Rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earth elements since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties.

Because of their geochemical properties, rare earth elements are typically dispersed and not often found in concentrated and economically exploitable forms. The few economically exploitable deposits are known as rare earth minerals. It was the very scarcity of these minerals (previously called "earths") that led to the term "rare earth".

Uses

Rare earth elements are used in many modern technological devices, including superconductors, samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron high-flux rare-earth magnets, electronic polishers, refining catalysts and hybrid car components.

Issue

China now produces over 97% of the world's rare earth supply, mostly in Inner Mongolia, even though it has only 37% of proven reserves. All of the world's heavy rare earths (such as dysprosium) come from Chinese rare earth sources such as the polymetallic Bayan Obo deposit.China has announced regulations on exports and a crackdown on smuggling of Rare Earths. On September 1, 2009, China announced plans to reduce its export quota to 35,000 tons per year in 2010–2015, ostensibly to conserve scarce resources and protect the environment. In September 2011 China announced the halt in production of three of its eight major rare earth mines, responsible for almost 40% of China's total rare earth production.

As a result of the increased demand and tightening restrictions on exports of the metals from China, some countries are stockpiling rare earth resources. Searches for alternative sources in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Greenland, and the United States are ongoing.

Recent problems with Chinese supplies of rare earths have sent Japanese traders and companies in search of alternative sources. The solution to their problem has been found in what Japan refers to as urban mining – recycling the valuable metals and minerals from the country’s huge stockpiles of used electronics like cell phones and computers.

In Kosaka Japan, Dowa Holdings, the company that had mined there for over a century, has built a recycling plant whose 200-foot-tall furnace renders old electronics parts into a molten stew from which valuable metals and other minerals can be extracted.

The salvaged parts come from around Japan and overseas, including the United States. Besides gold, they have also successfully reclaimed rare metals like indium, used in liquid-crystal display screens, and antimony, used in silicon wafers for semiconductors.

In India,mainly beach placers are mined at present. Monazite is the principal ore mineral for REE in India, although xenotime holds out some prospect for the future. Of India's estimated reserve of 5 million tonnes of monazite, 70-75 % occurs in beach placer and the rest in the inland and offshore varieties.  India and Japan have agreed for joint development of rare mineral deposits in October 2011. Japan's high technology industry makes it the world's largest importer of rare earths required for products ranging from computers to mobile phones to military hardware. And Japan has been seeking alternative sours after China reduced shipments last year. India had stopped producing rare earths in 2004 due to lack of market competitiveness.