Similarities in reactivity complicate separating rare earths from ores

What are rare earth elements?

Rare earth metals are 17 elements in the periodic table critical for modern technologies like electronics and defense systems. Although the US once led in their production, it now faces significant challenges in competing with China’s lower costs and control of over 70% of the global output.

A smartphone contains over a dozen rare earth elements

One of the most important elements is indium, which makes up an electrically-conductive mesh beneath the display that provides touchscreen functionality. Alloys containing REEs are used in the magnets needed for the microphone and speaker.

Why everyone is racing to get rare earth minerals

Rare earth minerals are crucial for high-tech electronics and transitioning to new energy sources. China currently dominates rare earth processing capacity, but the US is seeking to increase its mineral production by using its geopolitical influence to strike international mineral agreements with nations like Ukraine.

Mining of rare earth elements risks leaking radioactive wastewater

The extraction and processing of REEs requires significant amounts of water, and poorly regulated projects can contaminate groundwater with acids and heavy metals. Toxic waste spills have paused work in several US mines since the 1980s, despite growing REE demand.

As of 2022, China has the largest reserve of rare earth elements

At 37.9% of estimated global reserves, China possesses twice the amount of REEs as Vietnam, the next closest nation. REEs, or lanthanides, are a set of 17 elements on the periodic table, which, alongside scandium and yttrium, share similar chemical properties that make them difficult to separate from within ores.

Geothermal power can reduce the dangerous mining of rare earth elements

Geothermal brines—mineral-rich underground fluids extracted for use in geothermal plants—contain small concentrations of REEs that can be recovered after energy generation. Although researchers suggest that this retrieval requires complex extraction methods at a significant scale to account for high flow rates, the chemical processes also occur in traditional REE processing.

Rare earth elements may be extracted from mine waste and coal ash

Rather than focusing solely on new mining operations, which can take decades to establish, some startups are developing methods to extract these metals from the toxic waste of existing operations and thereby minimize environmental impacts. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Weird ways critical minerals are being mined

Critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and graphite are economically crucial non-fuel resources subject to supply chain risks. To diversify production, scientists developed odd ways to harvest them. This article breaks down the weirdest approaches, including extracting minerals from seawater using algae, phytomining plants, and asteroids.

Explore an interactive database of critical minerals and their uses

Columbia University's Critical Materials Monitor identifies 56 elements required for the clean energy transition. The tool provides details on the reserves, production, and trade of each element, alongside what materials are needed for each technology (desktop only).

Besides the periodic table, there are over 1,000 alternative ways to organize the known elements, with many arrangements emphasizing specific trends among them.

An overview of the metals obtainable through deep-sea mining of nodules and crusts

Polymetallic nodules are a source of manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, molybdenum, and platinum, which are used in batteries, fuel cells, and metal alloys of electric vehicles. Seamount crusts contain rare-earth elements deemed essential to US national and economic security, including neodymium and dysprosium used to make permanent magnets.

The periodic table organizes elements by atomic structure and common properties

Developed by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, the arrangement places elements into columns, called groups, if they share the same number of electrons in their outer shell, indicating similar chemical behavior. From left to right across rows, or periods, elements have more protons, as well as corresponding electrons when neutral.

Watch how metals are extracted from rechargeable devices during recycling

Recyclable batteries found in cars, phones, power tools, and other electronics contain lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other precious metals, whose reuse generates 70% fewer emissions than during their initial mining. Upon shredding these devices, a filter press squeezes the pieces through a proprietary fluid, which separates them for future reuse.

By organizing elements by atomic weight, Dmitri Mendeleev created the periodic table

The organization included groupings based on similar chemical properties and patterns in atomic weights. This left gaps that were used to predict the properties of elements yet to be discovered—including germanium and gallium—with high accuracy.

Most of the critical mineral supply needed for US data centers is imported

The country with the most data centers relies on other nations for about 80% of the rare earth elements needed for magnetic materials in storage drives, 64% of the silver and 85% of the platinum it uses for electrical circuitry, and about half the aluminum and copper used in heat sinks that dissipate thermal energy from electronic components.

Uranium's ability to split easily makes it the most common catalyst for nuclear power

Uranium is commonly found in rocks, water, and soil worldwide, but significant industrial processes are needed to process and enrich it for efficient reactor usage. After being irradiated in reactors, it must be cooled down before disposal.

Explore an interactive periodic table of each element's history, properties, and uses.

View the periodic table of radioactive elements, and a list of each's most stable isotopes

Technetium is the lightest artificial radioactive element, which is produced primarily as a byproduct of nuclear fission. Several unstable isotopes are commercially available to medical professionals and scientists, despite their radioactivity risks.

The world's first artificial element, technetium, was discovered 68 years after its existence was predicted in order to fill a gap in the periodic table.

How scientists determine elemental composition based on the light emitted by cooling atoms

When electrons within an atom drop to a lower energy level closer to the nucleus, they lose energy and produce light with energy equal to the difference between the two energy levels. Because these levels and the corresponding emitted light are unique to each element, the light serves as a unique signature that can be compared to known lab samples for identification.

View a list of 50 minerals critical to US economic and national security

Most of the US's supply of critical minerals depends on countries that have historically competed with it, which has raised concerns in Washington. These minerals are needed for green technologies to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

The outermost shell of electrons in an atom dictates how it bonds to other atoms, including those of the same element, and the properties of the materials composed of those atoms.

Several birthstones play key roles across modern technologies

Diamonds are used in drills and quantum computing, while peridot and zircon help in steelmaking and carbon capture. Rubies, sapphires, and alexandrite enable several varieties of lasers found in medicine and advanced optics. Garnets are found in water filtration systems and radiation detectors. Sapphires are used as substrates in semiconductors.

Certain objects are magnetic because their electrons' magnetic moment—an intrinsic quantum property—align within the object in specific patterns.

All clean energy technologies rely heavily on critical minerals

Although many of these minerals have been used for decades, such as copper in electrical wiring, the accelerating demand for them has strained existing extraction and processing systems. Supply chain disruptions for these materials may delay and increase the cost of transitioning to solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal power.

Elements, isotopes, and ions can be identified by the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons within the atoms that make up a substance.

Although they rely on radioactive elements to operate, everyday technologies such as electronic exit signs, some wristwatches, and smoke detectors are not dangerous, unless they are damaged and their radioactive material is inhaled or swallowed.

With less than 50 milligrams present in the top kilometer of Earth's crust at any given time, astatine is the rarest naturally occurring element on the planet.

Learn about the applications of radioactivity in medical, academic, and industrial settings

Besides their use for radiometric dating by archaeologists and researchers at museums and universities, radioactive materials are used in sensors that help track ocean currents and analyze pollution, soil, and petroleum products. Radioisotope-based sensors also help measure air in ice cream and prevent spillovers when soda bottles are filled in factories.

Gold's electrical conductivity, reflectivity, and catalytic capabilities make it scientifically valuable

Although gold has been prized since its use in 40,000 BCE for decorative purposes, it has more recently served as a replacement for mercury in the production of PVC plastic. Because gold does not react with air or corrode, it has remained in circulation and reused in electronics and biomaterials.

Clean energy technologies are more mineral-intensive than burning fossil fuels

Solar panels use silver due to its high conductivity, hydropower plants use chromium in their steel alloys, and geothermal plants need titanium to withstand abundant heat and pressure. Lithium—used in energy storage—is expected to see over 500% increased demand from 2020 to 2025.

The different energy levels of each element result in unique colors when burned

When heated, electrons absorb energy and move to excited states within an atom. They promptly drop back down and release light energy corresponding to the size of the drop, which is unique to each element.

Beyond critical minerals, copper is emerging as a bottleneck to clean energy

Copper remains invaluable for the transmission of electricity needed in energy infrastructure projects, with 90% of the average circuit board made of the element. However, limited smelting capacity and low ore quality amid increasing demands are stressing global supplies.

Distinguishing the three types of mineral deposits collected via deep-sea mining

The greatest interest is in polymetallic nodules—structures formed from metals in seawater collecting around a core of shell, bone, or rock. Cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts cover underwater mountain ranges and form over millions of years of metal deposition. Polymetallic sulfide deposits accumulate when seawater seeps into volcanic rocks.

The history of the periodic table and how it hinted at atoms possessing internal structure

In 1869, more than two decades before the discovery of electrons, Russian chemist Dmitrii Mendeleev organized known elements by atomic weight and chemical properties using index cards. His organization revealed previously undiscovered elements and identified patterns in the reactivity of elements, which would later be linked to each element's outermost electron shell. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

How gold, platinum, and many rare earth elements form during neutron star mergers

While massive stars naturally fuse elements as heavy as iron, an analysis of gravitational waves from the collision of two neutron stars revealed that more massive elements are created in this environment via rapid neutron capture—the r-process. This phenomenon sees existing iron nuclei absorb plentiful free neutrons, many of which decay into protons, creating new elements.

The adaptations of metallophiles and how they can be harnessed for bioremediation

These extremophiles have adapted to biomes with very high concentrations of metals and toxic chemicals by developing mechanisms to isolate these substances within cellular compartments and break them down into less harmful forms with specialized proteins. They have the potential to support the decontamination of metal-rich wastewater and soil, as well as the extraction of rare-earth metals.

Why it's so hard to end the use of toxic lead

Lead was one of the earliest metals mined on Earth, desired for its soft malleability and used in cosmetics, pipework, gasoline, and more. But even though researchers demonstrated its toxicity in the 20th century, much of the world still uses it.

Nuclear power relies on chain reactions involving uranium-235, but because the isotope's concentration in natural ores is too low to sustain these reactions, enrichment is needed to produce more highly concentrated fuel.

Explore the human and environmental resources needed to make an electric vehicle

The minerals needed to build batteries for electric vehicles are expensive and often take a human toll paid by the communities where they are mined. This interactive article details what minerals make up an electric vehicle battery, where they come from, and dangers posed by the mining process.

Lithium can store and deliver substantial energy for its cost and weight

When exploring which compounds would be best suited for batteries, scientists sought elements that were relatively inexpensive to mine, readily available, and that provided high energy density—how much chemical energy an element could store for its size. Lithium-ion batteries provide these benefits and discharge at very low rates when unused.

As of 2022, only about 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled globally

Traditional recycling methods have been inadequate for lithium batteries, prompting manufacturers to explore more sustainable battery designs, alongside robotic disassembly and ultrasonic techniques to improve recycling rates. Studies have shown that mining for new lithium requires significantly more water and energy than recycling and results in declining vegetation near mines.

An overview of helium, the nonrenewable resource that's lighter than air

The second element in the periodic table naturally forms deep underground over the course of billions of years through the decay of radioactive elements, but it is used and lost to space at rates faster than it is generated. Because of this and its extensive applications in scientific technologies, scientists continue to seek avenues for its exploration, storage, and recycling.

Unusually stable, undiscovered elements may exist near atomic number 126

While heavier elements like uranium and plutonium are unstable and decay quickly, simulations suggest a pocket of stability exists for elements with approximately 126 protons and 184 neutrons. Such elements may have practical applications, such as americium, a synthetic element used in smoke detectors.

The widespread need for rechargeable batteries has fueled surging lithium demand

As of 2025, the average person uses 27 times more mined lithium than they did in the 1990s, with the US ranking second globally in consumption despite producing less than 1% of global supply. However, potential alternative materials and boom-and-bust cycles have challenged the profitability of mines and future demand for the mineral.

Visualize the minerals used in a lithium-ion battery

The lithium cathode includes nickel to increase energy storage per unit volume, as well as cobalt and manganese as stabilizing agents. Anodes are composed entirely of graphite, with aluminum and copper composing the current collectors for the cathode and anode, respectively. The battery is enclosed in a steel casing.

How lithium has become one of the world's most important elements

Lithium is the driving force behind electric vehicles as the key element in the lithium-ion batteries that power the cars. But as demand for EVs rises, will global lithium supply keep pace with demand? This report projects demand will reach up to four million metric tons of the mineral compound containing lithium by 2030, with batteries accounting for 95% of end-use applications.

Distinguishing polar and nonpolar molecules and why charges get distributed unevenly in molecules

Because each element has a unique number of protons and configuration where electrons exist, they attract electrons that are shared with other elements in chemical bonds to varying degrees. When this attraction—electronegativity—varies between two bonded elements, electrons are more likely to be near the more electronegative element and away from the less electronegative element. This can create regions of opposite charge, or poles, and thus polar molecules.

What is the rarest color in nature?

Plants, animals, or minerals found in nature bear almost every color imaginable. There are two factors that influence what hues you see in the wild: physics and evolution. So, which colors are you least likely to see in the natural world? Victoria Hwang explores one of nature's rarest spectacles.

Chromium contaminants in a ruby crystal gave the world's first laser its red color

The red light originates from a long-lasting excited electron state in the element's atomic structure. The brittle gray metal has historically been used in pigment production, the manufacturing of rust-resistant stainless steel, and the creation of durable coatings with long-lasting shine for metals, wood, and leather.