Rare earths, why should we care and what is under Greenland's Ice.
- williamrobmacleod
- Apr 21
- 3 min read
It’s difficult to put on the telly without hearing about rare earths. They are not so rare but tend to be thinly distributed in the earth's crust. Greenland, Ukraine, China, Trump all words associated with rare earths. Should we care, is it really that interesting and do the polar bears have what it takes to protect Greenland. All very interesting questions. As a chemist I learned about rare earths but never really thought too much about them until a bunch of Eskimos and Danes flapped about Trump saying he wants to take Greenland. Clearly something big is going on, but what? To understand what is going down, let's think a little bit about the chemistry of rare earths.
Where are they on the periodic table. They sit at the bottom of the periodic table in the lanthanides and also include Scandium and yttrium. The lanthanides are f block elements. The f orbitals (f orbitals have 7 orbitals and can contain 14 electrons) are buried deep inside the atom and so do not take part in bonding. They all contain single electrons which gives them magnetic properties (unpaired electrons act like little magnets). Gadolinium contains 7 unpaired electrons providing very impressive magnetic properties. The f-f transitions also give lanthanides useful optical properties. Like the d block elements various oxidation states are possible as well as the formation of complexes this then makes them very useful as catalysts(i).
So why should we care? The reason we care is due to the huge variety of applications for rare earths. Unless we are happy with a stone age existence we have to use rare earths widely. Their magnetic and optical properties are legendary. Optical properties make them extremely useful for screens in smart phones etc. Their catalytic properties are especially useful in the Petrochem industry to refine petroleum. As powerful magnets they have many uses such as hard disks in computers. Batteries make use of rare earths; the list goes on and on.
Who controls all these wonderful, rare earths, it's as you are no doubt aware China. They control about 61% of rare earth production and 92% of their processing.(ii) This is where the dragon meets the polar bear. A brilliant source of rare earth exists in Greenland. This source of rare earth is yet to be exploited. Clearly the US views this as a security issue, they don't want to be held hostage by the Chinese who control the lions share or should I say the dragons share of rare earths. What about Ukraine a quick internet search brings up contradictory info, so maybe rare earths are pretty rare in Ukraine who knows?.
When you think of rare earths, think of your mobile phone, your PC, your electric car (if you are unfortunate enough to have one). Let's not forget the brave polar bears defending Greenland. One mystery still evades me why is Donald Trump's face orange, is it because he consumes optically active rare earths as part of his healthy McDonald diet. Some things we may never know. The polar bears won't be an issue for the US, think for a moment about a polar bears life its hard, they have to swim hundreds of miles in frozen water to get at their food, blubbery seals, an odd Eskimo with his dogs is no doubt a welcome accompaniment to their diet. I think the prospect of becoming American to these bears could be appealing, free Big Macs and instead of hibernating in frozen caves they could hibernate in warm motels. Though I do pity military police dealing with drunken belligerent polar bears monopolizing McDonald eateries in Nuuk.
In summary Greenland is an exceptionally important source of rare earths. Politically and economically these resources are causing a storm. Another important source of these rare earth is on the ocean floor, in my mind this is very worrying from an environmental point of view.
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