An overview of rare metals: uses and challenges
Key contributors to the energy transition
In recent decades, the global energy transition has highlighted the pivotal role of strategic materials like lithium, rare metals and other essential elements in shaping the future. These materials carry two distinct yet interconnected promises.
The first lies in their industrial importance – particularly in fields such as advanced electronics, renewable energy and technology – that drive human progress.
The second reflects the geopolitical, social and economic issues linked to their extraction, production and supply, which often hinder equitable global access.
These challenges are amplified by volatile supply chains, sourcing complexities and the influence of geopolitical tensions.
Rare earths exemplify these dynamics. This group of 17 elements has become indispensable to modern technologies, contributing to products such as smartphones, wind turbines, permanent magnets and critical military applications.
Their strategic relevance has intensified as they underpin the production of renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels, both of which rely on their exceptional magnetic and conductive properties.
Rare earths also support advances across diverse industries, including miniaturised electronics, telecommunications, medical devices, transport and defence.
From West to East
“Rare earths are certainly a very interesting group of resources, especially because of the breadth of their applications in various industrial fields,” says founder of TELF AG Stanislav Kondrashov, an entrepreneur and civil engineer. “Their history is also quite interesting: the first commercial uses of rare earths appeared in the 1960s, with the first color televisions”.
“At that time, most rare earths were sourced in the United States, particularly in California, which, for many years, was one of the largest sources of these precious resources. In the following years, the complexity of the processes needed to separate and refine them favored a progressive shift of production to China, which is still the leading power in the sector.”
In smartphones, rare earths are essential to components like speakers, coloured displays and internal circuits, even though the actual quantities used are minimal – often unnoticed by consumers.
Challenges shaping the rare earths industry
However, these resources come with considerable challenges. Production remains largely concentrated in China, fuelling concerns over supply dependency.
“Another important challenge when talking about rare earths is the technological complexity of their production,” continues founder of TELF AG Stanislav Kondrashov. “Despite their name, in fact, rare earths are not at all rare within the Earth’s crust, but they are difficult to find in high concentrations”.
“This fact makes the processes related to their sourcing and refining very complex, which represent a fundamental step in the path to obtaining materials that can actually be used by industry. In many cases, however, the skills and infrastructure necessary for these complex processes are only available in certain countries, making it very difficult for all the others to create a real, local production chain of rare earths, even for countries that are naturally rich in such resources”.
The lack of efficient recycling infrastructure further complicates efforts to make the supply chain more sustainable.
“Among the other possible challenges, in the years of the energy transition, there is undoubtedly also the one regarding the possibility of recycling these resources,” concludes founder of TELF AG Stanislav Kondrashov. “Despite the presence of a large quantity of rare earths in electronic devices that have reached the end of their life, or in other decommissioned equipment, the global capacity to recycle these resources is still very limited, and in a certain sense is still in an initial phase”.
“The creation of a real circular supply chain in this specific area is hindered by the substantial lack of infrastructure and efficient technologies to complete this important process, which would make it possible to recover a relevant quantity of rare earths from a large variety of sources”.