What are rare earth metals?

The word rare earth metals often causes people to wonder what kind of metals are

being discussed. A good number of people are usually confused by the term and often

associate it with metals that are so precious that they can hardly be found on earth.

This is actually true in as far specialty is concerned. However, the rare earth metals are

actually common in the earth’s crust. They contribute to a huge fraction of the

elementsin the earth’s crust. Countries that are highly industrialised are able to extract

these metals from beneath earth’s surface. For example, Chinese producers of these

metals are able to extract them from beneath the earth’s surface using sophisticated

extraction methods.

A rare metal belongs to the group of metals that are used tomanufacture high tech products and weaponry. A goodnumber of high products that are available on the markettoday have a component which has been made of a rareearth metal or at least contain some of it. This also applies tosome of the sophisticated weaponry that is available todayand only owned by elite armies such as American and Britisharmies. Due to the major purpose for the mining andprocessing of these metals, they are often referred to astech metals. This is the name that is commonly used on thestock market platforms. They are quite expensive to buy andthey often fetch huge sums of money on the metal exchangemarket. This may explain why many people are takingadvantage of investments in technology metals.

These metals are often said to be rare because they are not common on thesurface of the earth and they are only produced by selected countries. Today,China is the leading producer of rare earth metals. More than 90 % of the totalfraction of rare earth metals that are available on the market today are producedby china. A few other producers are spread in various parts of the world includingthe United States where mining for such metals is quite serious. Another notablesource of rare earth metals is Australia which is currently merging forces withAmerican companies in a bid to escalate the mining and processing of suchmetals. There are also a few African countries which are considered as beingamong notable producers of the metals.

Rare earth metals are used in the manufacture of high techproducts and a good number of electronic products because of theproperties that they possess. In particular, they are said to possessunique magnetic properties and certain special electrochemicalattributes. They are also light enough to fit perfectly in anyelectronic device or product. There are numerous examples of rareearth metals that are known today. They number up to 17 and theiratomic numbers range between 20 and 72. There is Ytterbium,Lutetium, Thulium, Erbium and Holmium whose atomic numbersare 70, 71, 69, 68 and 67 respectively. Lithium has recently becomepopular because of its contribution to the making of batteries forthe storage of electrical energy.

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