中文
EN
On the magnet side, there really is nothing to compete with you!
"There's really nothing that can compete with neodymium for magnets," says Francis wall, professor of applied mining at the cambourne school of mining at the university of Exeter in the UK.
"They are by far the best choice for applications."
Neodymium is a so-called rare earth element, a silver metal that plays an important role in renewable energy.
When combined with iron and boron, it creates powerful magnets that are important for wind turbine generators and electric car engines.
Introduction to neodymium
Despite its name, rare earth elements like neodymium aren't particularly rare, wall explains.
The elements are relatively abundant.
Some elements found in the earth's crust contain the same amount of copper as the element that sounds more like passersby.
The challenge is that neodymium is largely controlled by one country.
About 85% of the world's neodymium comes from several mines in China.
Baotou mining in northern China has caused a toxic lake and other environmental disasters.
There are small mines elsewhere -- like the rainbow rare earth mine in Burundi and the Mkango mine in Malawi -- but often even mines outside China tend to send their deposits to China for processing.
The same is true of the mountain pass rare earth mine in California.
One big bottleneck in the mining and processing of neodymium is money.
"There were a lot of rare earth exploration projects that would slow down if the next phase of investment wasn't made," wall explained.
Wall expects other suppliers to enter the market as demand increases, leaving room for more mines.
Neodymium, with an atomic number of 60 and an atomic weight of 144.24, derives its name from the Greek word for "twin."
In 1841, Swedish chemist molsunder obtained mixtures of praseodymium and neodymium from cerium soil.
In 1885 Austria's wellesbach isolated the green praseodymium salt and the rose-colored neodymium salt and identified them as two new elements.
Neodymium is mainly found in monazite and cerium fluorocarbons.
There are 7 kinds of neodymium isotopes in nature: neodymium 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148 and 150, among which neodymium 142 has the highest content.
"They are by far the best choice for applications."
Neodymium is a so-called rare earth element, a silver metal that plays an important role in renewable energy.
When combined with iron and boron, it creates powerful magnets that are important for wind turbine generators and electric car engines.
Introduction to neodymium
Despite its name, rare earth elements like neodymium aren't particularly rare, wall explains.
The elements are relatively abundant.
Some elements found in the earth's crust contain the same amount of copper as the element that sounds more like passersby.
The challenge is that neodymium is largely controlled by one country.
About 85% of the world's neodymium comes from several mines in China.
Baotou mining in northern China has caused a toxic lake and other environmental disasters.
There are small mines elsewhere -- like the rainbow rare earth mine in Burundi and the Mkango mine in Malawi -- but often even mines outside China tend to send their deposits to China for processing.
The same is true of the mountain pass rare earth mine in California.
One big bottleneck in the mining and processing of neodymium is money.
"There were a lot of rare earth exploration projects that would slow down if the next phase of investment wasn't made," wall explained.
Wall expects other suppliers to enter the market as demand increases, leaving room for more mines.
Neodymium, with an atomic number of 60 and an atomic weight of 144.24, derives its name from the Greek word for "twin."
In 1841, Swedish chemist molsunder obtained mixtures of praseodymium and neodymium from cerium soil.
In 1885 Austria's wellesbach isolated the green praseodymium salt and the rose-colored neodymium salt and identified them as two new elements.
Neodymium is mainly found in monazite and cerium fluorocarbons.
There are 7 kinds of neodymium isotopes in nature: neodymium 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148 and 150, among which neodymium 142 has the highest content.
