From cell phones and computers, via hybrid carseven weapons and medical equipment rare earth for its manufacture. The key lies partly in its great magnetic capabilities. For example, due to the increasingly smaller size of electronic devices, elements such as ytterbium and terbium, with high electrical conductivity, allow greater storage. In addition, Renewable energies such as wind power also rely on rare earth metals, as wind turbine infrastructure would not be viable with large engines made of other materials..
However, the costs of extracting rare earth metals are very high. In addition, these minerals may be contaminated by radioactive elements such as uranium, with all the associated risks for the environment.. For this reason they are considered rare earth metals”, because they are complicated to find and extract in their pure state. However, they are more abundant than gold or silver, although they are found in more widespread deposits. The rare earth, an essential element in the green economy: «A wind generator can hold 250 kg».
But now we talk about those elements a lot more, because use is widespread. For example, in the regular magnets that we can have in the motors of the refrigerators in our home. So far everything is fine. What makes rare earths more important is their status essential part of the green economy. “A wind generator can contain 250 kg of rare earth metals”, they point out, 5% more of them are used every year.
According to experts the development of the green economy can also cause problems for the ecosystem. Rare earth metals have a contaminating component in the process and also in the minerals. Most serious is the possibility of radioactive contamination due to the waste of materials produced from the subsurface, such as thorium and uranium, destroying the possibility of agricultural production in the environment.. Processing can take place that is not harmful to the environment, but raises prices.
Mining aimed at obtaining rare earth metals has done so the smallest possible impact on the environment. It is suggested that we should take into account that every project has this impact reports very strict environment.
Situation of rare earth elements in Spain
It is not won in Spain not an ounce of these elements, despite the fact that we have them and the minerals from which they are obtained. The lithium deposits are located in the western sector of Spain, the majority between Cáceres and Salamanca. That was determined in the 1980s The southern area, the area where Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia border, had very great potential.
The closest project was in the Campo de Montiel, in Ciudad Real. It was developed by the company Quantum Minería and was rejected by the residents of the area. Finally, justice has struck him downalthough the company is now trying to revive it with changes.
China’s ‘monopoly’
Las rare earth They have been a priority since Deng Xiaoping, the author of the turn to market socialism and the driver of China’s massive growth, came to power in the late 1970s, the reform leader said The Middle East has the oil, but we have the rare earthsthey point out. The point is that China has the elements on its territory, but as we have seen in the case of Spain, that is not enough. They have the resources and have invested heavily in technological advancementsMoreover, “they have had cheap labor and in the beginning lax environmental regulations.
China also has the ability to refine and develop technologies to intervene in the entire process. Vázquez gives an example of minerals that are needed for this rare earth: 70% of the world’s cobalt leaves the Democratic Republic of Congo, but China refines more than 70% and many companies in the Asian country control the process there and export the material.
