Fingerprinting rare earth elements from the air

Vital to many modern technologies yet mined in few places, the ‘rare earth elements’ are in fact not that rare – they are just difficult to find in concentrations that make them economic to mine. Researchers from Cambridge University and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are investigating whether the remarkable properties of these materials can be used to track them down from the air.

The light they reflect is so specific that it’s like a fingerprint, one that we can capture using sensors that pick up light emissions.
- Sally Gibson

Next time you use your mobile phone, spare a moment for the tiny yet vital ingredients that make this and many other technologies possible – the rare earth elements (REEs).

Used in computers, fibre optic cables, aircraft components and even the anti-counterfeiting system in euro notes, these materials are crucial for an estimated  £3 trillion worth of industries, with demand set to increase over the coming decades.

Currently, more than 95% of the global demand for the REEs is met by a single mine in China. The security of the future supply of these 17 critical metals, which include neodymium, europium, terbium, dysprosium and yttrium, is a major concern for European governments, and the identification of potential REE resources outside China is seen as a high priority.

Over the past year, Drs Sally Gibson, Teal Riley and David Neave have been working together through a University of Cambridge–BAS Joint Innovation Project on a remote sensing technique that could aid the identification of REEs in rocks anywhere in the world. The project brings together expertise in remote sensing, geochemistry and mineralogy from both institutes to take advantage of the properties that make the metals so special.

Read the full story

Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
______________________________________

Fingerprinting rare earth elements from the air

Looking for something specific?