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World Affairs
Pradeep Kumar

14/06/21 10:05 AM IST

Rare earth metals

In news

Beijing’s dominance in these minerals, key to the future of manufacturing, is a cause for concern for the West

Issue for West
  • At a time of frequent geopolitical friction among those three powers, Washington and Brussels want to avoid this scenario by investing in the market for 17 minerals with unique properties that today are largely extracted and refined in China.
  • The expected exponential growth in demand for minerals that are linked to clean energy is putting more pressure on U.S. and Europe to take a closer look at where the vulnerabilities are and the concrete steps these governments can take.
  • In 2019, the U.S. imported 80% of its rare earth minerals from China, the U.S. Geological Survey says.
  • The EU gets 98% of its supply from China, the European Commission said last year.
Application of minerals
  • Rare earth minerals, with names like neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium, are crucial to the manufacture of magnets used in industries of the future, such as wind turbines and electric cars.
  • And they are already being used in consumer goods such as smartphones, computer screens and telescopic lenses.
Source: The Hindu

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