Bauxite's secret cache: Can EU tap into rare earth elements amidst global competition?

The European Union (EU) has been actively engaged in the global competition to secure critical minerals and rare earth elements. Despite the aggressive competition worldwide, the EU's efforts to scan every nook and cranny of the globe for these essential components have been relentless. However, the ripple effect of such acquisitions and their potential impact on the world has posed significant challenges, akin to navigating a net-zero-driven project through back-to-back speed breakers.

Image Source: UK Green Building Council (UKGBC)

The U.S. Geological Survey's release "Going Critical" clarified, "REEs are necessary components of more than 200 products across a wide range of applications, especially high-tech consumer products, such as cellular telephones, computer hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles, and flat-screen monitors and televisions. Significant defence applications include electronic displays, guidance systems, lasers, and radar and sonar systems. Although the amount of REE used in a product may not be a significant part of that product by weight, value, or volume, the REE can be necessary for the device to function. For example, magnets made of REE often represent only a small fraction of the total weight, but without them, the spindle motors and voice coils of desktops and laptops would not be possible."

According to a publication by Mighty Earth, the production of electric vehicles, where rare earth elements are necessity, has surged in recent years, from a mere 0.5 million cars sold in 2015 to a staggering 16.6 million in 2024. This represents a 3,200 per cent increase in electric car sales.  Among all new cars sold in 2022, electric vehicles accounted for approximately 14 per cent, a significant rise from 5 per cent in 2020. With experts predicting that a quarter of all new car sales will be electric by 2030, the need for critical minerals and rare earth elements is more pressing than ever.

The rare earth elements (REE) are seventeen metallic elements namely Yttrium (Y), Lanthanum (La), Cerium (Ce), Praseodymium (Pr), Neodymium (Nd), Promethium (Pm), Samarium (Sm), Europium (Eu), Gadolinium (Gd), Terbium (Tb), Dysprosium (Dy), Holmium (Ho), Erbium (Er), Thulium (Tm), Ytterbium (Yb), Lutetium (Lu), and Scandium (Sc).