TASS FACTBOX. On February 27, 2025, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US and Ukraine had agreed on a deal on minerals, and n...
TASS FACTBOX. On February 27, 2025, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US and Ukraine had agreed on a deal on minerals, and negotiations on this topic had been completed. As US President Donald Trump said earlier, the US wants to use the deal to gain access to Ukrainian rare earth metals.
TASS FACTBOX editors have compiled this factsheet on rare earth elements.
Definition, characteristics
Rare earth elements (REE) or rare earth metals (REM) are a group of 17 elements in the periodic table. This includes 15 elements from the lanthanide group: metals with atomic numbers from 57 to 71 - lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, as well as two more metals - scandium (atomic number 21) and yttrium (39).
The term "rare" refers to the supposed scarcity of these minerals and "earth" comes from an old name for oxides, the chemical form for these elements in the mineral. Minerals containing elements of this group were discovered and categorized in the late 18th-early 19th centuries. At that time, it was believed that these oxides, "earths," were rarely found in the earth's crust, so they were called "rare earths."
It later turned out that in reality the elements are not so rare: for example, there is more cerium in the earth's crust than copper. Also, almost all rare earth elements are more common than silver, platinum, gold or mercury.
REEs have similar properties: they are silvery-white metals with high reactivity. Almost all REEs do not play a significant biological role, they are non-toxic and safe for humans. Only promethium stands apart, which is the only radioactive REE and was discovered later than the others - in 1945.
The wide use of REEs began in the middle of the 20th century. They are used in mechanical engineering, instrument making, the chemical industry, radio electronics, etc. In particular, they are used to create electric motors, lasers, glasses with special properties, superconductors, catalytic converters, varnishes and paints, composite materials, high-power permanent magnets, etc. REEs are also actively used as alloying additives that significantly strengthen metals and ceramics.
Since 2024, there has been a trend to classify metals and materials that have never been included in this group (such as lithium, titanium and uranium) as REEs in everyday life and political discussions, as well as resources of strategic importance in general.
Rare earth metals are also often confused with the group of so-called rare metals, which includes 14 types of minerals - lithium, rubidium, cesium, beryllium, indium, gallium, germanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, rhenium, as well as scandium, which is classified as an REE.
Mining
REEs are not found in pure form. They are extracted from various minerals and ores.
In the mid-20th century, the main source of REEs was monazite sands in Brazil, India, and South Africa. In the 1960s-1980s, the bulk of REE production came from bastnasite, calcite, barite, and dolomite deposits in Mountain Pass, California, USA.
In the early 1980s, China began making significant government investments in the extraction and processing of REE raw materials, and by the early 2000s, it accounted for over 80% of the world REE market. Large reserves of rare earths are also found in countries such as Australia, Canada, Myanmar, Denmark (Greenland) and African countries: South Africa, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, etc.
Race for REE
In 2009, China, which had become the largest producer of REE by that time, announced plans to reduce production from 2010 (due to high environmental impact) and introduce export quotas for these minerals.
This decision sparked a surge in prices on the global market. In response, the United States initiated proceedings in the World Trade Organization and won the case in 2014. After that, China was forced to replace export quotas with an export license mechanism, while maintaining quotas for domestic production.
Although the United States, Australia and other countries implemented programs for resumption or increase of their own production, China remains the largest supplier of REE to the world market, its share being estimated at 60-75%.
It was because of China's restrictions in 2019 that US President Donald Trump announced that the United States was interested in acquiring Greenland, which has large reserves of rare earth metals.
On October 16, 2024, Vladimir Zelensky presented his "victory plan" to the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament), which, in particular, provided for the signing of agreements with Western countries on the joint protection and development of "critical resources," including rare earth metals.
On February 3, 2025, US President Donald Trump said that the United States was interested in receiving rare earth metals and "other things" from Kiev. Subsequently, the American president said that he planned to receive $500 billion or even $1 trillion from Ukraine as compensation for previously provided assistance. Commenting on Trump's words, Ukrainian media wrote that a significant part of the Ukrainian rare earth metals in which the United States is interested are located in territories not controlled by Kiev.
On February 12, 2025, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent handed over the text of the minerals agreement to Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev. Zelensky, who had previously expressed his readiness to conclude the deal, did not sign the document either during a meeting with Bessent or later in Munich during negotiations with US Vice President J.D. Vance.
In Russia
Russia ranks second in the world in proven REE reserves. According to the country’s Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, by 2025, the total reserves of 15 out of 17 REEs in Russia amount to 28.5 million tons. One of the largest deposits is Tomtor in Yakutia.
However, direct REE production in Russia remains low. In 2013, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov stated that Russia is 100% dependent on imported rare earth metals. In March 2024, Dmitry Oleynik, an adviser to the head of the Federal Agency on Subsoil Usage, reported that Russia's share in global REE production did not exceed 1%, and there is virtually no processing.
On January 1, 2025, Russia launched the national project "New Materials and Chemistry," which included the federal program "Development of the Rare and Rare Earth Metals Industry," aimed at developing REE production.
On February 21, 2025, speaking at the Future Technologies Forum, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia should increase the production of rare earth metals to keep up with technological progress. On February 25, the head of state held a separate meeting on the development of the rare earth metals industry, following which he proposed that American and other foreign partners participate in REE mining projects, including in Donbass and Novorossiya.
On February 26, 2025, the Industry and Trade Ministry reported that Russia is preparing to launch large investment projects in the field of rare earth metals in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, as well as in Yakutia and other regions. By 2030, Russia plans to increase the production of rare earth metal products to 50,000 tons, which will reduce the level of import dependence several times.
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