India & Rare Earth Minerals

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Industry urges govt. to establish ‘India Rare Earths Mission’ to reduce reliance on China ( The Hindu, 26/11/2022 ).

The term "rare earth" arises from the minerals from which they were first isolated, which are common oxide-type minerals (earths) found in Gadolinite extracted from one mine in the village of Ytterby, Sweden. However, with the exception of the highlyunstable promethium, rare-earth elements are found in relatively high concentrations in the earth's crust with cerium being 25th most abundant element in the earth's crust at 68 parts per million. 

Rare Earths are a group of 17 elements starting with lanthanum in the periodic table of elements and include scandium and yttrium. They are moderately abundant in earth's crust but not concentrated enough to make them economically exploitable. The REEs find key applications in defence, electronics, energy systems etc. For instance, magnets made from rare earths are many times more powerful than conventional ones. Along with energy critical elements (ECE), such as, lithium which has become ubiquitous battery material, REEs have emerged as strategic elements essential for sustainable energy systems. 

The Rare-earth Elements (REE) are a collection of 17 elements, namely, scandium, yttrium and lanthanides (15 elements in the periodic table with atomic numbers 57 to 71, namely, lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb) and lutetium (Lu). 

Although these elements tend to occur together, the lanthanide elements are divided into two groups. The light elements are those with atomic numbers 57 to 63 (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm and Eu) and the heavy elements are those with atomic numbers 64 to 71 (Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu). 

REEs are characterised by high density, high melting point, high conductivity and high thermal conductance. A number of rare-earth minerals contain thorium and uranium in variable amounts, but they do not constitute essential components in the composition of the minerals.

The principal sources of REE are bastnaesite (a fluorocarbonate which occurs in carbonatites and related igneous rocks), xenotime (yttrium phosphate) commonly found in mineral sand deposits, loparite which occurs in alkaline igneous rocks and monazite (a phosphate). The rare earths occur in many other minerals and are recoverable as by-products from phosphate rock and from spent uranium leaching. In India, monazite is the principal source of rare earths and thorium. Monazite is a complex phosphate of thorium and Rare Earth minerals [(Ce, La,Nd, Th,Y) PO4 ] and this is radio active in nature .

Resources of Monazite ( in million tonnes ) in India:

All India: 12.47 

Andhra Pradesh: 3 . 69 

Gujarat: 0.003 

Jharkhand: 0.21 

Kerala: 1.84

Maharashtra: 0.004

Odisha: 3.06 

Tamil Nadu: 2.46

West Bengal: 1.20 

Policy on Rare Earth Minerals:

In order to safeguard the strategic interest of the nation it is expedient in larger national interest to prohabit the grant of operating rights in terms of any reconnaissance permit exploration license or production lease of atomic minerals as defined in partB of the first schedule of the MM(DR) Act, 1957. 

A Notification No. S.O.2685 (E) dated 27.07.2019, was issued for reserving the prospecting and mining rights of offshore minerals under Offshore Areas Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002 exclusively to Government or a Government owned company or a corporation owned or controlled by the Government. 

As per Gazette Notification No 26/2015-2020 dated 21.08.2018, the export of rare-earth compounds classified as Beach Sand Minerals (BSM), namely, [Ilmenite, Rutile, Leucoxene (Titanium-bearing mineral), Zircon, Garnet, Sillimanite and Monazite (Uranium and Thorium)], shall be regulated in terms of Sl No 98A of Chapter 26 Schedule 2 of ITC (HS) Classification. 

Other minerals under Code 2617 are freely exportable, except those which have been notified as prescribed substances and controlled under Atomic Energy Act 1962. 

As per the Foreign Trade Policy, import policy under ITC(HS), 2017 Schedule 1, the import policy on the import of ores & concentrates of rare-earth metals (under HS Code 25309040) and of rare-earth oxides including rutile sand (HS Code 26140031) are permitted 'freely' whereas export policy under ITC(HS) 2017 Schedule 2, the export policy on the export of ores and concentrates of rare-earth metals (under HS Code 25309040) are permitted 'freely' and of rare-earth oxides including rutile sand (HS Code 26140031) are permitted through STE (State Trading Enterprise), Indian Rare Earth Limited (IREL).

Export of Beach Sand Minerals have been brought under STE and shall be canalised through Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL). Beach sand minerals, permitted anywhere in the export policy, will now be regulated in terms of policy under at Sl. No. 98A of Chapter 26 of Schedule 2 of the Export Policy. 

As per Gazette Notification No : GSR.134 (E) dated 20.2.2019, the particulars of threshold values for atomic minerals in respect of Beach Sand Minerals (BSM) shall be regulated as Schedule A [Rule 2(1)(m) and Rule 36] 

World Review:

The total world reserves are estimated at 120 million tonnes of rare-earth oxides equivalent content (REO) of which China alone accounts for 44 million tonnes (37%) followed by Vietnam & Brazil (18% each) and Russia (10%). 

China holds the leading position among producers of rare-earth oxides with 180 thousand tonnes. The other major producers are Myanmar, Australia, USA, Russia, India, Vietnam and Malaysia. Concentrates/partially-processed intermediate products are further processed at many locations in Europe, USA, Japan and China.

Export and Import:

Exports:

Exports of rare-earth Metals (Scandium & Yttrium) in 2019-20 decreased substantially by 32% to 8.41 tonnes from 12.44 tonnes in the previous year. Bhutan (90%) and UAE (9%) were the main buyers from India. 

Imports:

Like export, imports of rare-earth Metals (Scandium & Yttrium) in 2019-20 decreased substantially by 26% to 473.64 tonnes as comapred to 643.41 tonnes in 2018-19. China (92%), Hong Kong (7%) were the main suppliers to India.

Applications:

Due to their unusual physical and chemical properties, such as unique magnetic and optical properties, REEs have diverse applications that touch many aspects of modern life and culture. Specific REEs are used individually or in combination to make phosphors—substances that emit luminescence—for many types of ray tubes and flat panel displays, in screens that range in size from smart phone displays to stadium scoreboards. Some REEs are used in fluorescent and LED lighting. Yttrium, europium, and terbium phosphors are the red-green-blue phosphors used in many light bulbs, panels, and televisions. 

The glass industry is the largest consumer of REE raw materials, using them for glass polishing and as additives that provide color and special optical properties. Lanthanum makes up as much as 50 percent of digital camera lenses, including cell phone cameras. 

Lanthanum-based catalysts are used to refine petroleum. Cerium-based catalysts are used in automotive catalytic converters. 

Magnets that employ REEs are rapidly growing in application. Neodymium-iron-boron magnets are the strongest magnets known, useful when space and weight are limiting factors. Rare-earth magnets are used in computer hard disks and CD–ROM and DVD disk drives. The spindle of a disk drive attains high stability in its spinning motion when driven by a rare-earth magnet. These magnets are also used in a variety of conventional automotive subsystems, such as power steering, electric windows, power seats, and audio speakers. 

Nickel-metal hydride batteries are built with lanthanumbased alloys as anodes. These battery types, when used in hybrid electric cars, contain significant amounts of lanthanum, requiring as much as 10 to 15 kilograms per electric vehicle. 

Cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, and praseodymium, commonly in the form of a mixed oxide known as mischmetal, are used in steel making to remove impurities and in the production of special alloys.

https://ibm.gov.in/writereaddata/files/05132022180218Rare_Earths_2020.pdf

https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2014/3078/pdf/fs2014-3078.pdf

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