Rare lands, strategic elements of the periodic table, are essential for technology and industry. Discover their importance and where they are.
The March 6, 1869 The Russian chemist Dmitrij Mendeleev presented the first version of the periodic table of the elementsa system that would have revolutionized the chemistry, allowing to classify the elements according to theirs atomic number and theirs chemical properties. Today, more than 150 years later, the periodic table continues to be a fundamental tool, especially for research but also for the technological industry.
Rare lands: what they are and why they are important
Among the most requested elements of the last decade there are the so -called rare eartha group of 17 chemical elements fundamental for the production of electronic devices, batteries and advanced technologies. Despite their name, the rare lands are not so scarce, but their extraction is complex and expensive, and this makes the deposits strategically relevant.
Why are they called rare lands?
The term “Rare Terre” It can be misleading, since these elements are not actually rare in the earth’s crust. So why this name, what is its origin?
One of the most common hypotheses traces this name to the difficulty of extraction and concentration: When they were discovered between the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, these elements were present in complex and difficult to separate minerals. The term “rare” therefore derived from their scarcity in pure form and the difficulty of insulation through the technologies of the time.
The term “lands” Instead it refers to the fact that the first compounds of these elements They were obtained in the form of oxides (which were called “lands”, in mining chemistry). In particular, in 1787 the Swedish scientist Carl Axel Arrhenius discovered a mineral (gadolinite) from which several elements of the rare lands were isolated.
The adjective “rare “ instead it derives from the distribution geological: although the rare lands are relatively abundant in the earth’s crust, they are rarely found in sufficiently high concentrations for an economically advantageous extraction. This led toincorrect perception that are actually rare.
Ukraine and critical mineral resources
THE’Ukraine has a subsoil rich in mineral resources, including rare earth and others critical elementsoften included in this category in an inappropriate way. According to the National Atlas of Ukrainethe country has huge reserves of titanium, zirconium, manganese, uranium, lithium and nickelin addition to strategic minerals such as berellium, niobio and tantalio. These elements are fundamental for the technological and defense industry and this would make Ukraine a potential key actor in the global market of Critic raw materials.
The global interest in Ukrainian resources
In recent years, attention to Ukrainian mining deposits has increased, both for the needs of rare earth in high-tech industry, both for the need to reduce dependence on Chinawhich currently controls much of world production. The presence of Rare lands (and other critical elements) in Ukraine It could therefore represent a geopolitical factor of primary importance, with implications on trade, investments and energy safety.
The invention of the periodic table it therefore made it possible to better understand the structure of chemical elementscontributing to the development of strategic sectors. Today, the control of rare earth and others critical elements It is a central theme for the global economy and for the future of technology. Ukraine, with its huge resources, could play a fundamental role in this scenario, attracting the interest of governments and multinationals in search of new sources of supply.
