Let’s define rare earths for they are neither rare or earth. They are referred to as rare as they are rarely found in pure form. The word earth is an archaic term describing something that can be dissolved in acid. So they are not rare – they are found just about everywhere. In Australia we have 2.8% of global reserves or just over 3 million tonnes. China has the worlds biggest reserves followed by the US.

As demand has risen recently for rare earths there may be a squeeze on supply although that will be met with increased production from areas that were previously not economically viable. New methods for recycling rare earths are either planned or already underway such as the Fukuoka Prefecture plant opened in 2013.

EV manufacturers are also reducing the amount of rare earths in the magnets of vehicles such as Nissan which reduced the quantity of dysprosium by 40% in its LEAF. Toyota Motor Corp has also found a way to cut use of neodymium in its electric motors by about a fifth. Tesla has created a copper-rotor induction motor which uses no rare earths although it does use magnetic motor also.