When rare earths become political fiction

Scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium. Who are these guys? No clue? Even my computer's voice recognition can't get them right, maybe 4 out of 17.

These metals with weird names — part of the "rare earth" family — have suddenly become famous worldwide, thanks to a bizarre event. The spark came from none other than Donald Trump, who declared he wanted $500 billion from Ukraine "in rare earths." It's a nonsensical claim since Ukraine has no confirmed rare earth resources. Even if it did, it would take years to start mining, enough to frustrate any impatient American creditor. Plus, the entire global rare earth market is worth about $10 billion a year, so $500 billion is just absurd. The go-to database for mineral resources is the U.S. Geological Survey, which anyone (even the President's staff) can access. You don't need a degree in chemistry or geology to understand it. Almost no one bothered to check, and the frenzy began. Suddenly, everything became a "rare earth": lithium, uranium, graphite (sic!), gallium. These mistakes even appear in official documents from international institutions like NATO.

What are rare earths really?

The situation is even more absurd when you consider that the intriguing name "rare earths" is just a historical relic from the 19th century when these 17 metals were first discovered. They were typically found as oxides, which were called "earths" back then due to their appearance. They were labeled "rare" because they were hard to find and even harder to separate; it took over a century to identify them all. Lutetium was the last to be isolated, hiding in the shadow of ytterbium for decades. Today, we know they're more common on Earth's crust than metals like lead or silver, and far more abundant than gold, platinum, or palladium. However, finding them in concentrations that make mining economically viable remains challenging. Production is currently concentrated in China, Australia, the United States, and Southeast Asia, while Brazil, Russia, and some African nations have promising potential.

The unique chemical and physical properties of rare earths, especially their magnetic and optical characteristics, come from the gradual filling of their f-orbitals — a nightmare for generations of students. Rare earths aren't actually "earths" or "rare," but they're essential for countless applications: lasers (neodymium, holmium, thulium, praseodymium), permanent magnets (dysprosium, neodymium, terbium), special alloys (most of them), telecommunications (erbium, yttrium), catalysis (cerium, lanthanum), and more. Our smartphones, for example, can contain up to eight of them. When your phone vibrates, that's dysprosium; when you listen to music through headphones, gadolinium comes into play. Interest in them is only going to grow.

I've worked extensively with rare earths, marveling at the fantastic red and green luminescence of europium and terbium, not to mention the spectacular infrared lines of ytterbium and samarium. We even managed to insert a europium complex into a carbon nanotube — three years of work.

Misinformation and nonsense

At this point, you might think I'm annoyed by this recent frenzy for personal reasons. No, I'm concerned about something else. How prepared are our societies to face the enormous challenges ahead if misinformation and nonsense are deliberately used, even at the highest levels, for unclear purposes? Meanwhile, everyone buys into it, helping to spread the virus, much to the delight of those who start fires just to see what happens.

This article is also published in italian on Sapere. illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.