The Impacts of Mining and Processing Rare Earth Elements

Rare earth elements provide convenience to modern society. That is an important factor enabling technological progress. Its diversity extends to a variety of media such as renewable energy, geographic information systems, national security, missile guidance, computer technology, hybrid cars, plastics, medical technology. Regardless of whether they know it, everyone in the world will use it. The price of rare earth mining and processing is very high.

"Rare earth elements are present in ores at very low concentrations, in parts per million, and for converting ores to very high purity (about 99.9% rare earth elements) for commercial use, It requires the mining, crushing, extraction and refining process of rare earth metals, "she said. "Normally the older technologies of the 1950s were used for separation and purification.In order to purify them simultaneously in cascade it usually required 1,800 different extraction stages.These processes are dangerous, expensive It is inefficient. "

The rare earth elements (15 kinds of lanthanides, lanthanum and cerium) are used in many advanced industries on the earth and are relatively rare in the crust of our planet. This led some to propose collecting them from the moon and asteroids. However, the REE moon deposit concentration is lower than that on the planet, and they are rarely present on asteroids. When deposits on the earth are inadequate to meet demand, or when demand is transferred to space, they may have commodity value at some point, but now we need to make money I will not use them.

When it comes to mining rare earth elements in space it basically results in the fact that it is unnecessary and encourages resource waste and continual waste of disposal on the earth Question). Rather than mine these materials, if there is anything else you can do in the universe, reduce those unnecessary consumption, force the practice of ethical mining on the earth, implement responsible electronic waste restoration , Technology should be recycled. Development provides funding. For me, rather than ignoring their externalities, we need to focus on the most necessary uses of these materials. Purchasing a new mobile phone every six months is still a waste. Rather than solving the waste and consumption on the planet, is it better to fly to the universe and asteroids? Every elementary school student knows: reduction, recycling, recycling