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Rare earth elements (REE) are key enablers for the ongoing energy and environmental transition as they are critical raw materials in many low-carbon technologies. In the past few years, many new REE projects have been developed worldwide to replenish the market, and thus are changing the supply chains. Meanwhile, comprehensive data are lacking regarding these projects, impeding investors and policymakers from having a clear view of the global supply of REE. This study establishes a new database of REE projects, along with detailed information sources. Based on these data, we present the current situation and give some critical perspectives on the future. It is shown that there are at least total 146 advanced and mining projects, involving over 303.4 million tons of rare earth oxides around the world and some newly designed supply chains. Among those projects, carbonatite type deposits are currently the main sources and most likely will dominant future targets for exploration and mining. Asia remains the largest source of REE, but Greenland, Africa, and Europe show important resource potentials if environmental issues and processing technologies are well addressed. Finally, we review rare earth projects in terms of estimated value and heavy rare earth elements resources amounts, and further list some REE deposits that deserve more attention based on this new database.
Liu et al. (Sat,) studied this question.