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Kenya on the verge of breaking China’s dominance on rare earth metals
World demand for rare earth elements is estimated at 136,000 tons per year, with global production around 133,600 tons in 2010. The difference is covered by previously mined stocks. Global demand is projected to rise to at least 185,000 tons annually by 2015.
Although many of the rare earth metals are not necessarily rare to find — some are more abundant in the earth’s crust than lead, gold, copper or platinum — they often exist in very small concentrations, making extraction difficult and prohibitively expensive. And because of their similar chemical properties, rare earths tend to clump together, usually with radioactive elements such as thorium and uranium, making separation complicated and expensive.
(More: Jamaica launches rare earth metals project)
Earlier this year it was reported that Jamaica is in the process of determining whether rare earth elements can be commercially extracted from the island nation’s abundant bauxite waste. This was a follow-up to research that determined that concentrations of rare earth elements in the island nation’s red mud – a development that could positively impact to country.
