The New Gold Rush Sustained by Cellular Phones and TVs

Did you know that the color images for cell phones and TVs are produced by rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium and praseodymium? They additionally make magnets lighter, balance the colors of fluorescent lights and contribute to wind turbines and the regenerative brakes of hybrid autos. Here's the reason they have not been mined in the United States, where they are widespread, especially at former gold and silver mine sites.

Let's consider these "rare earth" elements in more detail. Neodymium is a silvery metal that tarnishes in air. Regardless of being considered a rare element, it exists in various parts of the world and no more rare compared to copper, cobalt or nickel. It is extremely beneficial in our modern world. Here are simply a few of its usages when made into powerful, permanent magnets, based on Wikipedia "These magnets are widely used in such products as microphones, professional loudspeakers, in-ear headphones, and computer hard disks, where low magnet mass or volume, or strong magnetic fields are required. Larger neodymium magnets are used in electric motors (for example in hybrid cars) and generators, for example aircraft and wind turbine electric generators".

Praseodymium is utilized to color glass and additionally has magnetic, chemical, electric and optical properties. It is utilized in industry to filter yellow lighting from light sources. Cerium is utilized in fluorescent lights and is the most abundant of all the rare earth elements, based on Wikipedia. "Commercial applications of cerium are numerous. They include catalysts, additives to fuel to reduce emissions and to glass and enamels to change their color. Cerium oxide is an important component of glass polishing powders and phosphors used in screens and fluorescent lamps. It is also used in the "flint" (actually ferrocerium) of lighters."

Finally there is Lanthanum, typically found in combination with Cerium." Lanthanum substances have many applications as catalysts, additives in glass, carbon lights for studio lights and projection, ignition elements in lighters, electron cathodes, scintillators, tig welding electrodes, and others. Lanthanum carbonate (La2(CO3)3) has been authorized as a medication for treating renal failure."

"The reason they haven't been explored for in the U.S. was because as long as China was prepared to export enough rare earths to fill the demand, everything was fine — like with the oil cartels. When China began to use them as a political tool, people began to see the vulnerability to the U.S. economy to having one source of rare earth elements," said Ian Ridley, director of the USGS Central Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center in Colorado.

Two years ago, China raised prices — in the case of Neodymium, used to make Prius electric motors stronger and lighter, from $15 a kilogram in 2009 to $500 in 2011, while Dysprosium oxide used in lasers and halide lamps went from $114 a kilogram in 2010 to $2,830 in 2011. It's also about the time China cut off supplies to Japan, maker of the Prius, in a dispute over international fishing territory.

With these aspects so valuable and essential, the great news is that they are readily available in the United States and maybe various other areas too. This will certainly supply brand-new jobs and stop the monopoly China has enjoyed. It seems odd that the brand-new miners will certainly be exploring the tailings of old mines for rocks the initial miners discarded. As the saying goes, a single person's waste is another person's treasure. I would certainly additionally like to see a few of these digital machines recycled in a safe, eco-friendly means. Possibly a few of these rare earth elements could possibly additionally be recycled.