India finds rare earth treasure trove in Rajasthan, auction soon for mining 17 critical minerals in Balotra

At a time when China is leveraging its near-monopoly of rare earth supplies, India is in the process of tapping into own reserves and reducing reliance on imports.

In Rajasthan, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Department of Atomic Energy have conducted explorations in recent years. They have found signs of rare earths like neodymium and dysprosium — even though most explorations are in early stages at the moment. Separately, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has said that India has the third-largest rare earth reserves in the world.

As part of setting up rare earth extraction in Rajasthan, the authorities are set to have auctions of patches of land soon, according to CNN-News 18.

The report said that the auctions are going to take place for patches of land in Rajasthan’s Balotra and Jalore.

The area is reported to be rich in reserves of bastnasite, britholite, and xenotime. These are source minerals from which several rare earth minerals are extracted, such as cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, gadolinium, dysprosium, etc.

The report has come at a time when the Centre has launched National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) to advance the exploration, mining, and processing of critical minerals. The Centre has also launched a Rs 1,000-crore Production-linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to boost the domestic manufacture of rare earth magnets that are used in nearly everything in the modern world ranging from household electronics to automobiles and fighter planes.

Rare earths are 17 minerals that are called ‘rare’ not because they are scarce but because it is extremely difficult to produce them. They are often found mixed with other minerals and their extraction and refining is a complicated process. One issue that faces India faces is the poor concentration of metals in Indian ores.

IREL India, a state-owned company dedicated to rare earths mining and processing, has said that the reserves of Rajasthan’s hard rocks are expected to help with this problem.