Australia or Russia spike when trade news breaks. We cover producers in dysprosium mining companies.

From mine to magnet: the rare earth supply chain

Mining is only the first and often the simplest step. Ore is concentrated at the mine, then “cracked” with acid or alkali to dissolve the rare earths. The hardest part is separation: the elements are chemically so alike that solvent extraction plants need hundreds of mixer-settler stages to pull them apart into individual oxides. Oxides are reduced to metal, alloyed, and only then pressed and sintered into magnets. Most separation and magnet manufacturing capacity is in China, so a new mine in the US or Australia still needs a separation and magnet route before it changes supply. That’s why new projects talk about refineries and offtake agreements as much as about ore.

How rare earth exploration works

Explorers usually start with airborne radiometric surveys, since thorium and uranium often travel with rare earths, then follow up with soil and rock geochemistry, mapping and drilling. Satellite data helps at the regional stage. Some rare earth minerals have narrow absorption features in visible and near-infrared light, which hyperspectral sensors can pick up and broadband sensors mostly miss, and multispectral and radar data map the alteration and structure around carbonatites and intrusions. Our satellite mineral detection service adds hyperspectral data when a mineral needs narrow bands, as rare earths do, and produces ranked Exploration Targets ahead of a JORC or NI 43-101 resource estimate, not a replacement for one.

Reading rare earth company and project news

Searches for names such as Arafura Rare Earths, Rare Element Resources or Australian Rare Earths are common on this hub. We don’t give investment advice, but a few questions help make sense of any project announcement:

  • What stage is it at: exploration, scoping study, feasibility, construction or production?
  • Is there a resource reported under JORC, NI 43-101 or the US S-K 1300 rules, and how much of it is in the Measured and Indicated categories?
  • What’s the basket? The share of NdPr, dysprosium and terbium in the ore matters more than total rare earth grade.
  • Has the metallurgy been tested, and where will the concentrate be separated?
  • Are permits, funding and offtake in place?

Our Arafura analysis and the US rare earth minerals map apply these questions to real projects. For prices, rely on dated figures from the USGS or a named price reporting agency.

Common questions about rare earths

What is the difference between critical minerals and rare earth elements?

Rare earth elements are a fixed group of 17 metals defined by chemistry. Critical minerals are a policy list each government draws up based on economic importance and supply risk. Rare earths are on nearly every critical minerals list, alongside many other minerals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite.

Where are rare earth deposits found?

Mainly in carbonatites and alkaline igneous rocks, in weathered ionic clays and in heavy mineral beach sands. Large hard-rock examples include Mountain Pass in California and Mount Weld in Western Australia, while most heavy rare earths come from clay deposits in southern China and Myanmar.

Are rare earths actually rare?

Not in the crust as a whole. Several are more common than lead or tin. They’re called rare because economic concentrations are uncommon and separating the elements from each other is difficult and expensive.

Can satellites find rare earth deposits?

Satellites can narrow the search. Hyperspectral data can detect some rare earth minerals at the surface, and multispectral and radar data map the rocks and structures that host them. Targets still need ground sampling and drilling before any resource can be reported.

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