The Race for What’s Left by Klare Michael T

Author:Klare, Michael T. [Klare, Michael T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2012-03-13T07:00:00+00:00

TABLE 6.1: THE RARE EARTHS AND THEIR USES

Sources: U.S. General Accounting Office, Rare Earth Materials in the Defense Supply Chain, April 1, 2010; Keith Bradsher, “China Tightens Grip on Rare Minerals,” New York Times, September 1, 2009.

The distinctive properties of rare earths make them especially valuable for military applications. According to a 2010 briefing prepared for Congress by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), “the use of rare earth materials is widespread in defense systems. These include, among others, precision-guided munitions, lasers, communications systems, radar systems, avionics, night vision equipment, and satellites.” Specific systems cited by the GAO included the Aegis SPY-1 radar, which contains samarium-cobalt magnet components; the M1A2 Abrams tank, which uses similar technology; and the DDG-51 destroyer, which relies on a hybrid drive system employing neodymium magnets.17 Samariumcobalt magnet motors are also used to steer many precision-guided bombs and missiles and to power the tail fins of high-performance fighter aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor.18

The fact that rare earths are vital to so many high-technology applications is one reason why the Chinese restrictions on their shipment provoked such a global panic. Even more troubling to the general public was the sudden realization that China has completely monopolized the mining, processing, and refining of these materials. David Sandalow of the DoE estimates that China now accounts for some 95 percent of total worldwide rare earths production, and other experts place the figure as high as 97 percent.19 This is not because the world’s REE reserves are located exclusively in China: several other countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United States, possess significant deposits as well, and the United States used to have its own domestic REE supply chain.20 But natural concentrations of rare earths are uncommon, and so normally they must be extracted from composite ores containing many other minerals—including, in many cases, radioactive materials—through a costly and hazardous process.21 The procedure usually involves using acids of various kinds to leach rare earths from the surrounding stone, producing toxic wastes that can poison farms and water supplies unless they are carefully disposed of. By overlooking the environmental risks and lowering its production costs, China was able to undercut the other REE suppliers, eventually leading nearly all of its competitors to suspend their operations (see Table 6.2).22

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