The list of environmental concerns that can be connected with rare earth elements is not a brief one. Throughout the cycle of mining processes that rare earth elements go through, there is potential for negative effects on the environment. read more
A worker pours rare earth metal Lanthanum into a mould near the town of Damao, in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Photograph: David Gray/REUTERS Although Wang Jianguo knows little about rare earths mining, he is an accidental expert on its consequences. read more