Uses of Terres Rares Metals in Various Industries

Many people do not understand the meaning of rare earth metals. To them this is same as precious metals like gold, silver and platinum and so on. But it is not so. There are 17 chemical elements that make up total rare earth metals. If you take a look at the Periodic Table, the entire Lanthanide series along with yttrium and scandium make up the rare earth elements. Usually all these elements have similar chemical properties and features and this is the reason that they are clubbed together.

Uses of Rare Earth Metals

Since the past few years, there have been great demands of rare earth metals in various industries. In fact many of the devices we use on regular basis contain these metals in some form or the other. For instance, they are widely used in rechargeable batteries, computer memory, cell phones, fluorescent lighting, magnets, DVDs, catalytic convertor and so on. Rechargeable batteries use Terres Rares metals extensively as they are needed in many places. Almost all portable electronic devices require such batteries including cameras, readers, and portable computers and so on. Apart from this, these metals are also used in critical defense equipment like precision guided weapons, night-vision goggles, GPS equipment etc.

Finding These Rare Metals

As per Métaux Critiques, China is the leading producer of rare metals since 1990s. With increasing demands of Terres Rares metals, the country is producing more volume of such metals. These metals were sold at comparatively low rates to the whole world. Mines in other parts of the world were not able to compete with the rates. Almost 95% of the production of rare earth metals is credited to China. Along with being the primary producer of these metals, China is also the leading consumer of rare earth elements. Most of this is used in the manufacturing of various kinds of electronic products which are consumed within the country as well as exported to other places. As demands of these metals are increasing and production reports showing decreasing trends, attempts are being made to find other ways of extracting such metals from varying sources.