The Misleading Name Behind the Metals That Power the Modern World

The term “Rare Earth Elements” (REEs) conjures an image of scarce, exotic metals hidden deep within the Earth’s crust. Yet, this is one of the great paradoxes of modern science and industry: many of these so-called “rare” elements are not truly rare at all. Some, like cerium and lanthanum, are actually more abundant than copper, lead, or silver. So, why do we still call them “rare”?

The answer lies not in how much of them exists in nature, but how and where they occur, how difficult they are to extract, and how dependent modern technology has become on their complex chemistry. Their “rarity” is not about quantity—it’s about accessibility, concentration, and control.

1. The Origins of the Term “Rare Earth”

The name “rare earth” dates back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when European chemists first began isolating these elements from minerals found in Scandinavia.

In 1787, Swedish chemist Carl Axel Arrhenius discovered a heavy black mineral near the village of Ytterby. The mineral—later named gadolinite—was found to contain previously unknown metallic oxides. Scientists extracted a series of new elements from it, including yttrium, terbium, erbium, and ytterbium, each named after the same small village.

At that time, chemists referred to metallic oxides as “earths.” Since these new substances were unusual and unlike anything previously seen, they were called “rare earths.”

So the term “rare earth” was originally a historical label, not a measure of scarcity. It described unfamiliar minerals that were “rarely” encountered or difficult to work with—not necessarily scarce in nature.

2. The Chemistry Behind the Confusion

While most metals occur in distinct mineral deposits (for example, copper in chalcopyrite or lead in galena), rare earths behave differently. They are:

• Chemically similar to each other, making them hard to separate.

• Evenly dispersed throughout the Earth’s crust rather than concentrated in rich veins.

This dispersion means that even though there’s plenty of rare earth material in total, it’s spread thinly—more like dust scattered across the ground than gold nuggets in a stream.

For example:

• Cerium is the 25th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, about as common as copper.

• Neodymium and lanthanum are more abundant than lead.

• But promethium, one of the 17 REEs, is indeed genuinely rare—so unstable that it only exists in trace amounts as a radioactive byproduct of uranium decay.

In other words, “rare” doesn’t mean “scarce.” It means hard to find in concentrated, usable form.

3. Geological Rarity: Why Concentration Matters More Than Abundance

When we think about mining, we usually imagine ores—solid, localized rocks rich in a particular metal. Copper ore, for example, can contain 0.5% to 2% copper, which is economically viable to extract.

But rare earth ores are far less concentrated:

• Typical REE deposits contain only 0.1% to 0.2% of usable REEs.

• These elements are spread across multiple minerals, such as bastnäsite, monazite, and xenotime.

• To produce just one ton of rare earth oxide, miners may need to process hundreds of tons of rock and handle toxic waste.

Even if REEs exist in large quantities globally, the usable concentrations—or economic deposits—are few and far between. That’s what makes them “rare” in a practical sense.

4. The Separation Problem: Chemistry’s Greatest Puzzle

Another key reason for their “rarity” lies in how difficult it is to separate them once extracted.

All 17 rare earths share nearly identical ionic radii and oxidation states, which means they react in almost the same way chemically. This makes traditional separation methods ineffective.

Refining REEs involves:

1. Acid leaching to dissolve them from ores.

2. Solvent extraction using complex chemical processes.

3. Repeated purification steps—sometimes hundreds of stages—to isolate individual elements.

This process is slow, expensive, and environmentally destructive, involving large amounts of acidic wastewater and radioactive byproducts.

As a result, even though the Earth holds plenty of REEs, extracting them at scale is neither simple nor clean, which effectively makes them “rare” in the marketplace.

5. Geographic Rarity: Concentration of Production, Not Resources

While rare earths are found worldwide, economically viable mining and refining operations are extremely limited.

• China dominates global REE production, controlling roughly 60% of mining and over 85% of refining capacity.

• Australia, the U.S., Myanmar, and some African nations (like Madagascar and Tanzania) have deposits, but often lack refining infrastructure.

• Many Western nations once mined REEs but shut operations due to high environmental costs and low profitability.

This geographical imbalance creates what economists call “strategic rarity”—a situation where a resource is abundant globally but controlled by a few players.

In this sense, REEs are not geologically rare, but geopolitically rare—a reality that gives China enormous leverage in global technology and defense supply chains.

6. Economic Rarity: Cost and Complexity Drive Value

From an economic standpoint, rarity is not about abundance—it’s about availability at an affordable cost.

Mining copper or iron may involve simple smelting and purification, but rare earths require:

• Sophisticated chemical processing facilities.

• Strict waste management systems for radioactive and toxic residues.

• Specialized know-how in separating individual elements.

This makes production costly and risky, especially in countries with tight environmental regulations.

For instance:

• The Mountain Pass mine in the United States was once a major supplier of REEs but was shut down in the early 2000s due to environmental contamination.

• China’s lax regulations allowed it to produce REEs at much lower costs, effectively monopolizing the market for decades.

Therefore, even though the Earth contains plenty of REEs, the economic barriers to production make them functionally “rare.”

7. Strategic and Technological Rarity

The 21st century has turned rare earths from obscure scientific curiosities into strategic resources. Their use in:

• Electric vehicle motors

• Wind turbine generators

• Smartphones and electronics

• Defense systems (lasers, radar, precision weapons)

…has made them indispensable.

Yet because only a few countries can supply them in refined form, they’ve become strategically scarce, amplifying the meaning of “rare.”

For example:

• The U.S. military depends heavily on Chinese REE supplies for advanced weapon systems.

• A disruption in supply could halt production of F-35 fighter jets, EVs, or renewable energy equipment.

This dependency creates geopolitical vulnerability, transforming an abundant set of elements into a strategically “rare” commodity.

8. Environmental and Ethical Rarity

Another layer of rarity arises from the environmental cost of REE extraction.

Mining rare earths often leaves behind:

• Toxic tailings ponds

• Radioactive waste

• Groundwater contamination

China’s Bayan Obo mine, for instance, has faced international scrutiny for massive environmental damage. As global demand rises, so do concerns about the ethics of supply—how to source REEs responsibly without harming people and ecosystems.

New mining operations in Africa and Greenland are now focusing on sustainable extraction, but that adds another cost layer—making “clean” REEs even rarer.

9. A Modern Paradox: Abundance Without Accessibility

So, why are they called rare?
Because abundance does not equal accessibility.

REEs are rare in the ways that matter most:

• Geologically: They don’t form rich, mineable ores like copper or gold.

• Chemically: They’re too similar to separate easily.

• Economically: They’re costly and environmentally difficult to refine.

• Geopolitically: Their production is concentrated in one or two nations.

• Strategically: Modern technology cannot function without them.

Thus, their rarity is a multi-dimensional problem—not a question of how much exists, but how much can be economically and sustainably obtained.

Conclusion: The Hidden Rarity of an Abundant Treasure

The phrase “rare earths” is a reminder that scarcity in our world is not always about quantity—it’s about complexity, control, and consequence.

These elements are everywhere—in your phone, your car, your wind turbine—but they remain rare in the human sense: difficult to obtain, costly to refine, and concentrated in the hands of a few.

In truth, the real rarity lies not in the Earth’s crust but in our ability to extract and manage them responsibly. The challenge of the 21st century will be to make these “rare” elements more accessible—technologically, economically, and ethically—without sacrificing the planet they come from.

Until then, their name remains fitting: rare not in nature, but in opportunity.

                                   _______________________________

By Jo Ikeji-Uju

“Those who refine, define the future.”

https://ubuntusafa.com/Ikeji

www.ubuntusafa.com 
“Industrial wisdom is not about who finds the minerals, but who transforms them.”