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Rare earth elements: critical minerals vital for clean energy technologies
Published: 22:59 16 Jan 2025 EST
Written by: Meagan Evans
Rare earth elements (REE), essential for high-tech applications such as electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines and electronics, have become a political pawn between the east and west.
China maintains a dominant position in global rare earth production and supply chains. Asserting its control, in late 2023 the country imposed bans on exporting key technologies for rare earth processing.
China later enforced stricter regulations on rare earth mining, smelting and trading, with measures including the classifying of rare earth resources as state-owned and implementing mandatory traceability systems for companies.
In response, the United States introduced tariffs on Chinese EVs and critical minerals, aiming to counter China’s dominance while fostering US domestic rare earth production.
The rivalry underscores the strategic importance of rare earths in powering green technologies and addressing national security concerns.
Accelerating demand
Rare earths, a group of 17 metallic elements including the lanthanides and yttrium, are relatively plentiful in the earth’s crust. But they are typically quite dispersed and not found in high enough concentrations to be economically viable to mine.
Classified as critical minerals, they are indispensable for clean energy technologies and advanced defence systems.
As such, global demand for rare earths is accelerating. The International Energy Agency’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024 noted that demand for magnet REEs nearly doubled between 2015 and 2023, with projections to double again by 2050.
Australia, holding at least 4% of the world’s REE reserves, is well-placed to benefit from this demand surge, positioning itself as a key player in the evolving rare earths landscape.
Ionic Rare Earths
Ionic Rare Earths Ltd is leading the secure supply of magnet rare earths, leveraging its sustainable technology, and pioneering magnet recycling to drive the next generation of wind turbines, electric vehicles, defence and advanced manufacturing.
Makuutu
IXR is a 60% owner of the Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Uganda — one of very few proven Ionic Adsorption Clay (IAC) deposits globally, with scale to move the needle on heavy rare earth oxide (REO) supply for the new economy. The project, which is set to become Uganda’s flagship mine, will be an environmentally and socially sustainable, low-cost development.
Ionic Technologies
IXR subsidiary Ionic Technologies has developed REE separation and refining technology and applied this to the recovery and separation of individual rare earths from spent permanent magnets.
The patented technology offers first mover capability for individual magnet rare earth recycling – separating 99.9% plus magnet rare earth oxides (REO) to enable the energy transition, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing, and defence.
Refinery
Having identified a clear opportunity to provide mine-to-market magnet and heavy rare earth oxides (HREO), IXR is developing a standalone commercial-scale rare earth oxide (REO) manufacturing facility in Belfast, UK.
The Belfast demonstration plant is now in operation, where IconicRE continues to develop the intellectual property for the development of both magnet recycling and heavy rare earth separation and refining for its own standalone refinery.
The company is also working to leverage its proprietary magnet rare earth recycling technology already being demonstrated in Belfast, by building a sustainable, traceable and sovereign circular rare earth supply chain in Brazil, alongside JV partner Viridis Mining and Minerals Ltd.
This refinery will leverage Ionic Technologies IP to be an early mover and be a first step towards establishing a greater presence in the emerging Brazilian rare earth market.
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