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Australia, a superpower exporter of iron ore and coal with rich mining traditions believes it is well-placed to join the race to exploit minerals that provide critical parts for electric vehicles and wind turbines.<\/p>\n
“This could certainly be a game-changer for Australia. We are relatively well-endowed in rare earth elements,” says Gavin Lockyer, managing director of Arafura Resources. <\/p>\n
“This could really put Australia front and centre in the renewable sector.<\/p>\n
“It is relatively easy to discover a rare earths deposit. What is difficult is finding a deposit that has economic quantities of the valuable materials.”<\/p>\n
Rare earths are a collection of more than a dozen elements on the periodic table. They are not particularly rare, but actually fairly plentiful in the Earth’s crust.<\/p>\n
Geoscience Australia, a government research agency, says they have broad industrial, medical, domestic and strategic applications “because of their unique catalytic, nuclear, electrical, magnetic and luminescent properties”.<\/p>\n
They are used in “magnets and super magnets, motors, metal alloys, electronic and computing equipment, batteries, catalytic converters, petroleum refining, medical imaging and lasers”. <\/p>\n
Europium is found in fluorescent lighting, gadolinium in nuclear power rods and ytterbium in solar panels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n