Editing Rare-earth element (section)

===Other sources===

====Mine tailings====
Significant quantities of rare-earth oxides are found in tailings accumulated from 50 years of [[uranium ore]], [[shale]], and [[loparite]] mining at [[Sillamäe]], [[Estonia]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Turning a Problem Into a Resource: Remediation and Waste Management at the Sillamäe Site, Estonia |last=Rofer |first=Cheryl K. |author2=Tõnis Kaasik |series=Volume 28 of NATO science series: Disarmament technologies |year=2000 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-7923-6187-9 |page=229}}</ref> Due to the rising prices of rare earths, extraction of these oxides has become economically viable. The country currently exports around 3,000 metric tons per year, representing around 2% of world production.<ref>{{cite news |title=Estonia's rare earth break China's market grip |author=Anneli Reigas |newspaper=AFP |date=2010-11-30 |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5itXbI57zv-lwfcaFdBdh7UZXuVuA?docId=CNG.a00f68010092a06189a0276c763e93a4.141 |access-date=2010-12-01 |archive-date=May 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513001130/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5itXbI57zv-lwfcaFdBdh7UZXuVuA?docId=CNG.a00f68010092a06189a0276c763e93a4.141 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Similar resources are suspected in the western United States, where [[gold rush]]-era mines are believed to have discarded large amounts of rare earths, because they had no value at the time.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gold Rush Trash is Information Age Treasure |date=July 21, 2013 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/21/gold-rush-era-discards-could-fuel-cellphones-tvs/2572761/ |work=USA Today |last=Cone |first=Tracie |access-date=July 21, 2013 |archive-date=June 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615124340/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/21/gold-rush-era-discards-could-fuel-cellphones-tvs/2572761/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Ocean mining====
In January 2013 a Japanese deep-sea research vessel obtained seven deep-sea mud core samples from the Pacific Ocean seafloor at 5,600 to 5,800 meters depth, approximately {{convert|250|km|mi}} south of the island of [[Minami-Tori-Shima]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Seabed offers brighter hope in rare-earth hunt |url=http://asia.nikkei.com/Japan-Update/Seabed-offers-brighter-hope-in-rare-earth-hunt |access-date=11 December 2016 |work=Nikkei Asian Review |agency=Nikkei Inc. |date=25 November 2014 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220114144/http://asia.nikkei.com/Japan-Update/Seabed-offers-brighter-hope-in-rare-earth-hunt |url-status=live}}</ref> The research team found a mud layer 2 to 4 meters beneath the seabed with concentrations of up to 0.66% rare-earth oxides. A potential deposit might compare in grade with the ion-absorption-type deposits in southern China that provide the bulk of Chinese REO mine production, which grade in the range of 0.05% to 0.5% REO.<ref>{{cite web |title=Discovery of rare earths around Minami-Torishima |url=http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/utokyo-research/research-news/discovery-of-rare-earths-around-minami-torishima/ |website=UTokyo Research |publisher=University of Tokyo |access-date=11 December 2016 |date=2 May 2013 |archive-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620002602/https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/utokyo-research/research-news/discovery-of-rare-earths-around-minami-torishima/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last1=Zhi Li |first1=Ling |last2=Yang |first2=Xiaosheng |title=China's rare earth ore deposits and beneficiation techniques |url=http://www.eurare.eu/docs/eres2014/firstSession/XiaoshengYang.pdf |conference=1st European Rare Earth Resources Conference |publisher=European Commission for the 'Development of a sustainable exploitation scheme for Europe's Rare Earth ore deposits' |place=Milos, Greece |access-date=11 December 2016 |date=4 September 2014 |archive-date=January 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119193604/http://www.eurare.eu/docs/eres2014/firstSession/XiaoshengYang.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Waste and recycling====
Another recently developed source of rare earths is [[electronic waste]] and other [[waste]]s that have significant rare-earth components.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Um |first1=Namil |title=Hydrometallurgical recovery process of rare-earth elements from waste: main application of acid leaching with devised diagram |date=July 2017 |publisher=INTECH |isbn=978-953-51-3401-5 |pages=41–60}}</ref> Advances in [[recycling|recycling technology]] have made the extraction of rare earths from these materials less expensive.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.recyclinginternational.com/recycling-news/6976/research-and-legislation/belgium/new-liquid-extraction-frontier-rare-earths |date=March 26, 2013 |title=New liquid extraction frontier for rare earths? |publisher=Recycling International |access-date=10 February 2017 |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729112611/http://www.recyclinginternational.com/recycling-news/6976/research-and-legislation/belgium/new-liquid-extraction-frontier-rare-earths }}</ref> Recycling plants operate in Japan, where an estimated 300,000 tons of rare earths are found in unused electronics.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tabuchi |first=Hiroko |author-link=Hiroko Tabuchi |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/global/05recycle.html |title=Japan Recycles Minerals From Used Electronics |work=[[New York Times]] |date=October 5, 2010 |access-date=February 25, 2017 |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622084534/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/global/05recycle.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In [[France]], the [[Rhodia (company)|Rhodia]] group is setting up two factories, in [[La Rochelle]] and [[Saint-Fons]], that will produce 200 tons of rare earths a year from used [[fluorescent lamp]]s, magnets, and batteries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rhodia.com/en/news_center/news_releases/Recycle_rare_earths_031011.tcm |title=Rhodia to recycle rare earths from magnets |website=Solvay — Rhodia |date=October 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421050640/http://www.rhodia.com/en/news_center/news_releases/Recycle_rare_earths_031011.tcm |archive-date=2014-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.recyclinginternational.com/recycling-news/3948/e-waste-and-batteries/france/rhodia-expands-rare-earth-recycling-reach |date=October 11, 2011 |title=Rhodia expands rare earth recycling reach |publisher=Recycling International |access-date=10 February 2017 |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729112600/http://www.recyclinginternational.com/recycling-news/3948/e-waste-and-batteries/france/rhodia-expands-rare-earth-recycling-reach |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Coal]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sorokin |first1=Anatoliy P |last2=Konyushok |first2=Andrey A |last3=Ageev |first3=Oleg A |last4=Zarubina |first4=Natalia V |last5=Ivanov |first5=Vladimir V |last6=Wang |first6=Jinxi |date=2019 |title=Distribution of rare earth and selected trace elements in combustion products of Yerkovetskoe brown coal deposit (Amur Region, Russia) |journal=Energy Exploration & Exploitation |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=1721–1736 |doi=10.1177/0144598719862416 |jstor=26785615 |issn=0144-5987|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019EExEx..37.1721S }}</ref> and coal by-products, such as [[Coal combustion products|ash]] and sludge, are a potential source of critical elements including rare-earth elements (REE) with estimated amounts in the range of 50 million metric tons.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wencai Zhang |author2=Mohammad Rezaee |author3=Abhijit Bhagavatula |author4=Yonggai Li |author5=John Groppo |author6=Rick Honaker |s2cid=128509001 |journal=International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization |doi=10.1080/19392699.2015.1033097 |volume=35 |year=2015 |issue=6 |pages=295–330 |title=A Review of the Occurrence and Promising Recovery Methods of Rare Earth Elements from Coal and Coal By-Products|bibcode=2015IJCPU..35..295Z }}</ref>