US abstains from Ukraine resolution vote on 3 year anniversary of war
The U.S. abstained from the vote of a United Nations resolution to condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine on the war’s third anniversary.
The U.S. and Ukraine have agreed on the terms of a draft minerals deal central to Kyiv’s push to win Washington’s support as President Donald Trump seeks to rapidly end the war with Russia, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
The deal could open Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth to the U.S., but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to sign an earlier draft of a minerals agreement as Washington sought rights to $500 billion in the country’s natural wealth.
What are they?
Rare earths are a group of 17 elements, including 15 silvery-white metals called lanthanides, or lanthanoids, plus scandium and yttrium.
What are they used for?
They are used in a wide range of products, including consumer electronics, electric vehicles (EVs), aircraft engines, medical equipment, oil refining, and military applications such as missiles and radar systems.
Which country is the biggest producer?
China accounts for about 60% of global mine production and 90% of processed and permanent magnet output. Beijing sets quotas on output, smelting, and separation, which are closely monitored as a barometer of global supply.
What are the names of these elements?
In their periodic table order, they are: scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium.
Which ones are most common?
Lanthanum and cerium are among the most common rare earth metals. Lanthanum is used in camera lenses and lighting. Cerium is used in catalytic converters, which reduce combustion engine emissions.
Neodymium and praseodymium are in demand for permanent magnets used in EV motors and wind turbines.
Are they rare?
They are not rare in the sense that they are uncommon; some are more common than lead, for example. But they tend to be spread thin around the Earth’s crust in small quantities and mixed together or with other minerals, so larger deposits are difficult to find and costly to extract.
What environmental impact do they have?
Processing rare earths often involves the use of solvents, which can produce toxic waste that pollutes the soil, water, and atmosphere. More environmentally friendly technologies are being developed, but they are not yet widely used.
Certain types of rare earth ores also contain radioactive thorium or uranium, which is often removed using acid.
For this reason, the sector faces health and environmental regulatory hurdles in its development.
