Current Status on Resource and Recycling Technology for Rare Earths

The development of recycling technologies for rare earths is essential for resource security and supply stability because high-quality rare earth mines are concentrated in China and the demand for rare earth metals such as neodymium and dysprosium, used as raw materials in permanent magnets (neodymium magnet), is expected to increase rapidly in the near future. It is also important to establish a recycling-based society from the perspective of the conservation of finite and valuable mineral resources and the reduction of the environmental load associated with mining and smelting. In this article, the current status of rare earth resource as well as that of recycling technology for the magnets is reviewed. The importance of establishing an efficient recycling process for rare earths is discussed from the characteristics of supply chain of rare earths, and the technological bases of the recycling processes for the magnet are introduced. Further, some fundamental researches on the development of new recycling processes based on pyrometallurgical process are introduced, and the features of the recycling processes are evaluated. (C) The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International 2014