The critical minerals required to make the magnets in wind turbines and the battery in your electric vehicle are controlled by China.
This dominance gives the country significant influence over the
Critical Minerals – China’s Role
China has been a world leader in producing rare earth elements for a long time. Rare earth metals are a group of 17 elements, including lanthanides, scandium, and yttrium, essential for technologies like batteries, electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and smartphones due to their unique magnetic, catalytic, and optical properties.
Gørild Heggelund, a research professor at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Oslo, Norway, said:
“China’s dominance gives it a strategic advantage but also exposes vulnerabilities for other nations.”
China controls more than sixty percent of rare earth production worldwide. However, it is very dependent on cobalt and lithium imports for batteries.
Heggelund explained:
“Almost all the cobalt used in China comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This makes their supply chains vulnerable.”
However, China has maintained its dominance by focusing on the processing stage, where raw materials are transformed into products that we can use.
Heggelund added:
“China’s focus on processing has allowed it to maintain control without owning all the mines. But it has become reliant on imports for parts of its supply as domestic policies aim at restricting mining and processing to conserve resources and reduce environmental pollution.”
Rare Earth Elements
The 17 rare earth elements (REEs) are:
- Lanthanum (La) – hybrid vehicle batteries, camera lenses, and catalysts for refining petroleum.
- Cerium (Ce) – catalytic converters, glass polishing, and as an alloy in steel manufacturing.
- Praseodymium (Pr) – high-strength magnets, aircraft engines, and coloring glass and ceramics.
- Neodymium (Nd) – permanent magnets for wind turbines, electric vehicles, headphones, and hard drives.
- Promethium (Pm) – luminous paint, atomic batteries, and scientific instruments (radioactive).
- Samarium (Sm) – magnets (samarium-cobalt), nuclear reactors, and optical lasers.
- Europium (Eu) – LED and fluorescent lighting, and color displays for TVs and computer screens.
- Gadolinium (Gd) – MRI contrast agents, nuclear reactors, and jet engine alloys.
- Terbium (Tb) – green phosphors for screens, solid-state devices, and energy-efficient lighting.
- Dysprosium (Dy) – high-temperature magnets for EVs, wind turbines, and aerospace components.
- Holmium (Ho) – nuclear control rods, magnets, and lasers for medical/scientific use.
- Erbium (Er) – fiber optics, laser surgery, and pink colorant for glass and ceramics.
- Thulium (Tm) – portable X-ray devices and specialized lasers.
- Ytterbium (Yb) – stainless steel…