Critical Minerals Rare Earths Supply Chain Roundtable & Workshop

The U.S. Department of Energy Offices of Energy’s Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy & Fossil Energy co-hosted a Critical Minerals Rare Earths Supply Chain Roundtable and Workshop at the Colorado School of Mines from October 31 – November 1, 2019.

Stakeholders from across the U.S. rare earths supply chain including industry, academia, Federal government, and national labs were convened to discuss the challenges and opportunities to strengthen the rare earths supply chain. In addition, a limited number of international participants representing Canada, Australia, and Japan also attended.

This stakeholder discussion aimed to identify areas of increased international collaboration and inform an (R&D) critical materials roadmap.

The focus of this meeting was on the up-to-midstream rare earths supply chain. Topics included the extraction and concentration of rare earths from conventional and unconventional sources, separation into rare earth oxides, and conversion to metals and alloys. Discussion also included manufacturing of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets.