Azerbaijan's Access To Rare Earth Elements: What's The Status?

Azerbaijan is known for its rich natural resources, including oil and gas fields, and a variety of minerals and metals. The country has a complex geological structure, resulting in a diverse range of natural resources. While the country is famous for its oil and gas reserves, it also has deposits of several other metals and minerals. However, there is no specific mention of rare earth elements in Azerbaijan's list of natural resources.

Rare earth elements (REE) are a set of 17 lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals with diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes. They are highly sought-after commodities, used in everything from electric cars to wind turbines. China currently dominates the market, producing around 60% of the world's rare earth metals and refining around 90% of the metals on the market.

Although there is no explicit mention of rare earth elements in Azerbaijan, the country does have a wide range of metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits. These include iron, aluminum, chromite, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, molybdenum, and more. The country also has deposits of non-metallic minerals such as rock salt, gypsum, anhydride, bentonite clays, and building materials.

Therefore, while there is no direct evidence of rare earth elements in Azerbaijan, the country's diverse mineral wealth suggests that further exploration and analysis may uncover the presence of these valuable metals.

Azerbaijan's mining resources

In addition to its oil and gas resources, Azerbaijan also possesses a variety of metalliferous resources. These include iron, aluminum, chromite, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, and molybdenum ores. The mountainous regions of the country are home to various ore deposits containing these metals. Gold deposits, for instance, are predominantly found in the Lesser Caucasus and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, while copper ores are typically found in the formations of copper pyrite and copper porphyry.

The country also has a wealth of non-metallic mining resources, such as rock salt, gypsum, anhydrite, bentonite clays, building materials, pyrite, barite, semi-precious and colored stones, dolomite, and Icelandic spar. These non-metallic resources play a crucial role in maintaining the overall balance of crude mineral resources in Azerbaijan.

While rare earth elements were not specifically mentioned, the diversity and richness of Azerbaijan's mining resources suggest that further exploration could uncover a range of valuable minerals, including rare earth elements.

Rare earth elements in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is known for its rich natural resources, including oil and gas fields, as well as deposits of various metals and minerals. However, there is no specific mention of rare earth elements in Azerbaijan in the sources available.

Rare earth elements (REE) are a set of 17 lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals with diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes. While they are called "rare," this is a misnomer as they are not actually scarce in the Earth's crust. However, they are typically dispersed and not often found in concentrated ore deposits, making economically exploitable deposits sparse.

Azerbaijan does have a complex geological structure that has resulted in a variety of natural resources, including mining resources. The country is particularly well-known for its oil and gas fields, which are the most valuable among its resources. In addition, Azerbaijan has deposits of iron, aluminum, chromite, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, molybdenum, and other metals and minerals.

While there is no specific mention of rare earth elements in Azerbaijan, the country's diverse geological structure and abundance of natural resources suggest that further exploration may uncover additional resources, including the possibility of rare earth elements.

Rare earth elements in China

Rare earth elements are a group of 17 metals that are used in a variety of modern technologies, from defence equipment to smartphones and electric vehicles. China currently dominates the market for rare earth elements, producing 60% of the world's supply and processing 85-90% of it.

China's dominance in the rare earth elements market is due to its willingness to engage in environmentally destructive mining and refinement practices, which developed nations in the West have been reluctant to emulate. This has allowed China to gain a near monopoly over the industry, with Western companies struggling to implement the advanced technical operations required alongside addressing pollution concerns.

However, China's hold on the market may be weakening due to its recent export restrictions on rare earth elements and other strategic metals. In response to growing geopolitical tensions, countries like the US, Australia, and Canada are seeking alternative sources and are investing in developing their domestic processing capacities.

To maintain its dominance, China has increased its rare earth mining quota for 2023 to 240,000 tonnes, a 14% increase from 2022. Despite this, the success of China's export restrictions in protecting its market position remains uncertain. The US, for example, has taken steps to reduce its dependence on Chinese rare earths, with its dependence easing to 74% between 2018 and 2021, down from 80% between 2014 and 2017.

China's ban on rare earth extraction and separation technology exports, along with its restrictions on other critical minerals, serves as a warning to policymakers in the US and its allies. It highlights the need to build domestic capabilities and cooperate internationally to secure access to these vital resources and protect their national, energy, and economic security.

Rare earth elements in the EU

Rare earth elements are essential components of modern technology, from hybrid cars to wind turbines and laptop computers. However, Europe currently relies entirely on imports to meet its demand for these critical raw materials, with more than 90% of global rare earth supplies coming from China.

The EU-funded EURARE project aims to establish a European rare earth industry by finding ways to supply both raw materials and rare earth products for use in various industries, including automotive, electronics, machinery, and chemical. The project has identified rare earth deposits in Sweden, Finland, Greece, Spain, Greenland, Norway, and Turkey for further study.

One of the main priorities of the EURARE project is to identify sites suitable for mining. According to Dr Kathryn Goodenough from the British Geological Survey, there are theoretically enough suitable sites to supply all the rare earth elements that Europe needs for the foreseeable future. The challenge lies in mining these elements economically and with minimal environmental impact.

Some rare earth mining techniques used elsewhere have been detrimental to the environment, reducing the quality of surface and groundwater around mining sites. Therefore, EURARE researchers are also focusing on creating a European rare earth industry with minimal environmental impact.

EURARE researchers are exploring new methods and technologies to process the mined ores and extract rare earth elements sustainably and cost-effectively. One such method involves the use of ionic liquids, which are molten salts at room temperature that can be used as solvents to extract and separate rare earth elements from a mixture of minerals in mined rock.

The European Union has also formed the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) to address the region's rare earth magnet supply chain issues. ERMA has proposed fast-tracking €1.7 billion of investment into projects to kick-start a regional mine-to-magnet processing industry. The proposed investment would increase European magnet production from 500 tonnes per year to 7,000 tonnes by 2030, covering about 20% of European demand.

In conclusion, Europe has sufficient rare earth deposits to reduce its reliance on imports, but the challenge lies in developing sustainable and economically viable extraction methods.

Rare earth elements in the US

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemical elements that are considered critical for both human and national security. They are used in electronics, renewable energy technology, and national defense. In 2021, global demand for rare earths reached 125,000 metric tons and is expected to increase to 315,000 tons by 2030.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) provides statistics and information on the worldwide supply, demand, and flow of REEs. The principal economic sources of REEs are the minerals bastnasite, monazite, and loparite, and the lateritic ion-adsorption clays. The rare earths are a relatively abundant group of 17 elements composed of scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides. The elemental forms of REEs are iron-gray to silvery lustrous metals that are typically soft, malleable, and ductile. They are also usually reactive, especially at elevated temperatures or when finely divided.

In early 2024, reports emerged of a significant discovery of REEs in Wyoming's Halleck Creek site, which was initially estimated to contain 2.34 billion metric tons of REEs. However, the technical report from American Rare Earths clarified that the eventual extraction of REEs would be much smaller than this figure. The report estimated the total rare earth oxides contained in the deposit to be 7.5 million tons, which is still a significant find but not enough to make the United States a leader in the REE market.

China currently has a dominant hold on the REE market, with 60% of global production and 85% of processing capacity. Due to growing geopolitical tensions, the US and other countries are seeking to reduce their reliance on China as a source of REEs. This presents an opportunity for other regions, such as Africa, to increase their exploration and production of REEs.

To maximize the benefits of REEs, African countries can focus on strengthening tax policies to increase revenue collection, leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to enhance value addition, and building strong trade partnerships with countries like the US and Australia.

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