Rare earths: Market disruption, innovation, and global supply chains
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Abstract
Rare earths, sometimes called the vitamins of modern materials, captured public attention when their prices increased more than ten-fold in 2010 and 2011. As prices fell between 2011 and 2016, rare earths receded from public view—but less visibly they became a major focus of innovative activity in companies, government laboratories and universities. Geoscientists worked to better understand the resource base and improve our knowledge about mineral deposits that will be mines in the future. Process engineers carried out research that is making primary production and recycling more efficient. Materials scientists and engineers searched for substitutes that will require fewer or no rare earths while providing properties comparable or superior to those of existing materials. As a result, even though global supply chains are not significantly different now than they were before the market disruption, the innovative activity motivated by the disruption likely will have far-reaching, if unpredictable, consequences for supply chains of rare earths in the future.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Rare earths: Market disruption, innovation, and global supply chains |
| Series title | Environment and Resources |
| DOI | 10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085700 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Annual Reviews |
| Contributing office(s) | Mineral Resources Program |
| Description | 24 p. |
| First page | 199 |
| Last page | 222 |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |