Over the past few years, the rare earths went from being a mostly ignored part of the periodic table to being at the forefront of the conversation for a number of commercial, technical, political and strategic reasons. Starting with some historical background, this talk explains what has happened, how these elements inconspicuously connect to our daily lives, why they are important to us and where things are likely to go in the future. Given at St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN on October 21, 2013 http://wp.stolaf.edu/physics/files/2013/10/posterTrout.pdf http://wp.stolaf.edu/physics/colloquium/

1. The Rare Earths:
Top Spot for the Bottom of the
Periodic Table
S. R. Trout
October 21, 2013

3. Outline
• Background
– Personal
– Rare Earths
• Rare Earth Sources
• Rare Earth Applications
– Lighting
– Catalysts
– Magnets
• Recycling
• The Future, Why is it so complicated?

4. Background
Stops along the way
• Univ. of Pennsylvania
• Companies
–
–
–
–
–
Recoma
Crucible
Hitachi
Magnequench
Molycorp
• Academic
– Metro State University of
Denver
– Marian University
– Alma College
– Ellis University
– Ivy Tech
• Consulting

5. Rare Earths
Sc
Y
La
Ce
Pr
Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb
Dy Ho
Er
Tm Yb
Lu

6. Rare Earths
• Ores contain all rare earths except Pm
• The rare earths are chemically very similar
• There is no shortage of ore
– Bastnasite & Monazite are the most common
• Most ores are rich in Ce, La, Nd and Pr
– Not all rare earths are rare in the Earth
• Magnetic, optical, electronic and catalytic properties vary
widely
• The lanthanide contraction
• Producers try to balance supply and demand
– And are rarely successful!

8. Dilbert, February 28, 2011

9. Critical Materials Hub
• DOE Program
–
–
–
–
$120 million, 5 years
National Labs
Academe
Industry
• Reduce criticality
Source: DOE Announcement May 2012

10. Recent RE Metal Prices

11. Global Rare Earth Production Trends
Source: U.S. Geological Survey

12. 1 km
Bayan Obo mine ,
near Baotou, China
Photo from Google Earth

13. ~1 km
Mountain Pass, CA,
source: Molycorp

14. Rare Earth Sources
• Active mines
– China
• Baotou
• Ionic Ores
• Mines coming on
stream
– USA
• Mountain Pass, CA
– Australia
• Mt. Weld
• Under Development
– Australia
• Nolan’s Bore
– Canada
• Hoidas Lake
• Nechalacho
–
–
–
–
India
Brazil
Vietnam
Russia

15. Rare Earths
Bastnasite Ore
Others Nd
2% 12% Pr
6%
Ce
49%
La
31%

16. Separating the Rare Earths
Source: ORNL

17. Rare Earth Markets
Ceramics
4%
Others Catalyst Glass
3%
5%
2%
Polishing
4%
Phosphors
31%
Do the markets
change over time?
Metal
Alloys
14%
Magnets
37%
Dollar basis
2008
Source: IMCOA

18. Early Lighting Options
Welsbach
Candoluminescence
Edison
Incandescence
Source:
Gas Light Guys
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Auer Licht

19. Lighting Phosphors

20. Lighting Phosphors
•
•
•
•
Red: Y2O3: Eu
Green: (La, Ce, Tb) PO4
Blue: BaMgAl10O17:Eu
What we see depends
on phosphor quality
Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL)
Source: GE Lighting

21. Fluorescent Lighting
• Advantages
– Higher output
• 58 lu/W vs. 13.5 lu/W
– Lower operating cost
• 10 W vs. 40 W
– Longer life
• 12,000 hrs vs. 1,000 hrs
Data source: GE Lighting
• Disadvantages
– Slightly higher price
– Difficulty dimming
– Unappealing light?
• Cheap bulb = cheap
phosphor
– Hg in bulb, special
disposal preferred

22. Automotive Catalysts
Source: BASF

23. Refining Catalysts
• Fluid Cracking Catalyst (FCC)
– Ideal for heavy crude to make gasoline
– Ion-exchanged zeolite (cat litter)
– Variable demand
• Driving season and heating season
• Available crude

24. Rare Earth Magnets
• Hard drive
Applications
– Voice Coil Motor (VCM)
– Spindle motors
– 5x108 per year
Source: Western Digital

25. Rare Earth Magnets
Applications
• Automotive
– Hybrids
– Electric vehicles
Source: Toyota

26. Recycling
• Historically unimportant
– Low value
– Difficulty
• Interest rises and falls with prices
• Center of Resource Recovery and Recycling
– Eu, Tb and Y oxides from lighting phosphors
– Nd and Dy from magnets, mainly hard drives

27. The Future
• Niels Bohr, “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.”
• Supply and Demand are dynamic
• Overreacting and underreacting are normal
–
–
–
–
•
•
•
•
•
Supply
Demand
Investors
Government
Finding equilibrium is difficult & takes time
Energy conservation is a major driver
Flexible companies are most likely to survive
Rigid companies are least likely to survive
We need to use these materials wisely

28. Rare Earths
Sc
Y
La
Ce
Pr
Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb
Dy Ho
Er
Tm Yb
Lu