Uh oh. Rare earths need a lot of energy

Wednesday 22 October 2025

Critical minerals are very energy-intensive to process.

There are different processes using coal, gas, or electricity to roast, calcinate, separate, and leach, but most use gas.

Lots of gas.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.