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Rare earth elements face supply strain despite being abundant in Earth
Mining.com says REEs are abundant in the crust, but they are rarely found in pure form, making separation and supply harder.
Rare earth elements are often described as scarce, but Mining.com notes that the metals are not rare in the Earth’s crust, with some lanthanides, such as cerium, reported as more abundant than copper.
The outlet says the misconception comes from early analytical challenges, as separating the 17 lanthanide group metals using older methods was difficult, leading people to believe the metals were scarce.
Mining.com adds that neodymium is described as out-ranking gold by orders of magnitude, yet the global supply chain still faces a real strain.
It attributes the ongoing problem to how REEs are distributed and processed, pointing to challenges in discovery and production rather than crustal scarcity.
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