Rare Earth Minerals - Essay Example

According to the IUPAC, these elements include Yttrium, Scandium and the fifteen Lanthanoids of the periodic table. Yttrium and Scandium exhibit similar physical and chemical properties. They usually exist in their compound forms in the same ore deposits and that is the reason why they are termed as rare (Saunders, p23). With the exception of the radio active promethium, the rest of the rare earth minerals are relatively plentiful and they are distributed all over the earth’s crust inform of ores or minerals.

Centum is one of the rare earth’s element, however, it is the 25th most abundant element with a concentration of 68 part per million (Saunders, p24). Due to their geochemical properties, these elements are greatly dispersed all over the earth’s crust and are only found in traceable amounts which can be economically mined in the forms referred to us rare earth minerals. The question that we should asks ourselves, is why the united States hire and pay China to ship in these minerals to manufacture products such as missiles even though they are equally distributed across the globe?

It should be noted, that most countries have little interest to mine and exploit these elements since they have several negative effects on the surrounding. One of the most dangerous wastes resulting from the exploitation of these minerals is the radioactive waste byproducts which many countries still can not handle (OECD Nuclear Energy Agency p37). This is the reason why the U.S. shut down its largest rare mineral mine at the Mountain Pass California. Currently, China is the leading producer of cheap electronic gadgets made from these rare earth minerals mined at high environmental costs.

What is their worth? The prices of the rare earth minerals increased significantly between January and August 2010 by an average of 300 per cent. For example, the Samarium, a rare mineral that aids navigation in M1A2 Abrahams tanks has increased from $4.5 per kilogram to $34 per kilogram (Geological survey(US), p61). This is attributed to the artificial intervention by the Chinese government. Most of the industries all over the world including the U.S. industries have been relocated to China because the Chinese manufacturing firms that utilize the rare earth minerals enjoy monopoly powers.

Some of the industries that have relocated to China due to Tax break and Quotas include Diaodo Electronics (Japan), Rhodia Group (France), General Electric (USA) and New Material Technology (Canada) (Geological survey(US), p62). Foreign international firms have collaborated with the Chinese local enterprises since the Quotas system only relate to raw materials but not the finished or partially finished rare earth minerals’ products. A Chinese investor, Rogers, told Indian business television, that “The future of the rare earth is great.

What is happening is the prices are going through the roof because the Chinese do control the supply. But it is a pure simple capitalistic economics now” (Geological survey (US), p64). Production of the rare earth mineral across the world The current survey that was conducted established that the total amount of rare earth minerals in the entire world is approximately 99 million tones. The United States and China are the key producers of these reserves. China controls about 36 million tones, which is 30 per cent of the total