Rare Earth Oxides
Processed compounds of rare earth elements, the intermediate product form typically reported in exploration assays before further refining into individual rare earth metals or magnet alloys.
Covered in 11 MetalsCost.com News Intelligence articles, most recently on October 9, 2026.
Overview
Rare earth oxides are the separated, purified end products of rare earth processing — each oxide corresponds to a single element, extracted from mixed concentrate through hundreds of solvent-extraction or ion-exchange stages, since chemically similar rare earths are notoriously hard to pull apart. This separation step, not mining, is the real chokepoint in the rare earth supply chain: China handles roughly 90% of global processing and is close to a monopoly on separating the heavy rare earths dysprosium and terbium, which are critical for magnets that hold their strength at high temperature.
Who Consumes It
Permanent magnet manufacturers are the largest buyers, combining neodymium-praseodymium ("didymium") oxide with iron and boron to make NdFeB magnets used in EV motors, wind turbines and electronics, with dysprosium and terbium added in small amounts to improve heat resistance. Smaller volumes go to catalytic converters (cerium, lanthanum), glass polishing compounds, and phosphors for lighting and displays. A handful of non-China producers, including Energy Fuels in the US and Lynas in Australia/Malaysia, began separating meaningful volumes only in 2024-2025.
Sources
- China's ~90% share of global rare earth separation capacity — Developing Rare Earth Processing Hubs: An Analytical Approach (2025)
Coverage
Brazil's Cabo Verde Mineração Quits Iron Ore for a $460 Million Rare Earths Plan
Brazilian miner Cabo Verde Mineração has stopped producing iron ore after freight costs made its small mine unprofitable. It will put its effort into a rare earths deposit found during iron ore digging in Minas Gerais.
Volta Hits 283 g/t Gallium Oxide at Its Springer Rare Earth Deposit in Ontario
Volta Metals found gallium throughout three new drill holes at its Springer rare earth deposit in Ontario, with a best section of 7.54% rare earth oxides and 283 grams of gallium oxide per tonne. It now plans its first gallium resource estimate.
Lynas Agrees to Buy Meteoric for A$968 Million to Add a Brazilian Rare Earths Deposit
Lynas Rare Earths, the largest rare earths producer outside China, has agreed to buy Meteoric Resources in an all-share deal worth A$968 million. The prize is Caldeira in Brazil, a large clay deposit rich in the heavy rare earths that China dominates.
Tronox and Japan's JX Advanced Metals Commit $32 Million to Rare Earth Plant Studies
Titanium pigment maker Tronox and Japan's JX Advanced Metals will each put about $16 million into studies for rare earth processing plants in Australia and the US. The plants would target up to 10,000 tonnes a year of rare earth oxides.
Hancock Prospecting Disputes the A$680 Million Paper Loss Put on Its Rare-Earth Stakes
Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has pushed back on an estimate that its rare-earth shares lost A$680 million in value over the past year. It says the figure ignores its full trading history and the lower prices at which it bought many of the shares.
Spark Energy Hits Project-Record Gallium Grade at Boa Vista, Brazil
Spark Energy Minerals has returned a project-record gallium grade at its Boa Vista target in Brazil's Lithium Valley, expanding the gallium-rare earth footprint of its Arapaima project. Surface sampling also defined a new, roughly two-kilometre anomalous zone alongside the company's first discovery at Cruzeta.
Rare Earths Americas Doubles Drill Fleet at Brazil's Homer Project
Rare Earths Americas is doubling its drill fleet at the Homer project in Brazil after early assays returned rare earth zones enriched in dysprosium and terbium, the elements most critical to permanent magnets. The company targets an initial resource estimate for the site in 2027.
Atlantico Finds Gallium in Every Sample as It Maps 12 Rare Earth Targets in Brazil
Atlantico Energy Metals mapped 12 rare earth-led target zones plus gallium and lithium targets at its Novo Cruzeiro project in Brazil, with gallium present in every one of 114 samples tested.
A Year After Their Rare Earth Pact, India and Japan Still Have More Frameworks Than Mines
A year after India and Japan signed a critical minerals MoC in Tokyo, only Toyota Tsusho's Andhra Pradesh refining venture is running; Rajasthan rare earth talks remain preliminary and partly denied by Japan's METI.
US, Denmark and Greenland to Sign an Arctic Security Deal That Gives Washington a Say Over Greenland's Critical Minerals
The US, Denmark and Greenland are signing an Arctic security deal this week that expands US military access and gives Washington investment-screening power over Greenland's critical minerals, aimed at blocking Chinese access.
Canada Aims to Cut Japan's 72% Reliance on Chinese Rare Earths
China still supplies about 72% of Japan's rare earth imports, even after a 2025 export halt. Canada, sitting on major reserves but zero production, is emerging as a potential partner.
