NdPR price, page-1240

Without question it is in the interest of all magnet producers to thrift all REE magnet metals; that’s basically NdPr and DyTb (whether separated or not), with Tb finding use in PMDD wind turbine generators.

NOTE: Tb is less abundant and more expensive than Dy, but because it accomplishes the same effect (increased coercivity) with lower concentrations, more NdPr can be retained (increased remanence), which translates to a stronger magnetic field and more renewable energy per revolution. Wind turbines are so high value that the added cost of Tb is easily absorbed. EV motors can manage on Dy alone.

Both Dy and Tb are scarce enough that availability not cost drives thrifting research even in China. The research I cited earlier is out of Germany, but most is from the Chinese.

Worth a mention? Thrifting of NdPr is another area of research. Both Japanese and Chinese have reported magnets with some of the NdPr being replaced by rare earths LaCe, which are super cheap REEs; think cost free. These efforts have yielded magnet grades putatively suitable for certain EV duty cycles with as much as 20% of the NdPr replaced by LaCe.

The manufacturing of both low-DyTb and lower-NdPr magnets has involved making magnets with smaller “grain size” (microscopic magnetic regions that are made to work together). This adds cost and complexity as well as increased potential for destructive oxidation.

Traditional magnet making is a one-pot one-powder one-alloy method (mix NdPrDyTb and melt together; huge exaggeration of simplicity) but it currently requires 3X-5X the DyTb (some of which does nothing but get in the way of energy or power production by virtue lowering NdPr) to have acceptable thermal properties. As mentioned already, the current solution is to replace Dy with Tb as possible.

China is going to great lengths to obtain its current supply of DyTb and other HREEs. They have if you want it but they want it too now; they are not just supplying raw materials anymore. You can read up on the horror that is Myanmar (ionic clays) at your leisure; nothing going to change that situation except a competent affordable high-temp magnet with ZERO HREEs and that has only proven possible with lower grade NdFeB magnets intended for lighter duty cycles.

Every producer wants to get more high-value high-temp magnets from the same amount of Dy; so you can expect the Nidec Gen 3 motor to utilize even less Dy. Availability not cost is the main driver even if you are the only shop in town that has access to DyTb. Chinese literature is replete with relevant motor and manner research.

Certainly motors that use magnets containing DyTb can recoup part of their cost by rendering liquid cooling unnecessary, but that is a complex calculation and potentially a risky bet. Tens of millions of dollars are spent getting a wind turbine into the field; no producer will take any risk of partial or complete demagnetization from overheating, and that is a real threat as temperatures rise. Magnet grades are largely based on (1) power and (2) heat tolerance.

Lynas’s success will remain dependent on serving magnetmakers
and motors/generator manufacturers, and as DyTb is currently 100% essential to the most valuable applications and likely to remain so, it behooves them to produce DyTb ASAP.