Rare earth elements/metals are a group of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table
They are not rare and are plentiful in Earth’s crust
Why the word rare is used then?
Word rare is used in terms of difficulty we face to make them usable because :
They tend to occur together in nature and are difficult to separate from one another
They are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated as rare earth minerals in economically exploitable ore deposits
Ex. Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanum etc.
China is the largest producer of REMs
Monazite sands of Indian beaches contains REMs
They are used in :
Wind Turbines
iPods
Hybrid Vehicles
Fibre Optics
Energy efficient fluorescent tubes etc.
What is the issue?
As India becomes a manufacturing economy, it will need REMs in huge amount
India will need to firm up diplomatic trade channels and long-term supply contracts
India is among the top five nations with reserves of rare-earth minerals
Minerals and metals such as bismuth, cadmium, gallium, germanium, indium, molybdenum, rhenium, selenium and tin are generally recovered as a by-product during processing of primary ores (lead, zinc, copper, molybdenum and aluminium). India currently does not tap this source. We need suitable R&D interventions and policy support to do it.