Having rare earth is still difficult to get rich

Rare earths in fact . are not really rare. Rare earth mining is at risk of causing environmental pollution while economic benefits are not high. Many Vietnamese scientists said.

Rare earth is really not rare.Photo: Internet.

Not too expected

According to the scientific world, rare earth . is not really rare! Although it can be used in many industries, but the amount of rare earth to use is not much, so the export value is not high, especially raw export like Vietnam is about to export to Japan. Research by the Deputy Head of the Radioactive Geological Federation Bui Bui Hop and his colleagues point out that the total rare earth reserves in the world is about 99 million tons, while the world uses about 125,000 tons annually.

Vietnam is considered a country with large reserves of rare earth, but no exact figures yet. Research results and research from 1958 to now by PGS Hop has discovered many rare earth mineral deposits in Bac Nam Xe, Nam Nam Xe, Dong Pao (Lai Chau), Muong Hum (Lao Cai) and Yen Phu (Yen Bai). In addition to the 5 above mineral deposits, along the central coast there are also monazite ores, xenotim and ilmenite in placer. According to forecasts, Vietnam has rare earth resources of over 17 million tons and reserves of nearly 1 million tons

Vietnam has studied the use of rare earth in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing permanent magnets, denaturing steel, cast iron alloys, glass, pigments, catalysts in automotive exhaust treatment . but still stops at the laboratory and semi-industrial scale.

Every year, Vietnam has only exploited small, a few dozen tons of bastnaesite ore in Dong Pao and a few thousand tons of monazite ore with a content of 35% -45% R203 in the central coastal placer for sale under quota. Due to not much use, Vietnam is still at this level of ' surveying and exploring ' this mineral.

According to scientific calculations, the market price is now 800 USD / ton of rare earth, but this is considered a negligible number, if separate elements in rare earth for sale, the price will increase. many times, about 1 million USD / ton element. However, the scientific and technical level of Vietnam has not been able to be implemented so far. It is also unlikely that Japan will support Vietnam to build a rare earth refinery because of the huge investment costs, while Japan already has a factory in their country.

A scientist from the Vietnam Geological Society said that it should not expect too much on the economic value of rare earths. ' Japan only uses about 7,000 tons of rare earth a year. Calculation will see, should not expect economic value can bring the state budget from this type of mineral . '

Risk of radiation exposure

Scientists also warned about the risk of environmental pollution in the process of rare earth mining. Especially the risk of exposure to radiation due to in rare earth contains radioactive elements.

Assoc. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Cu - University of Natural Sciences, Hanoi National University, said that rare earth is a type of soil containing very toxic metal elements, including radioactive elements. At a large scale, if there is no guarantee of technology and poor management, there is a risk of spreading radioactive substances into soil, water, air, and directly harming the health of the exploiters. Because world demand is not high, rare earth mining needs to be thoroughly studied because of the risk of environmental pollution.

According to scientific analysis, the US is the first country to exploit rare earth. However, after China entered this market, the United States immediately stopped mining, instead buying from China to avoid polluting its country. One of the reasons China intends to stop mining rare earths is also thought to be due to serious environmental pollution.

In Nam Xe, where it is identified as having large reserves of rare earth, Vietnamese scientists also found areas of unsafe radioactivity. The study of author Nguyen Van Tien, Nguyen Van Tu and colleagues of the Rare Earth Geological Federation showed that the content of uranium, thozi . in soil and water in Nam Xe is high.

' Any mineral that is exploited is at risk of causing environmental pollution. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the economic benefits which are not large and the possibility of causing environmental pollution when exploiting rare earth '- Assoc.