Talk:Rare-earth element

Elements Mid‑importance

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Mining High‑importance

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Section sizes

Section size for Rare-earth element (36 sections)
Section name	Byte count	Section total
(Top)	6,289	6,289
Elements	10,691	10,691
Discovery and early history	4,277	7,164
Spectroscopic identification	2,887	2,887
Sources and purification	1,744	1,744
Classification	2,802	5,198
Light versus heavy classification	2,396	2,396
Origin	574	574
Compounds	1,978	1,978
Geological distribution	13,839	13,839
Geochemistry	2,769	10,182
Applications	7,413	7,413
Production	6,314	52,658
China	8,809	8,809
Myanmar (Burma)	2,469	2,469
Other countries	19,591	26,093
Malaysian refining plans	6,502	6,502
Other sources	21	8,185
Mine tailings	1,932	1,932
Ocean mining	2,196	2,196
Waste and recycling	4,036	4,036
Methods	788	788
Properties	823	823
Uses	4,865	4,865
Environmental considerations	8,390	30,353
Recycling and reusing REEs	8,707	8,707
Impact of REE contamination	34	9,238
On vegetation	1,970	1,970
On human health	4,837	4,837
On animal health	2,397	2,397
Remediation after pollution	4,018	4,018
Geopolitical considerations	11,168	11,168
In popular culture	578	578
See also	223	223
References	28	28
External links	1,000	1,000
Total	159,355	159,355

Archives

Archive 1

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References

Evans, C. H (1996). Episodes from the history of the rare earth elements. ISBN 9780792341017.
Saez; Caro (1998-06-01). Rare earths. ISBN 9788489784338.
Nordenskiold, B. A. E. (1900). "On the Discovery and Occurrence of Minerals containing Rare Elements". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 56: 521. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1900.056.01-04.29.
Rancke-Madsen, E. (1975). "The Discovery of an Element". Centaurus. 19 (4): 299. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0498.1975.tb00329.x.
Witt, Otto N.; Theel, Walter (1900). "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Ceriterden". Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft. 33: 1315. doi:10.1002/cber.190003301228.
Crell, Lorenz Florenz Friedrich (1788). Chemische Annalen für die Freunde der Naturlehre, Arzneygelahrtheit, Haushaltungskunst und Manufakturen.
Chemische Annalen für die Freunde der Naturlehre, Aerznengelartheit, Haushaltungskunde und Manufakturen. 1796.

Rare earths vs rare-earths

It seems most of the sources use "rare earths" and not "rare-earths", yet the entire article is written with the hyphen.

Perhaps we need to open a discussion about which style the article should use. 71.11.5.2 (talk) 16:10, 28 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The article has been fixed, and hyphens are now only used as modifiers. 71.11.5.2 (talk) 13:44, 8 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Round Top Mountain in Texas

Round Top Mountain isn't listed in this article. Leaving this here, in case it might be useful to some editor. • Sbmeirow • Talk • 13:19, 14 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2024

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 8 January 2024 and 20 April 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Grishaplantman (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Warmedforbs (talk) 01:25, 18 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

A lot of new developments need to be added

There have been numerous new geopolitical developments with regards to REEs as they become increasingly important with the rise of EVs. For instance, there is lots of pressure from the west to break China's monopoly in the industry. MP Materials is on the verge of producing REEs independently from China, Gina Rinehart has entered the industry, and both the Biden and Trump administrations have imposed tariffs on REEs from China. Should we include these developments in this entry? I am not even seeing anything about MP materials here. Frankserafini87 (talk) 21:19, 27 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Extreme misrepresentation of sources in "On human health"

After reading some reviews of the toxicology of REEs I was disappointed to read "On human health" in this article. It is full of nonsense. Almost every single reference was completely misrepresented. I wonder if this should be investigated as something more than ignorance. Johnjbarton (talk) 23:20, 5 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Ok it looks like most of the content was added by a student in 2018. By their nature students need supervision: someone should have helped this student. Johnjbarton (talk) 23:58, 5 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Only going off the first reference, Hirano and Suzuki, it looks like the student skipped to the end and left with the takeaway of "Mortality studies reveal that RE are not highly toxic", ignoring the intratracheal and inhalation exposure effects. I imagine the same happened elsewhere. Recon rabbit 00:04, 6 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry that was after my edits. I've changed this entire section. The inhalation effect leads to pneumoconiosis. I'll try to clarify that. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:19, 6 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, I see now. I was wondering where the egregious issues were, but didn't realize you had made so many edits. Great! Recon rabbit 01:26, 6 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done Item is fixed. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:49, 6 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Malaysian refining plans

Is this section appropriate for an encyclopedia? Seems like newspaper content to me. Johnjbarton (talk) 04:18, 18 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Recently there's geopolitical tension surrounding rare earths so I believe it is appropriate but maybe not in this article, as rare earths become essential for the energy transition Pancho507 (talk) 00:45, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yttria discovery

The article says

Yttrium was found in the mineral "ytterbite" (renamed to gadolinite in 1800), which was discovered by Lieutenant Carl Axel Arrhenius in 1787 at a quarry in the village of Ytterby, Sweden and termed "rare" because it had never yet been seen. Arrhenius's "ytterbite" reached Johan Gadolin, a Royal Academy of Turku professor, and his analysis yielded an unknown oxide ("earth" in the geological parlance of the day), which he called yttria.

These sentences have two sources. One is an obscure off-line article by Gschneidner; the other one is an online page from a Philadelphia museum.

The content is internally inconsistent: is the mineral called "yttria" or "ytterbite"? The refs are confusing. The museum site talks about the defn of "rare" and "earth"; the rest is Gschneidner evidently. To say that "Yttrium was found in the mineral" is strained: the element was not discovered for at least another 75 years.

This 40 page booklet also by Gschneidner is available online

Gschneidner, K. A. (1964). Rare Earths: The Fraternal Fifteen. United States: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information.
Although the existence of the rare earths dates back to the formation of the earth, man's first acquaintance with them occurred in 1787. Little did Lt. C. A. Arrhenius of the Swedish Army realize that his attraction to a unique black mineral, which he stumbled on while examining a number of ores in a quarry in Ytterby (a small town near Stockholm, Sweden), would set off the most complex element hunt in the history of science.
YTTERBIUM, atomic number 70, was discovered by J. C. G. Marignac in 1878 and obviously is named for the town of Ytterby.

I will change the content to match these refs. Johnjbarton (talk) 16:58, 14 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Missing info

Advantages of rare earths such as neodymium permanent magnet rotors vs copper core rotors as seen in early Tesla model S motors, neodymium is used in the magnets of permanent magnet electric motors which have no slippage nor associated efficiency losses unlike induction squirrel cage and copper core rotors, due to the high flux of the magnets due to the neodymium, power density can be higher and helps eliminate slippage, these magnets are the most powerful permanent magnets in mass production except for expensive cobalt samarium and neodymium permanent magnet motors are the most efficient and power dense in mass production excluding superconducting motors which are impractical due to the use of liquid gases

exact usage of rare earths in parts such as neodymium magnets in end user products including:

EVs where they are inside electric motor rotors as a crucial component in magnets in rotors in permanent magnet motors used in almost all EVs due to top efficiency and power density,

neodymium magnets are also used in drone and electric aircraft motor rotors because the use of neodymium in magnets, combined with the use of a rotor in the motor lined with magnets in a permanent magnet motor configuration allows for top power to weight ratios for motors combined with high efficiency,

hard drive voice coils and motors in voice coils they improve seek times replacing old stepper motor mechanisms, phone vibrators and speakers where they improve electrical efficiency and thus battery life, in EC motors or plug fans, compressors used in HVAC where they replaced induction motors in fans and compressors due to increased efficiency brought by neodymium permanent magnet motors replacing induction motors in HVAC

Use of permanent magnet generators in wind turbines which eliminate the need for an exciter and associated slip rings and efficiency losses, maintenance requirements, gearless wind turbines

Use in elevators where gearless neodymium permanent magnet motors replaced DC motors and induction ac motors and allowed machine room less elevators such as Kone ecodisc to be invented which are used in many buildings, reduced space requirements, improved efficiency, these motors have higher torque than their AC geared predecesors, because of the increased torque neodymium permanent magnet motors could be used inside wheels in EVs without any gearing. Many low rise buildings built after the creation of the machine room less elevator do not have any provision for an elevator machine room.

Use in virtually all white LEDs as ce:YAG in virtually all new lighting fixtures and lamps since 2018?, and other phosphor mixtures for white light and some phosphor converted red car led tailights, LCD backlight in most TV's and computer monitors

Higher efficiency than earlier phosphors in fluorescent lights and electrodeless lights

Specific chemical reactions at industrial scale for chemical commodities? That use rare earths and advantages over prior catalysts

Cerium oxide glass polishing grinding and cutting used in camera lenses, other hard brittle materials like granite, silicon semiconductor wafers, chemical mechanical polishing in semiconductors?

Neodymium glass laser amplifier used in nif fusion facility and other pulsed lasers

Erbium doped amplifiers in fiber optic communications, they drive the modern internet in ISP DWDM or ROADM? metro and long distance national networks and submarine cable amplifiers Pancho507 (talk) 00:06, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry but such a list is not helpful. According to Wikipedia's policy on verification we need reliable sources. If you have sources please let us know, or just add the content yourself. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:03, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

As an added point: the section "Uses" section in this article should only be a summary. It should not include uses specific elements. For example, we should not discuss Yttrium aluminium garnet, that belongs on the YAG page. We should not discuss eg neodymium magnets, that belongs on neodymium magnets, etc. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:20, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]