REE Mineral Resources in China: Review and Perspective

Rare earth elements (REE) have unique physical and chemical properties and are critical raw materials for the high-technology industries. They are known as “industrial vitamins” and are widely used in clean energy, communications, national defense and military industries and other high-tech fields. China is the major producer and consumer of REE. Since the 1990s, China has been the major rare earth producer, providing more than 80% of the global REE supply, especially the heavy REE (up to 90%). The sustainability of the long-term high volume and gross production and the corresponding environmental security issues are becoming matters of concern. Therefore, it is the time to make a review of the REE mineral reserves in China, and to make a perspective on the global REE availability and supply risks. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the REE occurrences, deposit types, reserves, and environmental impacts in China. We suggest that “heavy REE exploration” and “efficient and clean mining” are the long-term goals in future exploration and production of REE mineral resources in China. © 2022 Science Press. All rights reserved.