Challenges of Rare Earth Elements Research for Indonesia

Compared to other countries, data and information on rare earth elements (REEs) in Indonesia’s soil systems remain very limited. Jakarta (ANTARA) - The public in the country is increasingly hearing the term rare earth metals (LTJ) or rare earth elements (REEs). This is because, recently, China has restricted the export of LTJ, which is vital for the modern electronics industry. Rare earth minerals serve as raw materials for jet engine components in fighter aircraft, commercial aeroplanes, and missile weapon systems. They are also raw materials for other electronic components such as underwater detectors, anti-missile defence, tracking devices, satellite power generators, and communications. For a long time, REEs in nature have generally been studied by geologists and mining scientists exploring their distribution and abundance in various regions, as well as extraction technologies for industrial purposes. However, the distribution and abundance of REEs are not only found in the Earth’s crust in the form of bearing minerals (host minerals) as economically viable rocks to be mined as industrial raw materials. Traces of REEs can also be found in soil, which is the result of rock weathering that has interacted with living organisms. Traces of REEs can be observed in soil, which is a thin blanket on the Earth’s surface that supports the life of plants, animals, humans, and the broader environment. Prof. Zeng-Yei Hseu PhD, an expert in soil science from the Department of Agricultural Science, College of Bioresources & Agriculture, National Taiwan University, invites soil scientists, including those in Indonesia, to further study REEs in soil and their impacts on plants, animals, humans, and the environment. According to Hseu, the term “rare” often misleads the general public into thinking the mineral is truly scarce. In fact, REEs are not truly rare because they can be abundant in the Earth’s crust, including in soil, surpassing other minerals like lead and copper. The term “rare” actually refers to their uncommon nature compared to the general characteristics of other minerals in the well-known chemical periodic table series. This uncommon characteristic involves the complexity of separation and processing compared to other metals. These elements do not occur as free metals but are bound in minerals such as monazite, bastnasite, and xenotime. Yet, in recent years, REEs have become the backbone of modern technology, from electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines to advanced electronic devices. At a seminar in the Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Sriwijaya University, Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, recently, Hseu urged soil science researchers and their successors, namely soil science students, to delve deeper into studying REEs. REEs Research