Rare earths
Overview
Rare earths or rare earth elements (REE) are crucial to modern society, driving innovation across automotives, electronics, renewable energy, healthcare, defence and aerospace, and as a catalyst in industrial and chemical processing.
As demand for highly engineered products continues to grow, manufacturers that rely on rare earths face a limited supply of marketable product outside a handful of Chinese producers.
Argus Rare Earths Analytics and Argus Non-Ferrous Markets address this unique challenge in the rare earths industry by delivering price data and forecasts through on-the-ground expertise and a proven methodology that supports long-term outlooks as well as supply and demand fundamentals.
Rare earths coverage
Argus produces more than 70 price assessments for the 17 rare earth elements, as well as delivering best-in-class data, news and analysis to support your decision making. In addition, the Argus Rare Earths Analytics service also provides market analysis and 10-year forecasts for supply, demand, prices and projects across key rare earths:
- Cerium prices
- Dysprosium prices
- Erbium prices
- Europium prices
- Gadolinium prices
- Lanthanum prices
- Mischmetal prices
- Neodymium prices
- Praseodymium prices
- Praseodymium-neodymium prices
- Samarium prices
- Terbium prices
- Yttrium prices
Latest rare earth news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global rare earth industry.
Q&A: LatAm Li juniors likelier to be producers
Q&A: LatAm Li juniors likelier to be producers
Sao Paulo, 4 November (Argus) — With hundreds of possible greenfield resources, especially in Brazil and Argentina, Latin America has emerged as a new frontier for junior miners seeking to capitalize on strong lithium and base metals demand. The Toronto Stock Exchange lists 1,097 miners, with at least 910 it classifies as juniors that focus on exploration and early development. About 19pc of those have at least one asset in Latin America, compared with 6pc in Africa, 2pc in Asia and 3pc in Australia. The 15 largest juniors who have their main asset in Brazil have a total market capitalization of R75bn ($13.8bn), underscoring the region's potential for exploration companies. Argus spoke with Koby Kushner , chief executive of Libra Energy Materials — a junior miner — about why lithium offers unique opportunities for smaller players to become bigger producers. Edited highlights follow. Why are junior miners so predominant in Latin America? Brazil has great geological potential and it is relatively a new frontier, so there are a lot of low-hanging fruits still out there waiting to be discovered. It also has such a long history of mining that people are familiar with it and the permitting regime is very well defined and efficient in comparison to other places in the world. Elsewhere in Latin America, you have several untapped assets that need to be explored and discovered, which is the job of junior miners. You are also looking at relatively stable, friendly jurisdictions where there is less chance of the government coming in take your mine after you've built it — unlike in some African countries, where higher political risk can make it harder to attract investment. Are junior miners likelier to become producers in lithium than in other commodities? It probably happens more in lithium than in most other commodities because the capital requirement and the cost of capital are the major hurdles for a lot of juniors. Juniors, because they're smaller and don't have existing cash flow to fund their own costs, have a much higher cost of capital. With lithium, however, the capital intensity — especially for spodumene projects — is much smaller than what you see in other commodities. And this is even more true in Latin America. Sigma Lithium, for example, is sitting in the bottom of the cost curve for hard-rock lithium. You could argue that if that same deposit was in Australia, it would not be there. Conversely, some of the great deposits in Australia would be more profitable if they were located in Brazil. Even if a deposit in Latin America is not as attractive as one elsewhere, the lower production and project costs often makes the economics better. In Argentina, it is tougher. The brines are more capital-intensive than spodumene, so it is harder for a $50mn market cap company to fund a $1bn in costs. Even Lithium Argentina, one of the bigger juniors, needed a joint-venture partner to finance its project . Miners like Galan are taking a unique approach, trying to produce lithium chloride — a lower-capital path, though still higher than a typical spodumene project on average. How do junior miners finance exploration and early development? If you become a producer, you can take on debt. Early-stage miners without cash flow, however, should avoid debt and rely on equity, royalties or joint ventures. Issuing equity is the most common for junior exploration companies. They issue equity, sell shares to investors and use the money they raise to move the needle on the company and hopefully their share price. Royalty financing usually happens further down the line, with project funding. The joint venture model makes sense when you feel your equity is undervalued and you're getting better terms at the project level. Someone else spends their money to de-risk the project. You own a smaller piece, but it saves you dilution at the corporate level. What are the main exit strategies for junior miners? The main one would be to get bought by someone bigger. The alternative is to sell off assets to a larger party. So instead of getting acquired, you transact at the project level and keep royalties. By Pedro Consoli Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Chile allows 545,000t Li quota for Rio Tinto
Chile allows 545,000t Li quota for Rio Tinto
Sao Paulo, 4 November (Argus) — The Chilean nuclear energy commission (CChEN) authorized a joint venture between state-owned miner Enami and Rio Tinto to extract up to 1.2mn metric tonnes (t) of lithium metal from its Salares Altoandinos project by 2060. CChEN — the governing body for Chilean lithium — approved an initial quota of 545,000 metric tonnes (t) of lithium metal equivalent (LME) for the Salares Altoandinos project, awarded through a concession to a joint venture between state-owned miner Enami and Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto. The quota is valid until 2060 and can be expanded to a maximum of 1.22mn t. According to Enami, this represents the largest lithium mining extraction permit ever granted outside the Atacama region. The state-owned miner also said that the economic viability study for the project is complete, confirming a production capacity of 75,000t/yr and a mine life of 28 years. With just over 3mn t of LCE resources, Altoandinos is the largest greenfield lithium project in Chile, with production scheduled to begin in 2032. The project — a 51:49pc split with Rio Tinto holding the majority stake — is projected to cost $3.2bn. By Pedro Consoli Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Cliffs touts trial to swap out aluminum in autos
Cliffs touts trial to swap out aluminum in autos
Houston, 30 October (Argus) — US steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs completed a trial run to produce "exposed steel parts" from an automotive original equipment manufacturer's (OEM) aluminum stamping equipment, as it pushes for automakers to return to making steel-intensive vehicles. The company has sought to capitalize on a three-alarm fire at aluminum roller Novelis' facility in Oswego, New York, which has caused supply disruptions for the broader automotive industry. That plant produced the majority of automotive-body sheet used by major US automakers, including Ford. Cleveland-Cliffs noted that the pilot project produced stampings with "no defects", demonstrating that steel can replace aluminum in critical applications "without the need for costly retooling." The company said it had shifted to "routine production and delivery of regular orders" to the OEM, adding that it had "received inquiries" from other customers. It remains to be seen if automakers will fully transition back to using corrosion-resistant steel in automotive bodies, given the limitations on fuel efficiency that prompted those companies to shift to aluminum for light-weighing purposes a decade ago. Cleveland-Cliffs said the blaze would cause "presumably long-lasting" upheaval for aluminum supply chains, but Novelis expects to have its hot-rolling mill back online in December and other aluminum rollers have accelerated product qualifications and shifted manufacturing lines to help fill the void left by Oswego's lost output. Cleveland-Cliffs did not respond to a request for comment. By Alex Nicoll Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Lynas rare earth output rises in 3Q
Lynas rare earth output rises in 3Q
London, 30 October (Argus) — Australian mineral producer Lynas Rare Earths recorded strong production results and its first heavy rare earth shipments in July-September. Total rare earth oxide production increased 32pc on the year and 24pc on the quarter to 3,993t, according to the company's latest results. Production of neodymium-praseodymium totalled 2,003t, a slight decrease from 2,080t in the previous quarter but up 16pc on the year. Lynas continued to ramp up dysprosium and terbium production. It produced dysprosium for the first time in May, becoming the first heavy rare earths producer outside of China. In July-September, Lynas produced 9t of the crucial heavy rare earths, with the first customer contracts signed and products shipped to customers. Lynas will start production of samarium in the first half of 2026. Work on the company's expanded heavy rare earth separation circuit in Malaysia, announced on 29 October, will start in the December quarter. The producer's sales revenue increased by 66pc on the year and 18pc on the quarter to A$200.2mn($131.2mn). The average sales price fell 10pc on the quarter to A$54.3/kg, but prices were still up 27pc year-on-year. Demand from direct end customers and new metal and magnet maker projects increased significantly after China announced increased rare earth export controls on 9 October , Lynas said. If the new regulations are implemented in full, Lynas said that some inputs sourced from Chinese suppliers may be restricted. It has located alternative supply for all the critical inputs. But today, China postponed some restrictions for one year after trade talks between China and the US. Production and sales will be "carefully managed" until the Chinese regulations are understood and major governmental agreements have been finalised, Lynas said. Lynas highlighted significant geopolitical developments in the rare earths space, including a critical minerals deal between Australia and the US and a critical minerals agreement between Malaysia and the US . But the company emphasised support for the current ex-China supply chain, which is dependent on Lynas, should be the priority. The company is interfacing with multiple governments on "supply and fair pricing frameworks" to maintain existing rare earth supply chains, Lynas said. Rare earth producers outside of China are pushing for offtake agreements and price floors to derisk their activities after the US government signed an offtake and price agreement with US producer MP Materials. Lynas has an expenditure-based contract with the US Department of War (DoW) to develop a heavy rare earths processing facility in Texas, but said there is "significant uncertainty" about whether the processing plant will proceed. By Maeve Flaherty Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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