Critical Minerals and Rare Earths Dataset

A dataset of over 1300 source mines, locations and estimated concentrations corresponding to critical rare earth minerals from over 28 countries. Lithium and Cobalt are also covered.

• Country
• Mine Name
• Mine Latitude
• Mine Longitude
• Cerium (parts per million or 'ppm')
• Cobalt (ppm)
• Dysprosium (ppm)
• Erbium (ppm)
• Europium (ppm)
• Gadolinium (ppm)
• Holmium(ppm)
• Lanthanum (ppm)
• Lithium (ppm)
• Lutetium (ppm)
• Neodymium(ppm)
• Promethium (ppm)
• Scandium(ppm)
• Samarium (ppm)
• Terbium (ppm)
• Thulium (ppm)
• Yttrium (ppm)
• Ytterbium (ppm)

• Developing rare earth sourcing and investment strategy
• Rare Earth Exploration and Research
• Collecting market or geopolitical intelligence
• Creating financial presentations and content
• Prediction and Modeling

The data is collected from a variety of diverse public and non-published sources. The data is then corroborated and cross-checked against published research datapoints. This is followed by data review and publication on AWS.

You may be interested in these related datasets that are also excellent resources. Some of these provide background context while others provide objective datapoints.

If you need a more comprehensive list of datasets related to rare earths, reach out to us at awsdataexchange@refdb.org 

Rare-earth elements (REE) are a set of nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. Compounds containing rare earths have diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes.

They are also called the rare-earth metals or (in context) rare-earth oxides or sometimes the lanthanides (yttrium and scandium are usually included as rare earths).

Lithium and Cobalt are not formally classified as one of these rare earth elements, however, that does not mean that they are easy to acquire at scale for commercial use.

Although the rare earths have been around since the formation of Earth, their existence did not come to light until the late 18th century. In 1787 the Swedish army lieutenant Carl Axel Arrhenius discovered a unique black mineral in a small quarry in Ytterby (a small town near Stockholm). That mineral was a mixture of rare earths, and the first individual element to be isolated was Cerium in 1803.

Rare earth minerals are key ingredients for devices such as iPhones, as well as wind turbines, hybrid cars, and night-vision goggles. Minerals such as neodymium are used to magnets for speakers. They also find use in wind turbines and drive trains. Europium is a phosphor used in displays. Cerium can find use in commercial solvents. REEs are also being used in special ceramics, fluorescent lighting and PET scanners.

Rare-earth ore deposits are found all over the world. The major ores are in China, the United States, Australia, and Russia, while other viable ore bodies are found in Canada, India, South Africa, and southeast Asia. Chinese deposits accounted for at least 80 percent of the rare earths mined in the world (e.g., 105,000 tons of rare-earth oxide). It is estimated that approximately 94 percent of the rare earths mined in China are from bastnasite deposits.

Prices and demand for rare earth materials have risen dramatically over the past decade. China produces the majority of the supply. Deposits in Australia and the United States are increasing explorations and operations.

If you have questions about this dataset or a related dataset, contact us at awsdataexchange@refdb.org