Researchers in China have found new rare earth deposits in the northeastern part of the country, which they believe could make extraction cheaper, easier, and less harmful to the environment.

The discovery was made in the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin. It was led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ (CAS) Institute of Geology and Geophysics, and the Heilongjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.

The team believes that the findings could boost the nation’s dominance over the global supply of critical minerals, used in electric vehicles (EVs), superconductors, and defense technologies.

The discovery comes amid recent US-China discussions involving critical minerals and rare earth supply chains. As part of the discussions, Beijing recently agreed to address American concerns over shortages of critical mineral supplies.

China’s mineral expansion

The northern deposits formed through repeated freeze-thaw cycles over a long period of time. In contrast to the clay-rich rare earth deposits in China’s southern provinces, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, the new resources do not require chemical leaching to extract the minerals.

Chemical leaching can be costly, inefficient, and harmful to the environment. The process can also leave up to 25 percent of rare earth elements unrecovered. The find could help China secure its global dominance in rare earths production.

At the moment, the country controls about 90 percent of the world’s rare earth refining capacity. It also accounts for more than 60 percent of the global mined rare earth supply.

Rare earth elements (REE) are a group of 17 elements, which consist of the 15 lanthanides from the periodic table, along with the transition metals scandium and yttrium. They are essential for the production of high-performance lasers, wind turbines, EV motors, smartphones, and other advanced technologies.

They do not occur naturally in their pure form and are instead part of minerals in the silicate, oxide, carbonate, or phosphate groups. Still, in the new formations, they are held in separate particles such as monazite and xenotime. This could simplify the extraction process.

Heavy rare earth elements are especially valuable because of their scarcity and strategic importance in defense systems and EVs. While China’s heavy rare earth resources are traditionally concentrated in the south, the new findings suggest they may be more widespread than previously believed.

“Compared with ion-adsorption-type rare earth deposits in southern China, mineral dissociation-type deposits show higher total rare earth element concentrations, with significant enrichment in light rare earth elements,” the team told South China Morning Post (SCMP).

For the project, the scientists carried out field surveys and sample analysis across Heilongjiang and Jilin. They identified unusually high concentrations of both light and heavy rare earth elements in several northern locations.

Some samples from Jilin showed particularly high abundances of heavy rare earth elements compared to neighboring regions. “Furthermore, the abundance values of heavy rare earth elements [in samples from deposits in Jilin province] are higher than those in other zones and the neighboring province of Heilongjiang,” the team concluded.

The discovery expands the potential range of rare earth resources, and highlights the industrial and strategic importance of northern dissociation-type deposits. It has been published in the journal Acta Petrologica Sinica.