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R are earth products are essential ingredients in magnets and mag-
netic powders, catalysts, metallurgical additives, polishing powders,
phosphors, glass additives, ceramics and other engineered rare earth ma-
terials, as well as batteries, motors and generators, lasers, drives, sensors,
and other components and systems used in a variety of industries. In turn,
these products are used in health care, clean energy, automotive, light-
ing, communications, audio equipment, defense, electronics, advanced
optics, oil refining, and many other sectors.
In a first-of-its-kind analysis, the Rare Earth Technology Alliance and
the American Chemistry Council recently released a free report that takes
an in-depth look at the economic impact of rare earths. The Economic
Benefits of the North American Rare Earths Industry analyzes the eco-
nomic footprint of the rare earth industry in terms of its direct, indirect,
and induced effects as measured by output, payrolls, jobs, and tax rev-
enue. Some highlights include:
• The rare earth industry directly contributes to the North American
economy with $795 million in shipments, employing nearly
1050 workers with a payroll of $116 million.
• Adding other upstream impacts to its direct impact, the industry
generates a total of $1.9 billion in economic output in
North America.
The industry supports $329.6 billion in economic output in down-
stream end-market products
and technologies that employ
618,800 workers (with a com-
bined payroll of $37.6 billion)
in the U.S. and Canada.
In the report, rare earth is
used as a generic term for the
15 lanthanides of the periodic
table as well as scandium and
yttrium. Rare earths were dis-
covered in 1787 by Karl Axel
Arrhenius, an officer in the
Swedish army, when he gath-
ered the black mineral ytter-
bite (later renamed gadolinite)
from a feldspar and quartz
mine adjacent to the hamlet of
Ytterby, Sweden. Due to simi-
larity in the elements and the fact that they occur in nature as a group, or
subgroup, without separation by natural forces, rare earth elements are
not easily isolated. The first commercial applications for rare earths arose
during the 1880s with the introduction of the Welsbach incandescent
lamp, which initially required the oxides of zirconium, lanthanum, and
yttrium. By 1900, rare earths found other applications in lighting. Over
the past 110 years or so, the use of rare earths has grown from a few hun-
dred metric tons to more than 80,000 tons consumed annually. For more
information, visit .
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES • JUNE 2014 4
spot l ight feedback
market
Free report explores economic
impact of rare earth industry
Holley needs help
I have been enjoying your articles on
“The Age of Steel.” Thank you for putting
these together. A number of years ago, I
visited the Holley monument in Washing-
ton Square Park. At the time, his name
was clearly visible but the inscription had
weathered away. I contacted ASM with
a suggestion that the Historical Commit-
tee make it a project to install a plaque
with the details of who he was. I heard
no reply, so I assume nothing was done.
Is it time to try again?
J.W. Matousek, ASM Life Member
The bust of Alexander Lyman Holley
stands in Manhattan’s Washington
Square Park, but could use an
informative plaque .
Historical files, book available
I enjoyed the recent “Age of Steel:
Part II” article immensely (April issue).
Charles Simcoe is to be commended for
writing this article series. I have taken
an interest because I read a book on the
Homestead steel strike about 60 years
ago. I worked at U.S. Steel Homestead
Works in the metallurgy department
from 1951 to 1954. Later, I was the pri-
mary nickel specialist for an INCO nickel
distributor. During this time, I called on
U.S. Steel’s Johnstown Works where
they had the original Kelly converter in
their reception room.
After closing my company two years
ago, I’ve been disposing of my library. I
have files on the conversion of a blast
furnace from making iron to making fer-
romanganese by Pittsburgh Coke and
Chemical Co. at their plant on Neville Is-
land, Pa. I also have a small book called
Acid Electric Steelmaking printed by
ASM in 1947. I would like these things to
go to whomever would be interested,
free of charge.
J. Gray Bossard, ASM Life Member
We welcome all comments
and suggestions. Send letters to
.
Based on data from the Census Bureau, U.S. Geological
Survey, and Statistics Canada, North American shipments
of rare earth materials were $795 million in 2013. This
includes both mining and manufacturing of basic rare
earth materials. Source: Rare Earth Technology Alliance.
Trends in North American Rare Earth Shipments
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Millions ($)