The mountains north of Lingbeizhen no longer echo with the sound of bulldozers and trucks; new bamboo groves now line ravines, while navel orange trees thrive on terraced fields.
To combat climate change, countries need to reduce fossil fuel usage and shift toward renewable sources like wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles and storage batteries - but these technologies require rare earth elements and critical metals.
Mined rare earth elements may leach into water supplies during mining processes and cause health concerns such as skeletal fluorosis or chronic arsenic toxicity, among others.
Uranium, fluorite and thorium that remain from the separation process for rare earth minerals--known as tailings--are stored in ponds that can leak into nearby waterways, potentially polluting surface water supplies as well as groundwater supplies and farmlands with heavy metals, salts and radioactive materials that pose risks of pollution.
Even after mining operations cease, toxic waste can continue to pollute the environment for years after. At an abandoned Norra Karr mine in Ganzhou, China for instance, rare earth elements have been detected both in drinking water supplies as well as lake waters downstream from it.
As demand for rare earths rises, efforts are being taken to minimize mining's environmental impact. Researchers are exploring methods for recycling rare earths from existing products as well as creating technologies without their presence.
To assess the ecological carrying capacity of mining areas, this study employed a two-factor model and used indicators such as pollution control investments to GDP ratio, rare earth element reserves and policy. Pressure indicators included ecosystem value loss/quantity loss/quality loss conservation quality quantity costs related to air pollution control costs as pressure indicators; all indicators were weighted according to their significance within the system.
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No matter whether they're mined, manufactured, or recycled, rare earth elements are released into the environment during these processes. As they're volatile and quickly oxidize when released into the atmosphere, rare earths can pose health hazards including respiratory conditions. They also contribute to global warming and are toxic to marine life if consumed directly; to lessen their environmental impacts more effectively they should be obtained through alternative sources rather than mining operations or manufacturing facilities.
Governments should support efforts that utilize less rare earth metals in manufacturing technologies, recycle existing products and reuse them when possible, promote green technologies that use fewer rare earth elements, support alternative mining techniques and recovery methods, such as less energy intensive metallurgy to minimize waste produced during processing or even implement rare earth taxes on mining operations to encourage companies to find ways to limit their environmental footprints.
Even when companies do their best to abide by strict environmental regulations, their efforts may still prove futile. Locals in China blame Baotou Mine for polluting surrounding farms and villages with poisoned land and water sources, leaving residents suffering aching legs, breathing issues and osteoporosis according to The Guardian. Meanwhile, a 2019 study identified potentially toxic levels of gadolinium, lanthanum and samarium found in Pearl River Estuary likely due to upstream e-waste recycling activities.
Rare earth elements are potentially damaging both to the environment and to human health during their mining, refining, and disposal processes. Removing minerals from the ground disrupts ecosystems while processing these metals can generate waste products which may contain toxic elements that could endanger human lives.
Rare earth elements produce waste that pollutes soil, damaging ecosystems and reducing or even eliminating food crops. Heap leaching, an efficient method for extracting rare earth elements, involves stripping topsoil away to reveal elemental deposits for harvesting; however, this practice destroys habitat as it exposes elemental deposits for harvesting; this results in land slippage, flooding and even changes to river and stream flow patterns that negatively impact both.
Heap leaching can contribute to air pollution as toxic byproducts are released during its process, stripping topsoil from ecological environments while damaging ecosystems further. Heap leaching is being phased out in favor of in situ extraction which doesn't involve stripping topsoil but instead preserves biodiversity more sustainably.
One way to lower the environmental impacts of rare earth mining is recycling electronic waste containing neodymium and praseodymium, though this approach may struggle to meet future demand as only around one percent of these elements used in modern electronics is recycled. Instead, governments should invest in research into technologies requiring lower levels of rare earth elements while encouraging their reuse as recycled rare earths.
Human health impacts of rare earth mining aren't well studied; however, mineral concentrates produced through mining contain heavy metals which may lead to toxicity and radioactivity. Furthermore, mining waste dumps have acidified nearby water bodies while chemicals used in extracting rare earths can leach into groundwater and soil sources.
As the world moves toward carbon neutrality, replacing fossil fuels with raw materials that cause severe environmental impacts is no longer viable. That is why many groups are working to find eco-friendly methods of extracting rare earths from products discarded for recycling.
China, where rare earth extraction has experienced its greatest boom, has already felt the effects first-hand. Baotou residents have reported health problems such as skeletal fluorosis and chronic arsenic toxicity resulting from using water with contaminants contaminated with arsenic.
Pollution is one of the primary reasons for why so few people are willing to move to mining areas in search of work. If parents are uncertain that their children will grow up healthy lives, then they have no motivation to risk leaving home and putting their families at risk by moving abroad.
Recycling spent batteries and electronics can reduce the need for new mining, but that alone won't solve the issue: "Right now there aren't enough stocks of spent rare earths available to satisfy demand," Ali points out.