Pictures: China's Rare-Earth Minerals Monopoly

Not Rare, but Precious

Photograph from Imaginechina/Corbis

Though rare-earth minerals, comprised of 17 elements on the periodic table are called rare, they are actually common. But they are scattered in small amounts within soil such as that pictured here, at a port in Jiangsu Province, China. That makes mining rare-earth minerals costly and environmentally taxing.

Published April 3, 2012

An Increasingly Hot Commodity

Photograph by David Gray, Reuters

The U.S. Department of Energy says that deployment of clean energy technology could be slowed in the coming years by supply challenges for at least five rare-earth metals. Here, a worker pours the rare-earth metal lanthanum, which is used in camera lenses and other types of glass, into a mold at a smelting workshop in Inner Mongolia.

(Related: "Amid U.S.-China Energy Tension, 'Clean Coal' Spurs Teamwork")

Published April 3, 2012

Counting in Small Amounts

Photograph by Nelson Ching, Bloomberg/Getty Images

When combined with magnetic metals such as iron, rare-earth minerals create super-strong permanent magnets that are impossible to move with one's bare hands. A little rare-earth metal goes a long way. The strength of these rare-earth-enhanced magnets have helped to miniaturize electronics and to reduce weight in electric cars. Here, samples of rare-earth compounds are displayed in a showroom at Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Company, China's largest rare-earths producer.

Published April 3, 2012

Mining for a Monopoly

Photograph from Reuters

A worker waters the site of a rare-earth metals mine in Nancheng County, Jiangxi province. Scientists are trying to establish greater rare-earth independence by finding ways to use less or no rare earth in magnets. Some projects under way include making a rare-earth-lean magnet by using nanotechnology and creating a rare-earth-free magnet by mimicking a metal composite found in meteorites.

Published April 3, 2012

Magnetic Qualities

Photograph by Nelson Ching, Bloomberg/Getty Images

Rare-earth metal composites make strong magnets because their crystal structure aligns its magnetic orientation in one direction, creating a strong pull. Ordinary magnetic materials like iron do not have this property and can be easily demagnetized. Here, a rare-earth magnet is displayed at Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel's showroom.

Published April 3, 2012

A High Price for Mining Operations

Photograph by Frederic J. Brown, AFP/Getty Images

Lack of regulation and control over rare-earth mining activities has resulted in environmental damage. The Chinese government says one reason it wants to restrict rare-earth exports is to protect the environment. Here, farmers who live near rare-earth mining operations in Inner Mongolia discuss what they say are health effects caused by contamination of their fields. The farmers told AFP that their bodies and livelihoods had been poisoned by toxic waste from the industry.

Published April 3, 2012

Strong Pull Toward Alternatives

Photograph by Nelson Ching, Bloomberg/Getty Images

Here, a worker stands at a production facility for rare earths in Inner Mongolia. Scientists in the United States are trying to make a magnet more than twice the strength of today's strongest rare-earth magnet with 30 to 40 percent less rare earth by making the magnet at nano-scale. The reason: The pull between the atoms at less than 20 nanometers apart is especially robust.

Published April 3, 2012

Rare Earth Under Fallow Ground

Photograph by David Gray, Reuters

A villager, seen behind a field of dead crops, shovels scrap rare-earth mineral ore in Xinguang Village, Inner Mongolia. Scientists in the United States are also trying to make a rare-earth permanent magnet from cerium, one of the most abundant rare-earth metals in the world. The challenge: Cerium is unstable.

Published April 3, 2012

A Closer Look

Photograph by Zhou Ke, Xinhua Press/Corbis

A worker displays samples of rubidium, iron, and boron at a workshop in Ganzhou City. China used to export almost all its rare-earth metals, but increasingly needs more of it for its own industrial uses. That is one of the reasons the Chinese government says it is restricting exports now.

Published April 3, 2012

Sparse Competition

Photograph by John Zich, Bloomberg/Getty Images

Most production of rare-earth magnets takes place overseas in Japan and China. Above, a worker at the Excel Machine Technologies workshop in Valparaiso, Indiana, welds metal for steel. Excel used to make 80 percent of the rare-earth magnets in laser-guided U.S. smart bombs until owners moved the work to China in 2003.

Published April 3, 2012

The Challenge of Finding Substitutes

Photograph by David Gray, Reuters

One of the most difficult scientific challenges is an attempt to make a rare-earth-free permanent magnet using a metal composite found in meteorites. The composite of iron overlaid on nickel overlaid on another layer of iron takes a billion years to form in nature. Scientists are trying to speed up that process.  Above, a worker stands at a smelting workshop in Inner Mongolia, China.

Published April 3, 2012

The Mark of Success

Photograph by Zhou Ke, Xinhua Press/Corbis

Rare-earth mining has created a huge industry for China, but has exacted a price on its environment, as seen in this pockmarked mining landscape. Environmental concerns are one reason why the last U.S. rare-earth mine at Mountain Pass, California, closed in the 1980s. The Colorado-based company Molycorp has reopened the mine and said in an online release that it was on track to meet its rare-earth oxide production targets by the end of this year.

Published April 3, 2012

Changing Horizon

Photograph by David Gray, Reuters

Over the past two years, the Chinese government has made moves to consolidate the rare-earth mining industry, shutting down illegal mining companies and reportedly assembling an industry trade association in April. China has said the moves are an effort to improve environmental regulation of the industry, but consolidation will also make it easier for China to control exports.

Published April 3, 2012