Explainer: What are rare earth minerals?

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In February, US President Donald Trump said he wanted Ukraine to provide extraordinary ground elements to the United States in exchange for Kiev’s military engagement against Moscow.

A part of the “victory plan”, a war strategy that President Wolodimer Zelinsky gave to Ukrainian friends, including Trump in 2024, is reflected in the statement of the US president.

Among other things, the project proposes to reach agreements with foreign partners to provide shared access to valuable resources from Ukraine strategy.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to all kinds of important minerals or only rare lands. He said the United States wants a contract with Ukraine for “their rare lands and other things”.

Rare lands are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that move electricity for electric vehicles, cell phones, missile systems and other electronics. There is no known alternative.

China is the world’s largest producer of rare lands and many other major minerals.

Trump has also expressed interest in building a Greenland area of ​​Denmark, which is also sitting on large land reserves, which has been a part of the United States since its re -election.

The American Geological Survey considers 50 minerals critical, including several types of rare lands, nickels and lithium.

According to the Ministry of Economy data, Ukraine has 22 out of 34 minerals by the European Union. This includes industrial and construction materials, ferocals, valuable and non -existent metals and some rare elements of the earth. Ukraine also has significant coal reserves. However, most of them are now under Russia’s control in the occupied territory.

The importance of rare lands

17 Silver white land minerals are not unusual in the soil layer. But it is more difficult to find the reserves that are economically active, and is important to separate them in complex processes.

China is about 60 % of global rare land earrings, but its share jumps up to 90 % of processed rare land and magnet production.

Below are the complex steps that are required to eliminate rare lands as a magnet used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. In the coming years, two important sectors are demanding.

Ore

The ore is first removed from the open pit or the underground ear, crushed and usually shifted to the plant, near the mine site.

The ore contains a slight percentage of rare lands, but other minerals are removed through flutation, magnetic or electro static processing to create a mixed rare land focus that often contains 60 to 70 % rare earth.

Other operations produce a rare land as a mining waste side product or other metals such as mineral sand or iron ore.

Radio Activity

Some types of ore, such as Monazite, have to take another step to remove radioactive thorium or uranium from acid, often use acid.

Separation

The most difficult move is to separate individual rare lands from one another. This technology was first developed after World War II in the US government’s research laboratories.

Separation can be met by using ion exchange technology. It can also be done using solvents such as ammonia, hydrochloric acid and sulfate, although some chemicals produce toxic waste that can cause cancer.

The so -called light and heavy rare lands should go through different separation circuits where individual rare lands are removed.

New environmentally friendly technologies are being developed, but they have not yet been widely used.

Metals/mix

The oxide of the separate rare earth is then turned into rare metals of the soil through electrolysis.

The most used permanent magnets combine the neoedium and presidesmium of rare lands with iron and borne, which are put into a vacuum induction furnace for the formation of Egypt. Magnets include small amounts of rare arthritis and tribiums in small quantities to create high heat resistance.

Magnets

Elephas are broken into micron -sized powder in nitrogen and argon environments and jets are found, which undergo a high temperature and pressure process called “centenning” before pressing into the magnets.