The global rare earth element exploration boom: An analysis of resources outside of China and discussion of development perspectives

Holger Paulick and Erika Machacek

Resources Policy, 2017, vol. 52, issue C, 134-153

Abstract: This paper analyzes the mineral resource definitions from the exploration boom that followed the rare earth element (REE) price peak of 2011, and finds that1.the delineated REE mineral resources outside of China reached a total of 98 Mt contained total rare earth oxides in 2015 with the majority located in Canada (38 Mt), Greenland (39 Mt) and Africa (10.3 Mt), representing a fivefold increase between 2010 (16.5 Mt combined) and 2015 (87.3 Mt combined).2.a large portion of these resources contain REE bearing silicates as dominant ore mineral which have a higher heavy REE to light REE ratio than conventional carbonate-mineral REE resources.

Keywords: Exploration; Rare earth element; Mineral resources; Investment; China; Greenland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:52:y:2017:i:c:p:134-153

DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2017.02.002

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