What are The Effects Of Extracting Rare-Earth Metals?

Rare earth metals have become an essential resource in the present world due to technological development. Almost all the countries try to develop their own technological goods, which has created a huge demand for rare earth metals in the present world. However, the entire process which is associated with extracting rare earth metals is very disruptive to the world we live. They are being mined with a technology called open pit mining techniques. When following this technique, heavy machinery and equipment are used to create a hole in the earth and dig for rare earth metals.

During the refining process of rare earth metals, a lot of byproducts are released to the environment. We can consider them as pollutants since they have the potential to ruin the atmosphere. Moreover, the process of extracting rare earth metals is a complex one and it is associated with the usage of different solvents, acids and many other chemical based materials. Last but not least, a large amount of energy and water is consumed during the entire process. At the end of the day, it can produce enormous amounts of waste gas, waste water and other forms of waste residue.

In February 2014, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China introduced a new plan which can reduce the harm done by rare earth metals to the world. This plan is known as Cleaner Production Technology Promotion Plan for the Rare Earth Industry. As mentioned in this plan, the main objective of China is to enhance the speed of promotion and industrial application of the process of separating low sodium and low carbon free ammonia nitrogen rare earth oxide. They are also planning to increase the efficiency of purification technologies, which create a lot of damage to the earth. With this plan, China will be able to reduce the acid base requirement which is associated with rare earth melting, and separation. If they can continue this plan without any disruption, they will be able to make the comprehensive use of available rare earth resources by the year 2017.

The government of China has asked relevant departments to speed up the implementation process of this plan as soon as possible. The sooner they implement it; the sooner they can reduce the damage caused to the environment. The industrial technological level of China has experienced a significant growth within the past few decades. However, this has created a huge impact on the environment. The new plan will be able to save 373,000 tons of sodium hydroxide, 120,000 tons of hydrochloric acid and 50,000 tons of ammonia per year. By 2017, China will be able to experience the benefits of the Cleaner Production Technological Promotion Plan of the Rare earth industry.

About Stanford Magnets>>

Based in California, Stanford Magnets has been involved in the R&D and sales of licensed rare-earth magnets, Neodymium magnets and SmCo magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnets and magnetic assemblies since the mid of 1980s. We supply all these types of magnets in a wide range of shapes, sizes and grades.