Critical Materials Rare Earths
Supply Chain: A Situational
White Paper

April 2020

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The DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office(AMO) partners with industry, small business, universities, and other stakeholders to identify and invest in
emerging technologies with the potential to create high-quality domestic manufacturing jobs and enhance theglobal competitiveness of the United States.

Disclaimer
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government.
Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any
warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, orusefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not
infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service bytrade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement,
recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinionsof authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any
agency thereof.

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Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................... 1
The Department of Energy’s Role .......................................................................................................... 2
Strategic Response ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Key Takeaways ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
Status of the Industry ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Background ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Mining .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Concentration ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Separation & Processing......................................................................................................................... 7
Magnet Manufacturing ........................................................................................................................... 8
Recycling ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Challenges............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Permitting ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Technology Transfer .............................................................................................................................. 8Market .................................................................................................................................................... 9
Workforce Development ...................................................................................................................... 10
Opportunities ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Innovation Ecosystem .......................................................................................................................... 10
R&D Solutions ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Cross-cutting Themes .......................................................................................................................... 10
Characterization, Mining, and Concentration ...................................................................................... 11
Separation and Processing ................................................................................................................... 11
Magnet Manufacturing ........................................................................................................................ 11
Supply Chain Development ................................................................................................................. 12
Next Steps ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................ 13iv

Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

List of Figures
Figure 1. Methodology for Critical Mineral Determination ................................................................................. 1
Figure 2. Summary of Supply Chain Challenges and Opportunities .................................................................... 5
Figure 3. Rare Earth Oxides.................................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 4. Rare Earth Element Supply Chain for Neodymium Iron Boron Magnets ............................................. 6v

Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

Introduction
The assured supply of critical materials and the resiliency of their
supply chains are essential to the economic prosperity andnational defense of the United States. The manufacturing anddeployment of these goods provides employment for American
workers and contributes to U.S. economic growth. The UnitedStates is dependent on foreign sources of critical materials.
Building on a determination methodology 1 (see Figure 1), of the
35 minerals or mineral material groups identified as critical in thelist 2 published in the Federal Register by the Secretary of theInterior, the nation is 100% net import reliant for 14 3 and is morethan 50% import-reliant for 17 of the remaining 29 mineralcommodities. 4 This import dependence is a problem when it puts
supply chains and U.S. companies and material users at risk.
Many foreign sources of critical materials are concentrated in justone or two countries. For example, 60% of the world’s cobalt ismined in the Democratic of Congo, and 80% of that supply is
processed in China. 5 The dependency of the nation on foreignsources of critical materials creates a strategic vulnerability forboth our economy and our military with respect to adverse foreign
government actions, natural disasters, and other events that
could disrupt supply.

Figure 1. Methodology for Critical
Mineral Determinationi.

A non-fuel mineral or mineral material
essential to the economic and national
security of the United States;ii.

the supply chain of which is vulnerable
to disruption; andiii.

that serves an essential function in the
manufacturing of a product, the absenceof which would have significant
consequences for our economy or our
national security.

To address this problem and reduce the Nation’svulnerability to disruptions in the supply of criticalminerals, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive
Order (EO) 13817, A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secureand Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals, 6 on December
20, 2017. The EO directs the Secretary of Commerce, incoordination with heads of selected executive branchagencies and offices, to submit a report to the President
that includes:I.

a strategy to reduce the Nation’s reliance on criticalminerals;

Critical Mineral** Definition in EO 13817.6

1

Fortier et al. Draft Critical Mineral List—Summary of Methodology and Background Information—U.S. Geological Survey Technical Input Document in
Response to Secretarial Order No. 3359. U.S. Geological Survey. 2018. Available online at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2018/1021/ofr20181021.pdf.
2
Aluminum (bauxite), antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, cesium, chromium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite (natural),hafnium, helium, indium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, niobium, platinum group metals, potash, rare earth elements group, rhenium, rubidium,scandium, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium.
3
Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020. U.S. Geological Survey. 2020. Available online at: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/mcs2020.

4
Final List of Critical Minerals 2018, U.S. Department of the Interior. 83 Fed. Reg. 23295; 2018. Available online at:https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/05/18/2018-10667/final-list-of-critical-minerals-2018.
5
Supra 3. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020. U.S. Geological Survey. 2020.

6
Executive Order 13817. Executive Office of the President. December 2017. Available online at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidentialactions/presidential-executive-order-federal-strategy-ensure-secure-reliable-supplies-critical-minerals/.

1

Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White PaperII.

an assessment of progress toward developing critical minerals recycling and reprocessing technologies,
and technological alternatives to critical minerals;III.

options for accessing and developing critical minerals through investment and trade with our allies andpartners;IV.

a plan to improve the topographic, geologic, and geophysical mapping of the United States and make theresulting data and metadata electronically accessible, to the extent permitted by law and subject toappropriate limitations for purposes of privacy and security, to support private sector mineral explorationof critical minerals; andV.

recommendations to streamline permitting and review processes related to developing leases; enhancing
access to critical mineral resources; and increasing discovery, production, and domestic refining of
critical minerals.

The Department of Commerce (DOC) subsequently published the report to the President on June 4, 2019. 7

The Department of Energy’s Role

The approach of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) to address critical materials is in alignment with the
Executive Order. Within DOE, research and development (R&D) investments are coordinated among the
program offices agency-wide around three pillars to address supply chain disruption risks:

1. Diversifying supply of critical materials – including increasing domestic production, separations, andprocessing

2. Developing substitutes
3. Driving recycling, reuse, and more efficient use of critical materials.
Activities at DOE that support pillar 1, increasing domestic production of critical materials, are briefly
highlighted here, but do not represent a complete list of DOE investments or activities.
1. The Department conducts on-going assessment of material criticality across a range of energy
technologies based on importance to energy and potential for supply risk. These assessments informR&D investments across DOE’s program offices.
2. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has established the Critical Materials
Institute, an Energy Innovation Hub managed by the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), which
carries out early-stage applied research to diversify supply, develop substitutes, and drive reuse andrecycling of materials critical to clean energy technologies. EERE has also invested and continues toinvest in the recovery of critical materials, such as lithium from geothermal brines (through the
Geothermal Technologies Office and AMO).
3. The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) funds the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Feasibilityof Recovering Rare Earth Elements Program focuses on developing technologies for the recovery of rareearth elements and critical minerals from coal and coal-based resources.

7

A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Materials. U.S. Department of Commerce. June 2019. Available online at:https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/2020-01/Critical_Minerals_Strategy_Final.pdf.

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Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

4. The Office of Science invests in fundamental research to advanced understanding of critical materials
down to the atomic level. This enables the development of novel synthesis techniques that control
properties at the atomic level to develop unique capabilities for the preparation, purification, processing,and fabrication of well-characterized materials.

Strategic Response
Addressing vulnerabilities in the critical minerals supply chain through an increase in domestic exploration,
production, substitutes, technological alternatives, recycling, reprocessing, industry incentives, and R&D
investments would help reduce our Nation’s reliance on imports, preserve our leadership in technologicalinnovation, support job creation, and improve our national security and balance of trade. In response to EO
13817, A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals was published by the
Department of Commerce (DOC), in coordination with Federal agencies including the DOE, on June 4, 2019.
The National Science & Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Critical Minerals (CMS) is theinteragency body that will coordinate implementation of the Federal Strategy. An organizing principle of thisstrategy is to address the full supply chain of critical minerals, which spans from securement of raw materials
to end-uses in both civilian and defense applications. The strategy is organized around six Calls to Action,
supported by 24 goals with corresponding specific agency level recommendations that will be pursued over the
next five years. DOE has key activities in the bolded Calls to Action below.
1. Advance Transformational Research, Development and Deployment across Critical Mineral Supply
Chains: Assesses progress toward developing critical minerals recycling and reprocessing technologies,
technological alternatives to critical minerals, source diversification, and improving processes for criticalmineral extraction, separation, purification, and alloying.
2. Strengthen America’s Critical Mineral Supply Chains and Defense Industrial Base: Discusses ways toimprove critical mineral supply chains, which could help reduce risks to U.S. supply by increasing
domestic critical mineral resource development, building robust downstream manufacturing capabilities,
and ensuring sufficient productive capacity.
3. Enhance International Trade and Cooperation related to Critical Minerals: Identifies options foraccessing and developing critical minerals through investment and trade with America’s allies, discusses
areas for international collaboration and cooperation, and ensures robust enforcement of U.S. trade laws
and international agreements that help address adverse impacts of market-distorting foreign tradeconduct.
4. Improve Understanding of Domestic Critical Mineral Resources: Provides a plan to improve thetopographic, geologic, and geophysical mapping of the U.S., support mineral information collection, andconduct critical mineral resource assessments.
5. Improve Access to Domestic Critical Mineral Resources on Federal Lands and Federal Permitting
Timeframes: Summarizes recommendations to streamline permitting and review processes related todeveloping mining claims or leases and enhancing access to domestic critical mineral resources;
6. Grow the American Critical Minerals Workforce: Discusses the activities needed to develop andmaintain a strong domestic workforce to foster a robust domestic industrial base.

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Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

DOE is the lead for Call to Action 1 of the Federal Strategy. As such DOE implementation will achieve thefollowing goals, in coordination with broad Federal agency input 8, which support the Calls to Action above:• Develop a roadmap that identifies key R&D needs and coordinates on-going activities for source
diversification, more efficient use, recycling, and substitution for critical minerals; as well as crosscutting mining science, data science techniques, materials science, manufacturing science andengineering, computational modeling, and environmental health and safety R&D. (DOE, DOC [NIST,NOAA], DOD, and EPA; 2-4 years)• Complete technical and economic feasibility studies of the production of critical minerals and related
manufactured materials from secondary and unconventional sources (including coal-based resources,mine tailings, smelter slag, waste streams, end-of-life products, and seawater deposits). (DOE, DOC(NOAA), DOD, DOI [(USGS)], and EPA; 1-2 years)• Provide private industry and other external stakeholders’ access to computing capabilities, testing, andvalidation support facilities by lowering barriers to engage with government and academic laboratories,
institutes, and organizations. (DOE, DOC [NOAA], DOD, and DOI [USGS]; 2-4 years)• Identify potential significant secondary and unconventional sources of critical minerals, as well as thetechnological developments needed to improve domestic recovery capability. Provide a periodic status
update to the CMS. (DOE, DOD, DOI [USGS], and EPA; ongoing)
To implement the Federal Strategy, DOE’s Offices of EERE and FE hosted a Critical Minerals Rare Earths
Supply Chain Roundtable and Workshop at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado on October 31
and November 1, 2019. Stakeholders from across the U.S. rare earths supply chain including industry,
academia, Federal government, and national labs were convened to discuss the challenges and opportunities tostrengthen the rare earths supply chain. A limited number of international participants representing Canada,
Australia, and Japan also attended. This stakeholder discussion aimed to identify the potential for increased
international collaboration and inform a research and developed (R&D) critical materials roadmap, as part of
execution of the Federal Strategy.
The focus of this meeting was on the up-to-midstream rare earths supply chain (Figure 3), spanning extraction
and concentration of rare earths from conventional and unconventional sources, separation into rare earthoxides, and conversion to metals and alloys. Discussion also included manufacturing of neodymium-ironboron (NdFeB) magnets. A report out of the meeting is included below, supported by a technology assessment
to examine the state of the industry.

Key Takeaways
With 88 total attendees across the two-day meeting, the meeting highlighted the importance of convening
stakeholders across the rare earth supply chain – and the need for continued dialogue.
•

A key need is to have more engagement with the demand side of the supply chain – separation andprocessing capabilities domestically and in allied countries for those producing concentrates andmagnet and motor manufacturers, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for those producing
rare earth oxides, metals and alloys.

8

Other key coordinating agencies for Action 1 encompass the Department of Commerce (DOC) including the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of the Interior(DOI) including the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper••

Participants also agreed that R&D should address the full supply chain, aligning well with DOE’s
critical materials pillars: (1) diversifying supply – including increasing domestic production,
separations, and processing, (2) developing substitutes, and (3) driving reuse and recycling.
Another key theme was that while R&D is necessary, it is not sufficient. International cooperation,
policy, and investment are all levers the U.S. government can consider using to address challenges in
the rare earths supply chain.
Figure 2. Summary of Supply Chain Challenges and Opportunities

Status of the Industry
Background

Rare earth elements 9 (REEs) are comprised of the lanthanides, 10 scandium, and yttrium. The REEs areclassified as “light” and “heavy” based on atomic number. 11
Figure 3. Rare Earth Oxides
Light REEs (LREEs): lanthanum throughClockwise from top center: praseodymium, cerium,
lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, and gadolinium.
gadolinium (atomic numbers 57 through 64)
Heavy REEs (HREEs): terbium through lutetium(atomic numbers 65 through 71) and yttrium (atomic
number 39), which has similar chemical andphysical attributes with the other heavy REEs

Credit: Peggy Greb, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Agricultural Research Service.

Neodymium and praseodymium (LREEs) are key criticalmaterials in the manufacturing of neodymium-iron-boron(NdFeB) magnets. NdFeB magnets have the highest
magnetic strength (energy product) among commerciallyavailable magnets and enable high energy density and highenergy efficiency in energy technologies. Dysprosium andterbium (HREEs) are key critical materials often added to the
NdFeB alloy to increase the operating temperature of the magnets. HREEs tend to be less abundant and more

9

The rare earth elements consist of the lanthanide series (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium,
terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium) as well as scandium and yttrium.
10Lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium,
ytterbium, and lutetium.
11
Critical Mineral Resources of the United States – Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply. U.S. Geological Survey.
2017. Available online at: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1802.

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Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

expensive than LREEs. The deployment of energy technologies such as wind turbines and electric vehicles(EVs) could lead to imbalances of supply and demand for these key materials.
A technology assessment has been performed to examine the state of the industry for these key materials,
including the current landscape, barriers, and the potential of key technologies, and updated to reflect input
from stakeholders at the Critical Minerals Rare Earths Supply Chain Roundtable and Workshop.

MiningREEs are found combined in mineral deposits such as bastnaesite and monazite, the world’s two largest
sources of REEs. Bastnaesite, a carbonate-fluoride mineral, typically contains cerium, lanthanum, neodymium,and praseodymium. Monazite, a phosphate mineral, typically contains cerium, lanthanum, neodymium andsamarium.
REE-containing mineral deposits havebeen identified in 19 states in the
U.S. 12 REEs are not “rare” in the sensethat they are commonly found in the
Earth’s crust. However, economic,
mineable concentrations of REEs areless common.

Figure 4. Rare Earth Element Supply Chain for Neodymium Iron
Boron Magnets
Gaps in the domestic supply chain are shown in red.

Currently, there is only one active
REE mine in the U.S. at Mountain
Pass, CA, operated by MP Materials.
The bastnaesite ore contains primarily
LREEs by weight. The Bear Lodge
Mountains in Wyoming and the Bokan
Mountain in Alaska are two REE
deposits, containing both bastnaesite
and monazite minerals, that are being
developed by the Rare Element
Resources and Ucore Rare Metals
respectively. Both deposits havesignificant concentrations of HREEs.
The Ucore Rare Metals project in
Alaska is slated to come online in thenext three to four years.

Concentration

Concentration or beneficiation is an extractive metallurgy process that upgrades the value of raw REEcontaining mineral ores by removing gangue (low value) minerals, resulting in a higher-grade product (i.e.,
rare-earth concentrate). Physical beneficiation methods include gravity separation, magnetic separation,

12

Rare earth element mines, deposits, and occurrences. U.S. Geological Survey. Available online at: https://mrdata.usgs.gov/ree/.

6Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

electrostatic separation, desliming, and froth flotation. Froth flotation is widely deployed in industry forconcentrating REEs. 13,14
Beneficiation incurs significant costs in the REE supply chain due to the large volumes of ore processed,
chemical reagent consumption, and poor recovery/purity. Choice of collector in froth flotation plays a largerole in this. Fatty acids are typically used as a collector in bastnaesite flotation. They require high temperatures(increasing the energy intensity of the process) and result in poor selectivity of REEs. 15
The mine at Mountain Pass produced an estimated 26,000 metric tons of bastnaesite concentrates in 2019. 16
These rare earth concentrates are exported for separation and processing. Southern Ionic Materials, LLC is
producing and exporting concentrates from heavy minerals sands. 17,18

Separation & Processing

Separation refers to the process of separating individual REEs from one another in the mined concentrates in
the form of rare earth oxides (REOs). Separation of REEs is chemically intensive because the REEs are very
chemically similar to one another (close proximity on the periodic table). Thorium is removed at this stage,
introducing both risk and cost associated with waste storage/disposal. Solvent extraction is this most common
method of separation used in industry. 19 Processing refers to the conversion of REOs to rare earth metals, suchas neodymium metal which can then be used to form alloys like NdFeB using metallurgical processes likesintering. Molten salt electrolysis is the conventional process for conversion to metals.
The United States currently lacks the domestic capability to separate REE concentrates into REOs and process
them into rare earth metals at a commercial scale. MP Materials has announced it will begin developing its
own separation and processing capability at Mountain Pass by the end of 2020. 20 Rare Element Resources hascompleted pilot-testing in Canada and Germany to validate its proprietary separation and processing
technology. Ucore Rare Metals is developing a pilot plant to separate the HREEs and LREEs at Bokan
Mountain. 21 USA Rare Earth has partnered with Texas Mineral Resources to open a pilot plant that willseparate light and heavy REEs, in addition to other critical materials, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The ore being
processed will come from the Round Top deposit in Texas. 22 Rare Earth Salts is currently operating a plant
producing REOs. 23 Momentum Technologies also has the capability to produce REOs from a diverse set offeedstocks.
Currently, there are no commercial capabilities to separate and process HREEs outside of China. Blue Line
Corporation has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Lynas Corporation, an Australian mining

13
A. Jordens et al. “A review of the beneficiation of rare earth element bearing minerals.” Minerals Engineering (2013), vol. 41, pages 97-114. Available
online at: : https://ecotricity.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/161207-Rare-Earth-mining-techniques-and-improvement.pdf.
14
A. Golev et al. “Rare earths supply chains: Current status, constraints and opportunities.” Resources Policy (2014), vol. 41, pages 52-59. Available
online at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.03.004.
15
Supra 3. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020. U.S. Geological Survey. 2020.
16
17

Ibid.

Southern Ionic Materials product safety data sheet. February 2017. Available online at:
http://www.southernionicsminerals.com/pdf/sds/Rare_Earth_Mineral_Sand.pdf.
18
Southern Ionic Materials export license application. Available online at: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1721/ML17215A492.pdf.
19

F. Xie et al. “A critical review on solvent extraction of rare earths from aqueous solutions.” Minerals Engineering (2014), vol. 26, pages 10-28.
Available online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892687513003452.
20
https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3011687/caught-between-trump-and-its-biggest-market-americas-sole-rare.
21
22
23

https://ucore.com/ucore-announces-m3-plan-of-action-for-independent-u-s-hree-supply-chain.
https://www.mining.com/pilot-rare-earths-processing-plant-first-one-outside-china-opens-in-texas/.
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.4040.

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Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

corporation, aiming to develop HREE separation and processing capacity in Texas. 24 Rare Element Resources
is also developing separation and processing capabilities with proprietary technology.
Infinium Corporation reported to have the capability to convert REOs to metals.

Magnet Manufacturing

Since 1995, the U.S. permanent magnet manufacturing sector has been reduced by half through industry
consolidation, relocation, and closure. There are currently no large scale manufacturers of sintered NdFeB
magnets in the United States. Gaps in the REEs supply chain pose a barrier to domestic manufacturing. Urban
Mining Company, based in Texas, is now actively making bonded and sintered NdFeB magnets, but not atcommercial scale. Electron Energy Company, which manufactures samarium cobalt magnets, actively
stockpiles rare earth metals to prevent supply disruption – carrying between six to twelve months supply.

Recycling

Currently, end-of-life products that contain REEs, including magnets, batteries and fluorescent light bulbs, arerecycled in limited quantities. 25 Urban Mining Company has built its business model on magnet-to-magnet
recycling. The Rare Earth Salts pilot plant processes fluorescent light bulbs. Momentum Technologies haslicensed patented technology developed by the Critical Materials Institute, a DOE Energy Innovation Hub, torecovery REOs from magnet waste streams.

Challenges
Permitting

Permitting is a large barrier to increasing production from primary sources. The complex regulatory landscapeoften leads to lengthy permitting timelines. This and lack of industrial policy can lead to long lead times for
new and developing projects. The loss of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1996 was acknowledged as a significant
barrier for the mining industry. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) reported that its National Environmental
Policy Act Regulation policies are being revised. The proposed rule was released for public comment on June
13, 2019; the comments are currently being reviewed before the development of the final rule. USFS is also
revisiting Locatable Mineral regulations and is currently working through that process. The Federal Permitting
Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) is also considering the potential inclusion of critical minerals as partof Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41). 26 On January 15, 2020 the FPISC
voted to include non-energy mining as an infrastructure covered under FAST-41, allowing FPISC to add
mining projects for non-energy, saleable and critical minerals. 27

Technology Transfer

Scaling up and commercializing new technologies is a challenge. However, there are no test-bed or pilot-scale
facilities to help validate, demonstrate and compare new technologies for a wide-range of feedstock inputs.
Getting industry input is often a challenge for researchers at DOE national laboratories and in academia at
early stages of discovery and development. Conversely, the hand-off of new technologies is difficult without
sustained engagement between industry, academia and national laboratories to address scientific and technical

24
25
26

https://www.lynascorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/190520-Lynas-Blue-Line-MOU-for-Rare-Earths-Separation-in-the-USA-1931006.pdf.
Supra 3. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020. U.S. Geological Survey. 2020.

Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), referred to as “FAST-41,” created a new governance structure, set ofprocedures, and funding authorities to improve the Federal environmental review and authorization process for covered infrastructure projects.
https://www.fs.fed.us/specialuses/special_FAST-41.shtml.
27
https://www.permits.performance.gov/sites/permits.dot.gov/files/2020-01/Mining%20Press%20Release%20OED.pdf.

8Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

challenges during scale up. Generally, achieving and maintaining cost-competitiveness for new processes is achallenge.
Obtaining intellectual property rights for manufacturing is another barrier. Historically, NdFeB magnets wereindependently invented in Japan (Sumitomo Special Metals Corporation) and the United States (General
Motors Corporation). Japanese inventors won the rights to sintered (fully dense) NdFeB magnets andAmerican inventors won the rights to bonded and hot pressed (in which magnet particles are dispersed in abinder) NdFeB magnets. Sumitomo Special Metals Corporation merged with Hitachi Metals, Ltd and thedivision at General Motors became Magnequench, which was bought by Chinese investors and relocated toChina. Major manufacturers of sintered NdFeB magnets worldwide, including China and Germany, currently
license the right to manufacture and sell from Hitachi. 28 Three Chinese companies filed inter partes reviews ofHiatchi’s U.S. Patent No. 6,461,565 in 2017, claiming the processes were unpatentable. The final decision in2018 determined that these claims did not show “by a preponderance of the evidence” that the Patent was
unpatentable. 29

Market

The market is volatile and uncertain, and there is a lack of transparency in the rare earths supply chain.
Concerns about market manipulation exist internationally, as iterated by the participants from Australia,
Canada, and Japan. When rare earth oxide prices are too low, new mining projects are not economical
upstream. When rare earth metal prices are high, magnet manufacturers can be constrained. The REO market isabout $3-5 billion, but translates into an order of magnitude larger in value-added market.
Another challenge is to connect those markets in a way that allows for new capabilities to be developed
upstream. Low material price is a large impediment to developing both a domestic and international supply
chain that is not dependent on China. For example, Molycorp Inc., the previous operator of the Mountain Passmine, invested $1.6 billion in a separation and processing facility 30 in the $3-5 billion REO market, 31 andultimately filed for bankruptcy in 2015. This example illustrates the difficulties of developing economicallycompetitive processes. Additionally, Chinese policymakers imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported REE
concentrates (effective June 1, 2019), more than doubling the previous duty.
Environmental stewardship is also a challenge for economical mining of REEs. Bastnaesite contains up to 0.3
weight percent thorium dioxide and 0.09 weight percent uranium dioxide. Monazite contains between zero to
20 weight percent thorium dioxide and zero to 16 weight percent uranium dioxide. These radioactive materials
make waste disposal a significant environmental challenge and introduce risks for workers in mines andprocessing facilities if not managed properly.
The rare earth balance problem continues to be an issue for U.S. miners. The rare earth balance problem is thebalance (or imbalance) between the market demand and the abundance of naturally occurring REEs in mineraldeposits. The rare earth balance problem could be in part solved by closing the loop on the supply chain
through reuse and recycling, partially offsetting the need for primary production. Additionally, finding newuses for non-critical REEs like cerium and lanthanum that are currently in oversupply can drive overall
demand for REE production and increase profitability of mining. For example, cerium and lanthanum (LREEs)
make up about 75% of the bastnaesite mineral deposit at Mountain Pass, CA, 32 but were worth two orders of

28
29
30
31

https://www.waltbenecki.com/uploads/hitachi_in_the_news.pdf.
https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/ptab/case/IPR2017-01312.
https://capitalresearch.org/article/americas-rare-earth-ultimatum-part-2/.
https://www.otcmarkets.com/ajax/showNewsReleaseDocumentById.pdf?id=27726.

32 B. S. Van Gosen, P. L. Verplanck, and P. Emsbo. Rare Earth Element Mineral Deposits in the United States. Circular 1454, Version 1.1. U.S.

Geological Survey. April 2019. Available online at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1454/circ1454.pdf.

9Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Papermagnitude less than HREEs, such as dysprosium and terbium, per kilogram on the rare earth oxide market in
2019. 33
Collection of end-of-life magnets is the largest barrier to reuse, recycling and recovery. It is exacerbated by thelack of downstream manufacturers domestically. Lack of reuse and recycling capability domesticallyintroduces the risk for end-of-life products to be exported for recycling and re-introduced into the domestic
supply chain as value-added products.

Workforce Development

A cross-cutting need for the supply chain is workforce development. To maintain a domestic edge oftechnological innovation, multidisciplinary teams will be needed that go beyond traditional scientist andengineering skills to include artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and machine learning. The greatest need
was reported to be at the technician level, where industry is already anticipating multi-generational workforce
gaps, and many pointed out that there are few mining programs at higher education institutions in the UnitedStates. This is in part due to the social perception around mining, which is another obstacle to the developmentof domestic resources. Re-establishment of domestic upstream capabilities is crucial to establishing a pipeline
for educational workforce development.

Opportunities
Innovation Ecosystem

Criticality applies not just to materials, but also to broader systems they are a part of. To address strategic
vulnerabilities, the entire supply chain needs to be considered. For example, increasing the rate of mining
without increasing corresponding processing and manufacturing capabilities will simply move the source ofeconomic and national security risk further down the supply chain and create dependence on foreign sources
for these capabilities. An innovation ecosystem should be built around a supply chain framework thatemphasizes the integrated, interconnected nature of the problem. Key areas for development include:• Understanding the systems, networks, and evolution of materials flow to identify opportunities,
including co-production and unconventional resources• Strengthening and extending relationships to match producers and customers• Sustained engagement with OEMs, labs, and academia throughout the process to scale up newtechnologies• Establishing a pipeline of projects for private investment• Establishing an advisory group or community that identifies challenges and opportunities on an ongoingbasis, including bridging domestic and international foci
• Pursuing a multidisciplinary workforce including AI, automation, rapid prototyping

R&D Solutions
Cross-cutting Themes
R&D is well-positioned to address long-term solutions to the supply chain. Transformational innovation can beused to shift the paradigm in the industry. DOE and DOD, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects

33

Supra 3. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020. U.S. Geological Survey. 2020.

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Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

Agency (DARPA) and the Air Force Research Lab, are all investing in developing technologies that have thepotential to innovate the supply chain and reduce dependence on rare earths by substantially reducing or eveneliminating their use in end-use technologies.
In order to reduce costs and maintain responsible environment stewardship, connectivity is needed across the
supply chain. For example, modular process intensification can link feedstocks with processing by co-locating
multiple stages of the supply chain. Modeling and analysis play an important role in validating such ideas.
Techno-economic analysis (TEA), life-cycle analysis (LCA) and agent-based modeling were discussed as vitalsteps in the scale-up of new technologies. Cooperation through public-private partnerships is needed for such
validation and verification, with test-beds and pilot-scale facilities as one avenue to demonstrate newtechnologies. For development of new processes, certification is needed.
Characterization, Mining, and Concentration
There is a significant need for geological mapping, exploration, and characterization of both conventional andunconventional sources of rare earths. Unconventional sources include abandoned mines, coal, coal byproduct,acid mine drainage (landfilled and in-production), phosphate, iron tailings, red mud, beach sands, laterites,
seawater and deep sea. Some specific characterization needs include dilute media like coal ash andunderstanding phosphate heterogeneity.
R&D opportunities to address this need include remote sensing, rapid characterization, big data, and Earth
Mapping Resources Initiative (MRI). This represents an area where USGS and DOE could collaborate moreclosely in the short-term. Data needs are a challenge, but if collected could be leveraged for development of AI
technologies. Test-beds were suggested as means to compare and scale up new technologies.
Foundational research for disruptive technologies are potential long-term solutions. These include microbes forselective uptake, geothermal brine extraction, seawater extraction, deep-sea mining, nano-filtration
concentration of dilute resources for high resolution physical concentration, and chemical concentration (novelion extraction resins, sorbents, ligands, selective leaching, automated particle sorting, and selective collectors
for flotation).
Environmental considerations included membranes for water treatment, addressing effluent toxicity. To
address management of radioactive materials found in some resources, new market opportunities could be
developed or pursued for thorium. More generally, opportunities and challenges of co-production and byproduction need to be further explored.
Separation and Processing
In the short-term, solvent extraction is the industry standard for separation of beneficiated ore into rare earthoxides. Opportunities exist to improve efficiency and cost-competitiveness of solvent extraction. Processintensification is one possible route to achieve those goals. Alternative technologies with enhanced selectivity
are long-term options for separation. These include laser ablation, ultrasound, synthetic biology, ion-exchange
chromatography, novel ligands, and magnetic nanofluid separations.
For conversion to metals, short-term opportunities include cell efficiency and heat management. In the longterm ionic liquids, new electrolytes, and metallothermal reduction could be pursued. For conversion frommetals to alloys, production costs are a larger concern than raw materials. New alloys like aluminum-scandium
and magnesium-electron alloys could open up new market opportunities if production cost barriers can beovercome.
Magnet Manufacturing
It was asserted that it is possible to be competitive with China in magnet manufacturing as the automotive andelectronic industries have an international supply chain. Fundamental R&D needs include new materials
discovery and new process discovery. Magnetic materials should be demonstrated in the range of 1 to 10
kilograms in order to assess manufacturability. Engagement with end-use designers could better inform

11

Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain: A Situational White Paper

material development. Magnetic properties are not the only figure of merit considered when designing apermanent magnet machine. In order to scale-up new process discoveries, simulation of virtual manufacturing
could help enable new processes. Such simulation may warrant its own R&D development.
Supply Chain Development
As noted above, modeling and analysis such as TEA, LCA and agent-based modeling are needed across the
supply chain to evaluate the potential of new technologies and processes, including reuse and recycling of endof-life products. Validated datasets are needed for such analysis. There is a need for R&D in the social
sciences to understand public acceptance, risk analysis, decision analysis, and the market opportunity for
mixed rare earth oxide recovery vs. elemental rare earth oxide recovery (e.g. neodymium/praseodymium oxide
vs. neodymium oxide and praseodymium oxide). Upstream, resource map development is needed to better
understand the potential of primary and unconventional production. Long-term, end-of-life wind turbines,
photovoltaics, and electric vehicles could be leveraged to supply rare earths through reuse and recycling.
Collection center analysis is needed to facilitate such an opportunity. This relates to the cross-cutting need toconnect supplies with customers and form industrial networks.
Moving beyond R&D, commercial stockpiles and regulatory incentives were suggested as one possible way tostabilize the industry, although there was not consensus about whether either approach would be effective.
Leveraging international collaboration with allied nations, such as members of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), was suggested as a means to stand up an assured rare earth supply chain to reduce
market uncertainty and volatility.

Next StepsAs the part of the implementation of the Federal Strategy, a R&D roadmap will be developed. Moreengagement is needed to continue to identify opportunities and solutions to the many challenges in the rareearth supply chain. Specifically, stakeholder input is needed around metrics and technical targets for many of
the R&D options discussed at the Workshop described above. DOE plans to continue this dialogue throughfuture workshops.

12List of Acronyms
AI

Artificial Intelligence

AMO

Advanced Manufacturing Office

CMS

Subcommittee on Critical Materials

DARPA

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

DOD

U.S. Department of Defense

DOE

U.S. Department of Energy

DOI

U.S. Department of the Interior

EERE

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

EO

Executive Order

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

EVs

Electric vehicles

FAST

Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act

FE

Fossil Energy

FPISC

Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council

HREEs

High rare earth elements

LCA

Life-cycle analysis

LREEs

Light rare earth elements

MOU

Memorandum of Understanding

MRI

Mapping Resources Initiative

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NdFeB

Neodymium-iron-boron

NETL

National Energy Technology Laboratory

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NOAA

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NSTC

National Science and Technology Council

OEMs

Original equipment manufacturers

R&D

Research and development

REE(s)Rare earth element(s)REOs

Rare earth oxides

TEA

Techno-economic analysis

U.S.

United States

USFS

United States Forest Service

USGS

United States Geological Survey

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For more information, visit:energy.gov/eere/amo
DOE/EE-2056 ▪ April 2020