Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp. (TRER) services

Rare earth elements (REEs), or lanthanides, are a group of 15 elements in the periodic table with unique chemical, physical, and optical properties. Often included in this group is yttrium, which not only possesses similar characteristics to REEs, but is also frequently contained within the same mineral deposits. Although the elements themselves are found widely dispersed in the Earth’s crust, economic deposits are a rarity. These elements are only found with other REEs and do not occur individually.

According to the 2011 Critical Materials Report issued from the U.S. Department of Energy, five of the rare earth elements were found to be critical in terms of supply risk in the short term (present – 2015) and into the medium term (2015–2025). As shown in the criticality matrices below, those elements deemed critical are: Dysprosium, Europium, Neodymium, Terbium, and Yttrium.