Analysis by Naewna newspaper
AMID heavy international focus on rare-earth elements (REE) with the US rapidly rebuilding its supply chain in a move to end decades of dependence on China as tensions between the two powers persist despite a temporary trade truce, there is strong public interest about this within Thailand.
This followed the signing of “Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of United States of America and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand Concerning Cooperation to Diversity Global Critical Minerals Supply Chains and Promote Investments” by US President Donald Trump and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last weekend with the White House website releasing full details.
So, let’s get to know about rare-earth minerals. According to the Department of Mineral Resources, rare earths are extremely rare elements used as crucial upstream raw materials in the production processes of various high-tech industries, both current and future, such as metal alloys, catalyst and chemical process in automotive and petrochemical industries, ceramics/glass industry, phosphors with examples being LED bulbs, fluorescent lamps and flat-panel displays, rechargeable solid-state batteries (Ni-MH), fiber optics, and more.
Furthermore, rare-earth elements are key components in modern technologies such as solid-state fuel cells, superconductors, magnetic cooling, hydrogen storage, and high-performance permanent magnets. These elements are crucial for advanced technologies such as wind turbines, hybrid cars, hard disk drives, speakers, and mobile phone microphones. Each rare-earth element has a diverse range of applications.
The term “rare earth” is a misnomer, because they are not actually scarce, but because they are only found in compounds, not as pure metals, are difficult to isolate and purify. They are relatively plentiful in the entire Earth’s crust (cerium being the 25th-most-abundant element at 68 parts per million, more abundant than copper), but in practice they are spread thinly as trace impurities, so to obtain rare earths at usable purity requires processing enormous amounts of raw ore at great expense.
Mineral deposits that yield rare-earth elements are found throughout western Thailand, from North to South, such as Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Uthai Thani, Kanchanaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Ranong, Phang Nga, and Surat Thani provinces.
Thailand also boasts numerous mineral resources that are utilised in our daily lives, from toothpaste, toilet bowls, ceramic plates and bowls, mobile phones, automobiles, to road structures and skyscrapers.
According to the 2023 Thailand Mineral Resource Inventory, 19% of Thailand’s land area contains more than 40 mineral resources. The most abundant mineral resource, accounting for nearly 60% of the country’s total, is rock salt, which is found in the northeastern region of Thailand. Further exploration is underway for other important mineral resources.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), rare earth producing countries produced approximately 390,000 tons of REO (Rare Earth Oxides) in 2024. China dominates the rare earth market, with a near monopoly. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that China accounts for approximately 61% of global rare earth production and 92% of processing.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the production of approximately 390,000 tons of REO (Rare Earth Oxides) in 2024 is as follows: China: 270,000 tons, United States: 45,000 tons, Myanmar 31,000 tons, Thailand, Australia, Nigeria equal at 13,000 tons each, and India 2,900 tons.
Meanwhile the world’s rare earth reserves are more than 90 million tons, with Thailand ranked 12th at 4,500 tons REO. The top five countries are China 44 million tons, Brazil 21 million tons, India 6.9 million tons, Australia 5.7 million tons, and Russia 3.8 million tons.
CAPTIONS:
Top – After a kilogramme of rock is crushed to powder and then processed, what is probably left is 40 grammes of rare earth concentrate. Photo – CNA
Front Page – Workers use machinery to dig at a rare earth mine in Ganxian county in central China’s Jiangxi province on Dec . 30, 2010. File photo: Chinatopix via AP and published by CNA
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