kenwebb · December 6, 2024 18:53
diff --git a/xholonWorkbook.xml b/xholonWorkbook.xml
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 <Notes><![CDATA[
 Xholon
 ------
 Title: China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S.
 Description: 
 Url: http://www.primordion.com/Xholon/gwt/
 InternalName: e23f4d95ea45a7e0cbab8003c6338d9a
 Keywords: 

 My Notes
 --------
 5 Dec 2024

 In this workbook, I explore what these rare minerals are, the supply chain that makes them available, and some possible alternatives.

 What might help (other than opening new mines, buying from China, other status quo approaches):
 - strict recycling of electronics
 - better ability to repair devices
 - other materials or processes
 - ?

 ### References
 (1) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/world/asia/china-minerals-semiconductors.html
    China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S.
    The move escalates supply chain warfare and comes a day after the Biden administration expanded curbs on the sale of advanced American technology to China.
    By David Pierson, Keith Bradsher and Ana Swanson
    David Pierson reported from Hong Kong, Keith Bradsher from Beijing and Ana Swanson from Washington.
    Dec. 3, 2024
    
    China, which produces almost all the world’s supply of critical minerals, has been tightening its grip on the materials.
    
    Sales of gallium, germanium, antimony and so-called superhard materials to the United States would be halted immediately on the grounds that they have dual military and civilian uses, China’s Ministry of Commerce said.
    The export of graphite would also be subject to stricter review.
    
    The Chinese ban on superhard mineral exports could provoke particular unhappiness in America’s national security community. That ban appeared to be aimed at Chinese exports of tungsten, which is vital for making armor-piercing bullets and shells

 (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology-critical_element

 (3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_raw_materials

 (4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_economy

 (5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element
    
    Waste and recycling
    
    Another recently developed source of rare earths is electronic waste and other wastes that have significant rare-earth components.
    Advances in recycling technology have made the extraction of rare earths from these materials less expensive.
    Recycling plants operate in Japan, where an estimated 300,000 tons of rare earths are found in unused electronics.
    In France, the Rhodia group is setting up two factories, in La Rochelle and Saint-Fons, that will produce 200 tons of rare earths a year from used fluorescent lamps, magnets, and batteries.
    Coal and coal by-products, such as ash and sludge, are a potential source of critical elements including rare-earth elements (REE) with estimated amounts in the range of 50 million metric tons.
    
  ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element#Recycling_and_reusing_REEs
    Recycling and reusing REEs

    The rare-earth elements (REEs) are vital to modern technologies and society and are amongst the most critical elements.
    Despite this, typically only around 1% of REEs are recycled from end-products.
    Recycling and reusing REEs is not easy:
    these elements are mostly present in tiny amounts in small electronic parts and they are difficult to separate chemically.
    For example, recovery of neodymium requires manual disassembly of hard disk drives because shredding the drives only recovers 10% of the REE.

    REE recycling and reuse have been increasingly focused on in recent years.
    The main concerns include environmental pollution during REE recycling and increasing recycling efficiency.
    Literature published in 2004 suggests that, along with previously established pollution mitigation,
    a more circular supply chain would help mitigate some of the pollution at the extraction point.
    This means recycling and reusing REEs that are already in use or reaching the end of their life cycle.
    A study published in 2014 suggests a method to recycle REEs from waste nickel-metal hydride batteries,
    demonstrating a recovery rate of 95.16%.
    Rare-earth elements could also be recovered from industrial wastes with practical potential to reduce environmental and health impacts from mining,
    waste generation, and imports if known and experimental processes are scaled up.
    A study suggests that "fulfillment of the circular economy approach could reduce up to 200 times the impact in the climate change category and
    up to 70 times the cost due to the REE mining."
    In most of the reported studies reviewed by a scientific review,
    "secondary waste is subjected to chemical and or bioleaching followed by solvent extraction processes for clean separation of REEs."

    Currently, people take two essential resources into consideration for the secure supply of REEs:
    one is to extract REEs from primary resources like mines harboring REE-bearing ores, regolith-hosted clay deposits, ocean bed sediments, coal fly ash, etc.
    A work developed a green system for recovery of REEs from coal fly ash by using citrate and oxalate who are strong organic ligand and capable of complexing or precipItating with REE.
    The other one is from secondary resources such as electronic, industrial waste and municipal waste.
    E-waste contains a significant concentration of REEs, and thus is the primary option for REE recycling now[when?].
    According to a study, approximately 50 million metric tons of electronic waste are dumped in landfills worldwide each year.
    Despite the fact that e-waste contains a significant amount of rare-earth elements (REE), only 12.5% of e-waste is currently being recycled for all metals.

 (6) https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/climate/coal-ash-rare-earth-elements/index.html
    Scientists find huge trove of rare metals needed for clean energy hidden inside toxic coal waste
    
     Millions of tons of coal ash left over from burning the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel are sitting in ponds and landfills, able to leach into waterways and pollute soil.
     But this toxic waste may also be a treasure trove for the rare earth elements needed to propel the world toward clean energy.

    Scientists analyzed coal ash from power plants across the United States and found it could contain up to 11 million tons of rare earth elements
    — nearly eight times the amount the US has in domestic reserves — worth around $8.4 billion, according to recent research led by the University of Texas at Austin.

    It offers a huge potential source of domestic rare earth elements without the need for new mining, said Bridget Scanlon, a study author and research professor at UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences.
    “This really exemplifies the ‘trash to treasure’ mantra,” she said. “We’re basically trying to close the cycle and use waste and recover resources in the waste.”

    These so-called rare earths are a cluster of metallic elements, with names like scandium, neodymium and yttrium, which exist in the Earth’s core.
    They have a critical role in clean technology, including electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines.

    Yet US supply remains small. Its only large scale rare earths mine is Mountain Pass in California.
    The country currently imports more than 95% of its rare earth elements, the vast majority of which come from China, posing supply chain and security issues.

    In April, the Biden administration announced a $17.5 million investment into projects to extract rare earths from coal and its waste.

 (7) 

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	Xholon
	------
	Title: China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S.
	Description:
	Url: http://www.primordion.com/Xholon/gwt/
	InternalName: e23f4d95ea45a7e0cbab8003c6338d9a
	Keywords:

	My Notes
	--------
	5 Dec 2024

	In this workbook, I explore what these rare minerals are, the supply chain that makes them available, and some possible alternatives.

	What might help (other than opening new mines, buying from China, other status quo approaches):
	- strict recycling of electronics
	- better ability to repair devices
	- other materials or processes
	- ?

	### References
	(1) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/world/asia/china-minerals-semiconductors.html
	China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S.
	The move escalates supply chain warfare and comes a day after the Biden administration expanded curbs on the sale of advanced American technology to China.
	By David Pierson, Keith Bradsher and Ana Swanson
	David Pierson reported from Hong Kong, Keith Bradsher from Beijing and Ana Swanson from Washington.
	Dec. 3, 2024

	China, which produces almost all the world’s supply of critical minerals, has been tightening its grip on the materials.

	Sales of gallium, germanium, antimony and so-called superhard materials to the United States would be halted immediately on the grounds that they have dual military and civilian uses, China’s Ministry of Commerce said.
	The export of graphite would also be subject to stricter review.

	The Chinese ban on superhard mineral exports could provoke particular unhappiness in America’s national security community. That ban appeared to be aimed at Chinese exports of tungsten, which is vital for making armor-piercing bullets and shells

	(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology-critical_element

	(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_raw_materials

	(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_economy

	(5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element

	Waste and recycling

	Another recently developed source of rare earths is electronic waste and other wastes that have significant rare-earth components.
	Advances in recycling technology have made the extraction of rare earths from these materials less expensive.
	Recycling plants operate in Japan, where an estimated 300,000 tons of rare earths are found in unused electronics.
	In France, the Rhodia group is setting up two factories, in La Rochelle and Saint-Fons, that will produce 200 tons of rare earths a year from used fluorescent lamps, magnets, and batteries.
	Coal and coal by-products, such as ash and sludge, are a potential source of critical elements including rare-earth elements (REE) with estimated amounts in the range of 50 million metric tons.

	) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element#Recycling_and_reusing_REEs
	Recycling and reusing REEs

	The rare-earth elements (REEs) are vital to modern technologies and society and are amongst the most critical elements.
	Despite this, typically only around 1% of REEs are recycled from end-products.
	Recycling and reusing REEs is not easy:
	these elements are mostly present in tiny amounts in small electronic parts and they are difficult to separate chemically.
	For example, recovery of neodymium requires manual disassembly of hard disk drives because shredding the drives only recovers 10% of the REE.

	REE recycling and reuse have been increasingly focused on in recent years.
	The main concerns include environmental pollution during REE recycling and increasing recycling efficiency.
	Literature published in 2004 suggests that, along with previously established pollution mitigation,
	a more circular supply chain would help mitigate some of the pollution at the extraction point.
	This means recycling and reusing REEs that are already in use or reaching the end of their life cycle.
	A study published in 2014 suggests a method to recycle REEs from waste nickel-metal hydride batteries,
	demonstrating a recovery rate of 95.16%.
	Rare-earth elements could also be recovered from industrial wastes with practical potential to reduce environmental and health impacts from mining,
	waste generation, and imports if known and experimental processes are scaled up.
	A study suggests that "fulfillment of the circular economy approach could reduce up to 200 times the impact in the climate change category and
	up to 70 times the cost due to the REE mining."
	In most of the reported studies reviewed by a scientific review,
	"secondary waste is subjected to chemical and or bioleaching followed by solvent extraction processes for clean separation of REEs."

	Currently, people take two essential resources into consideration for the secure supply of REEs:
	one is to extract REEs from primary resources like mines harboring REE-bearing ores, regolith-hosted clay deposits, ocean bed sediments, coal fly ash, etc.
	A work developed a green system for recovery of REEs from coal fly ash by using citrate and oxalate who are strong organic ligand and capable of complexing or precipItating with REE.
	The other one is from secondary resources such as electronic, industrial waste and municipal waste.
	E-waste contains a significant concentration of REEs, and thus is the primary option for REE recycling now[when?].
	According to a study, approximately 50 million metric tons of electronic waste are dumped in landfills worldwide each year.
	Despite the fact that e-waste contains a significant amount of rare-earth elements (REE), only 12.5% of e-waste is currently being recycled for all metals.

	(6) https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/climate/coal-ash-rare-earth-elements/index.html
	Scientists find huge trove of rare metals needed for clean energy hidden inside toxic coal waste

	Millions of tons of coal ash left over from burning the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel are sitting in ponds and landfills, able to leach into waterways and pollute soil.
	But this toxic waste may also be a treasure trove for the rare earth elements needed to propel the world toward clean energy.

	Scientists analyzed coal ash from power plants across the United States and found it could contain up to 11 million tons of rare earth elements
	— nearly eight times the amount the US has in domestic reserves — worth around $8.4 billion, according to recent research led by the University of Texas at Austin.

	It offers a huge potential source of domestic rare earth elements without the need for new mining, said Bridget Scanlon, a study author and research professor at UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences.
	“This really exemplifies the ‘trash to treasure’ mantra,” she said. “We’re basically trying to close the cycle and use waste and recover resources in the waste.”

	These so-called rare earths are a cluster of metallic elements, with names like scandium, neodymium and yttrium, which exist in the Earth’s core.
	They have a critical role in clean technology, including electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines.

	Yet US supply remains small. Its only large scale rare earths mine is Mountain Pass in California.
	The country currently imports more than 95% of its rare earth elements, the vast majority of which come from China, posing supply chain and security issues.

	In April, the Biden administration announced a $17.5 million investment into projects to extract rare earths from coal and its waste.

	(7)

	]]></Notes>

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