What We Need To Know About Rare Earth Elements (and Especially Dysprosium)

We know that we need rare earth minerals. From there though, the list of questions is long.

We can start with what, where, and how.

Rare Earth Elements

What

In a list of 17 rare earth elements, The Economist began with Scandium and ended with Lutetium:

Next, we can get a sense of where the most demand comes from:

Where

We can see China’s rare earth elements dominance:

Whether looking at reserves or production, the U.S. is far behind China:

How

The whole rare earths story can come alive through dysprosium. A heavy rare earth element, dysprosium (Dy) helps magnets control heat in offshore wind turbines, jets, and spacecraft. However, it’s all a bit more complicated because we cannot just scoop it from the earth.

The process could begin with the ion adsorption clays or monazite and bastnasite that contain dysprosium. Then producers crush the ore, separate it, refine it. Requiring massive amounts of energy and waste, the name dysprosium–based on a Greek word meaning hard-to-get–is especially appropriate.

To see some Dysprosium, do take a look at this video:

Our Bottom Line: the Supply Chain

The first link in a supply chain, producing dysprosium requires a challenging land, labor, capital recipe. Then, traveling to the makers of wind turbines, electric vehicles, and other electronic devices, it might stay in China or leave for a global manufacturing destination. Recognizing China’s near monopoly, the U.S. has tried to access other sources. Two possibilities have included Australia and a mine in California. Montana’s Bureau of Mines and Geology also says it has possibilities.

Thinking about rare earths, we can multiply the dysprosium story by 17.

Most crucially for now though, China just announced that, including dysprosium oxide, it was restricting (and prohibiting) rare earth exports. Because dysprosium oxide is selling for more than $204 a kilogram outside China, inventories are low at most U.S. firms.

My sources and more: Rather briefly, the Economist, here and here has the ideal rare earth introduction. From there, the Visual Capitalist had much more detail. Next, narrowing the topic, ThoughtCo.,  this website and the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology had all we could ever want to know about Dy (Dysprosium). However, seeing what  Greenland says about providing rare earths, we can only imagine its environmental downside.

For our featured image, we took a screenshot of dysprosium from ThoughtCo.

On April 14, 2025, this post was updated with the China rare earth export announcement.