Critical Minerals and Rare-Earth Elements

WISDOM WEDNESDAY

Welcome back to WISDOM WEDNESDAY! This Wednesday we’ll consider the “rarity” of some elements involved in electronics manufacturing, and the criticality of the minerals they’re derived from. Wisdom Wednesday is brought to you by Micron Corporation that manages the PCB assembly supply chain and manufacturing processes for their industrial and consumer electronics customers in order to produce products with Micron precision.

Basic Elements From Compound Minerals

What is the difference between an element and a mineral? The IUPAC periodic table recognizes 118 elements. Few elements are found in significant quantities in pure form within the Earth. Minerals are mined, and elements are separated from them, often at great expense and with millions and billions of dollars in infrastructure. Minerals are naturally occurring inorganic solids with a defined chemical composition and a crystalline internal structure. A mineral may be a chemical compound or a native element; a rock may contain a mixture of minerals. Those elements must be extracted in order for them to become useful in a purer form.

Critical Minerals, Strategic Metals, and Rare-Earth Elements

Three terms are often used to categorize how valuable different minerals and elements are to the supply chains of industries and governments. Minerals may be characterized as “critical”, metals are often described as “strategic”, and some elements are considered “rare.” Let’s explore what these terms signify. In relation to minerals, criticality is defined by three interrelated factors: economic importance, supply risk, and low sustainability of procurement. (“Mineral War: China’s Quest for Weapons of Mineral Destruction”, Tomasz Nadrowski, Postjudice Press, 2025). Minerals are mostly mined for the elements they contain. Ores, in particular, are mined for the potential profitability of the minerals they contain, most of those minerals contain valuable metals. And yes, “profit,” is in the definition of ores. This layered terminology leading to the three-fourths of all elements that are metals leads us to the term “strategic metals.” Here the implication of the word strategic embodies the triad known in political circles as the Iron Triangle and contains the military-industrial complex. The third term, “rare”, is somewhat of a misnomer. Many rare-earth elements are relatively abundant in Earth’s crust, but economically workable concentrations are less common. Gold is not a rare-earth element. The USGS rare-earth overview explains why concentration, extraction, and separation matter to supply. Mined minerals must undergo a combination of crushing, grinding, and upgrading at a nearby plant before being transported to metallurgical complexes for further refining. This is accomplished with fire (pyrometallurgy), water (hydrometallurgy), electricity (electrowinning and electrorefining), and other chemical processes such as leaching of solids, solvent extraction, and ion exchange. This all takes money, time, equipment, and quite a bit of knowledge.

Elemental Compounds in Electronics

Now we turn our attention to “How all these minerals and elements have an effect on the electronics manufacturing industry.” To answer that question in summative form we turned to Max, the AI agent developed for the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA). Max listed seven major rare earths, that I challenge anyone to pronounce all correctly: Neodymium (Nd), Dysprosium (Dy), Praseodymium (Pr), Yttrium (Y), Europium (Eu), Cerium (Ce), and Lanthanum (La). We shall use the two letter designations from here on out in this post. Nd, Dy, and Pr are used in permanent-magnet alloys. Y and Eu are used in phosphors for lighting and display applications, and Y also has ceramic applications. Ce compounds are used for polishing, while La compounds have uses in glass and batteries. The USGS Minerals Yearbook describes these material uses in more detail.

Global Rare-Earths Mine Production

Mine production and processing are distinct stages of the rare-earth supply chain. In its 2024 country review, the USGS estimates China’s share of global rare-earth mine production at 71% and reports a larger share, 87%, of processing. The historical concentration described below should not be read as a current mine-production percentage. At one point in the period between 2005 and 2010, close to 97% of rare-earths were supplied by China (WSJ, Sept. 27, 2026, “See How the U.S Is Attacking China’s Control of Critical Minerals”, graphic from Center for Strategic and International Studies). The Trump administration has put in place an initiative to create a China-free supply chain. According to the same article in the WSJ, “U.S. government nonequity investment in rare-earths and magnet projects grew to $7.6 billion in the 18 months ended June 2026, more than four times the amount between 2020 and 2024, according to an analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.” If the Strait of Hormuz didn’t make it plain enough, then rare-earths should. Supply chains matter to industry, governments, and consumers. None of us should take for granted the rarity of some of the long chains of supply that provide us with the conveniences, and some would say necessities, of our modern existence.

That concludes this Wisdom Wednesday. We appreciate your continuing involvement in the progress of electronics manufacturing through the sharing of industry knowledge. Share some of your industry knowledge with us by getting in touch with MICRON EMS, a division of Micron Corporation, at info@microncorp.com.