CARO News

War Over Rare Earth Elements

Posted on May 29, 2019

I bet you didn’t think you would be hearing that a potential pretext for trade war escalation would be around some chemical elements that are not very well known: Rare Earth Elements (REEs).

Contrary to their naming convention, rare earth elements (REEs) are far from rare and are found in small concentrations within mineral deposits around the world. Given their widespread prevalence in common applications such as portable electronics, transportation and telecommunications, these elements are present in the analytical footprint of a variety of sites. CARO Analytical Services has been testing rare earth elements for years and contributing to the local Canadian scientific knowledge base. This is huuugely important as dependence on limited suppliers can upend world supply changes and consequently economic activity around the world.

Canada and North America are not large producers of rare earth elements, but we could be and we could position ourselves as a dependable source as we have been for many other raw ingredients. Our investigations have shown the presence of REEs in water related to the mining industry, landfill leachate and industrial wastewater. When undergoing testing, REEs have demonstrated the ability to positively interfere with the measured quantities of other metallic elements. This potential analytical challenge highlights the importance of understanding when rare earth elements are expected to be found and applying the correct methodology.

Rather than arguing about pipelines, we should be exploring new markets and developing our rare earth resources that would be a value add to many existing mine operations as rare earths are potentially many places. CARO Analytical Services stands ready to support exploratory and investigative analysis to identify and quantify these sources and help support contributing to the global supply chain with reliable and dependable sources. Please contact us below to discuss rare earth elements, receive the presentation we recently did at a conference or to discuss any other analytical testing projects that we can support you on as Canada’s award winning and market leading analytical testing company.

CBC News Article on Economic War Escalation May 29, 2019