Rare Earths

Jacques Lucas is a member of the French Academy of Sciences and Emeritus Professor at the University of Rennes, France. He has co-authored several books on glasses, ceramics, and optics. He has been involved in rare earths research (photonics) as well as teaching for more than 40 years. He published more than 450 articles and co-chaired several international conferences devoted to rare earths doped optical materials. He founded and headed the CNRS Glass and Ceramic laboratory at University of Rennes for 30 years. Three start-up companies were founded based on the laboratory discoveries. He has also been Associate professor at University of Arizona and invited Professor at Kyoto University, Japan as well as at Shanghai University, PR China. He is in close contact with Solvay, the world leading company in rare earth separation, as well as with the Chinese and Japanese rare earth scientific community.Pierre Lucas is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. He has led several funded research projects on rare-earth doped luminescent glasses. He has been temporarily employed as an analytical chemist at Rhodia’s rare-earth refining plant in France. He is author of more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in solid state physics and chemistry.Thierry Le Mercier is Head of the Functional Inorganic Materials Lab, Solvay, France. He specialises in solid state chemistry and optical properties of inorganic materials. He has been working for Solvay (previously Rhodia), a world-leading company in rare earths since 1998. He is currently the head of research and development department focused on new inorganic materials and breakthrough developments for energy applications and sustainable resources. He has been developing new rare earths phosphor materials for lighting and display systems. He is author of more than 30 patents is this field. Alain Rollat has been working in the rare earths industry (Rhône-Poulenc, Rhodia and Solvay) for more than 30 years, both in the Aubervilliers Research Center and in the La Rochelle plant. During this period, he has developed several processes in the field of rare earths separation and purification (12 patents) and participated in the design and start-up of new production units of rare earths in France and China. He is currently Technology Development Manager in charge of new processes implementation for the 5 plants of Solvay Rare Earth Systems, a Business Unit of Solvay group. He is also in charge of new rare earths sourcing for Solvay, and in this capacity, he has been working over the last 5 years with the main rare earths mining projects around the world. Jean-Paul Tognet is a chemical engineer and graduate of the ENSIACET [National Institute for Engineers in Chemical Arts and Technologies] in Toulouse (ENSCT1968) and the INSTN National Institute for Science and Nuclear Techniques in Grenoble (1969), France. He is an international speaker and an author of patents in the phosphate and rare earth mining upstream sector. Jean-Paul has remained faithful to Rhône-Poulenc/Rhodia (now Solvay) throughout his industrial career, which began in 1969 with a role as mineralogy and mineral processing engineer. He subsequently went on to manage the body responsible for coordinating rare earth factories in Rhône-Poulenc/Rhodia: La Rochelle, France, Freeport, Texas, USA, Anan Kasei, Japan, Pinjarra Ga, Australia (specifically a gallium plant and RE project) and Baotou, PR China. Jean-Paul ended his career in the post of Global Manager, where he was responsible for the raw materials needed for rare earth production at La Rochelle, France as well as Baotou and Liyang, PR China. As a specialist in beneficiation and chemical processes of rare earth minerals and the global optimization between of those two stages, he is presently acting as a consultant with the title Rare Earth Fellow and on the management committee of Carester, Lyon, France.

• 1. Overview2. Rare Earth Occurrence, Geology, Mineralogy and Element Concentrations3. Rare Earth Production, Use and Price4. Mining and Rare Earth Concentrate Production5. Extracting Rare Earth Elements from Concentrates6. Rare Earths Purification, Separation, Precipitation and Calcination7. Production of Rare Earth Metals and Alloys8. Electrowinning9. Metallothermic Rare Earth Metal Reduction10. Rare Earth Electronic Structures and Trends in Properties11. Rare Earth Catalysts12. Rare Earths in Rechargeable Batteries13. Rare Earths in Alloys and Metals14. Polishing with Rare Earth Oxides Mainly Cerium Oxide CeO₂15. Permanent Magnets Based on Rare Earths: Fundamentals16. Rare Earth-Based Permanent Magnets Preparation and Uses17. Introduction to Rare Earth Luminescent Materials18. Applications of Rare Earth Luminescent Materials19. Rare Earth Doped Lasers and Optical Amplifiers20. Rare Earth Recycle21. Medical Uses of Rare Earth Elements22. Economics of the Rare Earth Industries23. Green Rare Earth Production and Use24. Rare Earths in Modern Batteries25. Scandium and Yttrium (not Rare Earths, but Lanthanides)26. Epilogue