Rare earth metals

Rare earth metals in Russia

Main article: Rare earth metals in Russia

History

2024

The volume of the rare earth metals market reached $6.5 billion

The market for copper, a key metal of the electrification era, is estimated at $213 billion, which is 33 times the market for rare earth metals. But it is the latter that in the 2020s become the point of strategic tension in the global economy.

China mines 69% of rare earth metals and more than 90% of their processing

At this time, China controls more than 90% of the world's processing of rare earth metals, effectively dictating conditions to the West and turning supplies into a lever of political pressure.

Realizing the dependence,, USA, and EU Australia Canada launch multibillion-dollar investment programs to create alternative capacities. In the coming years, it is rare earth projects that may become the new frontier of commodity investments.

China, Brazil and India lead rare earth reserves

In January 2025, the US Geological Survey (USGS) published data on the reserves of rare earth metals (REM) in the world. According to the agency's report, the world reserves of REM in 2024 amounted to about 90 million tons, and the annual production of these metals reached 390 thousand tons.

With more than 40% of the world's reserves, China is a leader in the extraction and processing of rare earth metals. The volume of its reserves by the end of 2024 was measured at 44 million tons. The PRC concentrates the main production facilities for the production of final products, including individual compounds and metals. Key fields are located in the Bayan-Obo region (Inner Mongolia) and in South China. China also controls about 90% of the world's separated REM capacity.

According to USGS estimates, by the end of 2024, there were 3.8 million tons of rare earth metal reserves in Russia. Other major players in the REM market also include the United States, Australia and Myanmar. In the United States, metal production is steadily increasing: from 41.6 thousand tons in 2023 to 45 thousand tons in 2024, which is associated with the development of deposits such as Mountain Pass. Despite the decline in production from 16 thousand tons to 13 thousand tons, Australia remains important in the world market due to significant reserves (5.7 million tons). Myanmar, although it does not publish data on its reserves, continues to be an important supplier of REM in Southeast Asia, with production of 43 thousand tons in 2023 and 31 thousand tons in 2024.

Brazil has large reserves of rare earth metals, especially in the form of monacite sands, which contain lanthanides. India also has significant REM deposits located in the states of Orissa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. State-owned IREL (India) Limited plays a key role in the extraction and processing of these elements.^[1]

2021: China and US lead rare earth mining

1990s: Deng Xiaoping foresees the value of rare earth metals to China's future

Back in the 1990s, former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping foresaw the value of rare earth metals, saying: "The Middle East has oil, and China has rare earth metals."

He realized: a small but critical industry is able to give the country a geo-economic influence comparable to OPEC oil, adhering to century-old Chinese wisdom: "A victorious strategist first wins and then seeks battle; the defeated first fights and then seeks the victory of the "Sun Tzu" Art of War. "

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