Rare Earth Roadblock: A Geopolitical Shockwave
Aditya Bhattacharya and Akriti Sharma
The modern vehicles today are heavily relied on rare earth magnets as they play a crucial role in their functioning. There are 17 rare earth elements in the Lanthanide series of metals in the periodic table and rare earth magnets are the strongest permanent magnets made from one of these 17 rare earth elements. Neodymium (Nd-Fe-B) and Samarium Cobalt (SmCo) are the two most common rare earth magnets. They differ from the regular magnets mainly composed of Ferrite, a ceramic material composed mainly of iron (III) oxide.
10 July 2025