Mining For Green

Terms such as “rare earth elements” and “critical and strategic minerals” have been reaching public awareness of late, mostly because these elements and minerals are essential ingredients in society’s transition to a green economy. They are already integral to existing technologies, such as lasers, MRI machines, LEDs and smartphones, and they will become even more important for emerging technologies such as batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), weaponry and space exploration. A look at just one of those critical elements – rare earths – provides insight into the international competition to secure materials necessary for the developing technologies and into the barriers to extraction, processing and utilization of the strategic elements. The costs of mining are increasing, environmental damage has become a problem and alternatives to existing technologies are needed, all making the pathway ahead “messy” but ultimately rewarding.