Rare Earth Minerals List: All 17 Elements, Uses & Sources

The rare earth minerals list has 17 members: the 15 lanthanides (atomic numbers 57–71) plus scandium and yttrium, which share similar chemistry and turn up in the same ore deposits. In 2025, global mine production totaled 390,000 tonnes, with China producing 270,000 tonnes (69% of world supply) and the United States producing the equivalent of 51,000 tonnes of rare-earth oxide worth $240 million, according to USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. Below is every element, its symbol, its main source mineral, and what current government data says about supply, price, and import dependence.

The Rare Earth Minerals List: All 17 Elements

Here is the complete rare earth metals list, grouped the way geologists group them: 15 lanthanides, plus scandium and yttrium, which associate with the lanthanides in the same ore bodies and share their chemistry closely enough to be classified alongside them.

1. Lanthanum (La) — light rare earth, atomic number 57
2. Cerium (Ce) — light rare earth, atomic number 58, most abundant of the 17
3. Praseodymium (Pr) — light rare earth, atomic number 59
4. Neodymium (Nd) — light rare earth, atomic number 60
5. Promethium (Pm) — atomic number 61, radioactive, no stable isotopes, occurs only in trace amounts from uranium decay
6. Samarium (Sm) — atomic number 62
7. Europium (Eu) — atomic number 63
8. Gadolinium (Gd) — atomic number 64
9. Terbium (Tb) — heavy rare earth, atomic number 65
10. Dysprosium (Dy) — heavy rare earth, atomic number 66
11. Holmium (Ho) — heavy rare earth, atomic number 67
12. Erbium (Er) — heavy rare earth, atomic number 68
13. Thulium (Tm) — heavy rare earth, atomic number 69
14. Ytterbium (Yb) — heavy rare earth, atomic number 70
15. Lutetium (Lu) — heavy rare earth, atomic number 71
16. Scandium (Sc) — atomic number 21, chemically similar but geologically distinct
17. Yttrium (Y) — atomic number 39, classified as a heavy rare earth by convention

This same 17-element list answers several ways people phrase the search: a list of rare earth minerals, a list of rare earth metals, and a list of rare metals all point to this group, though “rare metals” in trade and defense contexts sometimes also includes non-lanthanide elements like tantalum, niobium, and tungsten that are scarce but chemically unrelated to the lanthanide series.

Rare Earths vs Rare Metals and Critical Minerals

Three terms get mixed up in searches. “Rare earth elements” is a fixed chemical group: the 17 elements listed above. “Rare metals” has no official definition and is used loosely in trade. “Critical minerals” is a government list based on supply risk.

In the United States, that list comes from USGS. The Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals, published in the Federal Register on November 7, 2025, has 60 entries. It keeps all 50 minerals from the 2022 list and adds 10 more.

Sixteen of the 17 rare earths appear on the 2025 list by name. Promethium is the only one left off. So every rare earth except promethium is a US critical mineral, but most critical minerals, such as lithium or cobalt, are not rare earths.

Rare metals list: common examples outside the 17

People who search for a list of rare metals usually mean scarce or strategic metals, not this chemical group. Common examples on the US 2025 critical minerals list are tantalum, niobium, tungsten, gallium, germanium, indium, beryllium and rhenium. For the scarcest metals by crustal abundance, see our guide to the rarest metals.

Rare minerals list: a different question

A rare mineral is a rare species, often a gem, rather than a source of rare earths. Painite is the classic example; see painite prices and the rarest mineral. Bastnaesite and monazite, by contrast, are mined at industrial scale.

What Are Rare Earth Metals? Rarity vs. Reality

None of the 17 rare earth elements are geologically scarce — cerium is more common in the earth’s crust than copper. The name refers to how difficult they are to find in ore bodies concentrated enough to mine economically, and how hard they are to separate from one another once mined, since all 17 share nearly identical chemical behavior. The three principal ore minerals are bastnaesite (a fluorocarbonate, the main source in China’s Bayan Obo deposit and California’s Mountain Pass mine), monazite (a phosphate mineral that also carries thorium, requiring radioactive-waste handling during processing), and xenotime (a phosphate enriched in the heavier rare earths like dysprosium and yttrium).

USGS groups lanthanum through gadolinium (atomic numbers 57–64) as the “light” rare earths and terbium through lutetium (65–71), plus yttrium (39), as the “heavy” rare earths; some authorities also count europium and gadolinium as heavy. Light rare earths are far more abundant in typical ore and cost less to produce; heavy rare earths — especially dysprosium and terbium, used in high-strength permanent magnets — are scarcer in most deposits and command prices ten to a thousand times higher, a gap detailed in the pricing table below.

Rare Earth Ore Minerals and Major Deposits

According to a USGS fact sheet, economic rare earth deposits form in four settings: carbonatites, alkaline igneous rocks, ion-adsorption clays and monazite-xenotime placers.

• Bastnäsite, a rare earth carbonate-fluorine mineral, is the main ore mineral in the world’s largest deposits.
• Monazite, a rare earth-thorium phosphate, is recovered as a byproduct of mining beach sands for ilmenite, rutile and zircon.
• Xenotime (YPO₄) has been recovered as a source of yttrium, mostly as a byproduct of tin placers.
• Ion-adsorption clays in southern China are the world’s main source of heavy rare earths. They grade only about 0.04 to 0.25% rare earth oxides, but the metals come off the clay with weak acids.

Grade is the share of rare earth oxide in the ore, often written TREO (total rare earth oxides). Grade alone does not set value, because the mix matters: clays at 0.04–0.25% (USGS) can pay because they hold heavy elements and leach easily. USA Rare Earth agreed in April 2026 to buy Serra Verde, owner of Pela Ema, for about US$2.8 billion, and Mining Technology reports a phase-one goal of about 6,400 tonnes of TREO a year by the end of 2027. For US ground, see the US rare earth map, Wyoming deposits and rare earth exploration companies.

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Comparative Data Table: Groups, Sources and Uses

Source minerals are drawn from standard USGS commodity descriptions; where an element occurs only as a trace byproduct (promethium, scandium), it is not mined as a primary ore target anywhere in the world.

Who Produces Them: US, China, Australia, Myanmar

USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 reports 2025 mine production (rare-earth-oxide equivalent) as: China 270,000 tonnes, the United States 51,000 tonnes, Australia 29,000 tonnes, and Burma (Myanmar) 22,000 tonnes, against a global total of 390,000 tonnes. That puts China at 69% of world mine output, the US at 13%, Australia at 7%, and Myanmar at 6%, with the remaining roughly 5% spread across other producing countries. US production comes almost entirely as bastnaesite concentrate, mined at Mountain Pass, California, and valued at $240 million for 2025.

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Rare earth reserves, selected countries

Million tonnes of rare earth oxide, USGS 2026; world total above 75

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Rare earth mine production, selected countries, 2025

Tonnes of rare earth oxide equivalent, USGS estimates; world total 390,000

These are mine-production figures, not processing or magnet-manufacturing capacity — China’s dominance in separating and refining rare earths into usable oxides and metals is even larger than its mining share, though USGS does not publish a country-level breakdown of separation capacity in tonnes per year. Country-level separation-capacity estimates come from industry analysts rather than the USGS summary.

Reserves are spread differently from output. USGS lists China at 44 million tonnes, Brazil at 11 million and Australia at 6.3 million, yet Brazil mined only about 2,000 tonnes in 2025. MP Materials reported 50,692 tonnes of REO in concentrate at Mountain Pass for 2025 (Form 10-K), up 12% on 2024.

Rare Earth Metal Prices: What USGS and Market Data Show

Prices across the 17-element list span three orders of magnitude. USGS’s 2025 average oxide prices put lanthanum oxide at $1.00 per kg and cerium oxide at $1.71 per kg — the two most abundant, least differentiated elements — while dysprosium oxide averaged $239 per kg and terbium oxide averaged $1,010 per kg, reflecting their scarcity in typical ore and their necessity in high-performance magnets. The magnet-grade blend of praseodymium and neodymium (NdPr) has risen since: the October 2026 Rare Earth Exchanges price panel, updated October 17, shows NdPr oxide at US$103–106 per kg in China and US$125–140 per kg outside China.

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NdPr and dysprosium oxide, annual average

US$ per kg, USGS; 2025 is an estimate

That roughly 1,000-to-1 spread between lanthanum and terbium is the single most useful number for judging supply risk: elements clustered at the low end (La, Ce) are traded more like bulk commodities, while the high-priced heavy rare earths (Tb, Dy) are the ones defense and EV-motor supply chains actually worry about running short of. NdPr prices move week to week, so always check the date on any quote.

Rare earth elements price per kg, element by element

USGS reports annual averages for 15 of the 17 (light, heavy, yttrium, scandium); its tables give no price for promethium or thulium. Scandium is the 2025 figure for 99.99% powder in 5–100 kg lots.

China and outside-China prices have split

A single price no longer describes the market. The Rare Earth Exchanges panel for October 2026 shows dysprosium oxide at US$196–201 per kg in China against US$2,500–5,500 outside it, and terbium oxide at US$896–904 against US$10,000–13,000. The panel draws on reported trades, bids and market indications, and it flags some outside-China quotes as resting on few reports, so treat them as indications rather than an exchange price. Our neodymium cost guide covers NdPr in more depth.

China’s Rare Earth Export Controls: What Is Licensed Now

Export licensing now matters as much as mine output for the heavier elements. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 records three steps in 2025:

• April 2025: China added controls on alloys, compounds, metals and oxides of samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium.
• October 2025: controls were widened to europium, holmium, erbium, thulium and ytterbium.
• November 2025: China suspended the October controls for one year. The April controls stayed in effect, though China began issuing general export licences to selected exporters.

USGS 2025 average prices for the April-listed elements, in US dollars per kg of oxide (USGS rare earths, heavy rare earths, yttrium, scandium):

The United States relied on imports for 100% of its heavy rare earths, yttrium and scandium in 2025, per USGS.

The date to watch: the one-year pause on the October 2025 controls is set to expire on 10 November 2026, per reporting from April 2026. Check China’s Ministry of Commerce notices for what follows.

US Import Reliance and the Strategic Reserve

The United States imported an estimated 21,000 tonnes (REO equivalent) of rare-earth compounds and about 1,450 tonnes of rare-earth metals and alloys, including ferrocerium, in 2025, and USGS calculates net import reliance at 67% of US consumption for rare-earth compounds and metals overall — with scandium at 100% import reliance, since no US mine currently produces it as a primary product. From 2021 to 2024, 71% of US imports of rare-earth compounds and metals came from China, and catalysts were the leading US end use, while magnets led worldwide.

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Where US rare-earth compound and metal imports came from

Share of imports, 2021–24

Washington’s policy response has been direct funding rather than tariffs alone: the White House’s Project Vault Initiative announced $12 billion for a Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve on February 2, 2026, aimed at reducing reliance on single-country supply, according to a Congressional Research Service brief. Whether that funding measurably shifts the 67% import-reliance figure will show up in USGS’s next annual summary and in the quarterly trade data USGS publishes on its commodity portal — that is the number to check before assuming today’s reliance figure still holds.

For the underlying government data behind every figure in this section, see USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (Rare Earths) and the Congressional Research Service brief on US rare earth supply chains.

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Import Exposure Calculator

Estimate how much of your organization’s rare-earth material spend is exposed to China-origin supply, using USGS’s 2021–24 US import-share figure as your starting baseline.

Assumptions: uses USGS’s 2021–24 US-wide average of 71% China-origin import share as the default — your own supplier mix may differ substantially by element and contract. Excludes domestic Mountain Pass-sourced material, price volatility, and processing/separation location (a metal mined outside China can still be refined there). Treat the output as a planning estimate, not an audit figure.

Rare Earth Metals in Mining and Mineral Processing

The mining sector both supplies rare earths and depends on them for its own equipment. Dysprosium and terbium are added to neodymium magnets so they keep working at high operating temperatures, which is why heat-tolerant electric motors depend on them.

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• Heat-resistant magnets: dysprosium and terbium additives stabilize neodymium magnets in high-temperature motors.
• Advanced ore separation: Rare-earth magnet technology underpins high-intensity magnetic separation used to concentrate valuable minerals and reject waste rock.
• Refining bottleneck: a concentrate mined outside China may still be separated there, so mine output alone does not show who controls supply.

The strategic tension is direct: the same 2025 US production figure of 51,000 tonnes that makes Mountain Pass the country’s only mine producing bastnaesite as a primary rare-earth product (monazite also comes from heavy-mineral-sand operations in the Southeast) also has to supply the magnet feedstock that US mining and defense manufacturers need, while 71% of actual US rare-earth imports still come from China. That gap is exactly what the $12 billion Project Vault Initiative reserve, announced February 2, 2026, is designed to narrow — though its measurable effect on import-reliance won’t be visible until USGS’s next annual and quarterly releases.

For consultants screening rare earth ground, the first questions are host rock, mineral mix and whether monazite’s thorium adds handling cost. Satellite screening can narrow where to map and sample ahead of drilling; Farmonaut’s results are exploration targets that sit ahead of any resource estimate. Our other products sit outside this guide: traceability, carbon footprinting, fleet management, the farm admin app and the API documentation, with farm guides on fertilizer optimization and new techniques.

FAQ: Rare Earth Minerals List

What is the full rare earth minerals list?

All 17 elements: lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium.

Is the rare earth metals list the same as the rare earth elements list?

Yes. Both name the same 17 elements. Strictly, the elements are metals, while a rare earth mineral is the ore that holds them, such as bastnaesite or monazite.

What are some examples of rare earth minerals?

The three main ore minerals are bastnaesite, monazite and xenotime. Ion-adsorption clays are also a major source, though the metals sit on the clay surface rather than in a mineral of their own.

What are some examples of rare earth metals?

Neodymium and praseodymium for magnets, dysprosium and terbium for heat-resistant magnets, cerium for catalytic converters and polishing, and lanthanum for refinery catalysts.

Are rare earth minerals actually rare?

Not geologically. USGS says cerium is more common in the crust than copper or lead. Deposits rich enough to mine are the scarce part, and the 17 are hard to separate from one another.

Which rare earths are light and which are heavy?

In the USGS fact sheet, lanthanum through gadolinium are light. Terbium through lutetium are heavy, and yttrium is grouped with them. Some authorities also count europium and gadolinium as heavy.

Is lithium a rare earth metal?

No. Lithium, cobalt, tantalum and tungsten are not among the 17. Several appear on the US critical minerals list, which is a separate, policy-based list.

What is the price of rare earth elements per kg?

It depends on the element. USGS 2025 averages run from US$1.00 per kg for lanthanum oxide to US$1,010 per kg for terbium oxide. The October 2026 Rare Earth Exchanges panel shows NdPr oxide at US$103–106 per kg in China.

Which country produces the most rare earth minerals?

China, with an estimated 270,000 tonnes of the 390,000-tonne world total in 2025, or 69%, per USGS.

How reliant is the United States on imported rare earths?

USGS put 2025 net import reliance at 67% for rare-earth compounds and metals, and at 100% for heavy rare earths, yttrium and scandium. China supplied 71% of imports of compounds and metals over 2021–24.

How much does the US produce of each rare earth element?

USGS publishes only the combined oxide-equivalent total, 51,000 tonnes for 2025, with no public split by element.

What are US rare earth reserves?

USGS lists 1.9 million tonnes of rare earth oxide for the United States, against more than 75 million tonnes worldwide, of which China holds 44 million.

Conclusion

The rare earth minerals list is fixed at 17 elements, but the supply picture around them keeps moving: 390,000 tonnes of global mine production in 2025, a 1,000-to-1 price gap between the cheapest and most expensive oxides, and a US import-reliance figure of 67% that federal policy is now trying to bring down with direct funding. To keep using this page as a reference rather than a snapshot, check USGS’s Mineral Commodity Summaries release each year for updated production and price figures, and track Shanghai Metals Market or a similar aggregator for spot prices between annual updates. The element list itself will not change; the numbers around it will, and that is the part worth re-checking.