Rare earths are known as "industrial monosodium glutamate" and "the mother of new materials". It is a collective name for 17 kinds of metal elements. Because of its excellent optical and electromagnetic physical properties, it can be combined with other materials to form different properties. The most significant function of a wide variety of new materials is to greatly improve the quality and performance of other products. For example, the tactical performance of steel, aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, and titanium alloys used to manufacture tanks, aircraft, and missiles can be greatly improved. Moreover, rare earths are also lubricants for many high-tech industries such as electronics, lasers, nuclear industries, and superconductors. Once rare earth technology is used in the military, it will inevitably lead to a jump in military technology. In a certain sense, the US military's overwhelming control in several local wars after the Cold War benefited from technologies in the field of rare earth technology.
Rare earths are divided into two categories: light rare earths and medium and heavy rare earths. Light rare earths are mostly used in civilian fields such as making screens, sunscreens, glass products, etc., while medium and heavy rare earths are rich in reserves and are widely used in the military. , aviation field.
Rare earths play an irreplaceable role especially in several fields such as fluorescence, magnetism, optical fiber communications, metallurgy, hydrogen storage, and lasers. China is rich in rare earth minerals and has a global monopoly. It is the only country that can provide 17 kinds of rare earths. , China’s proven rare earth reserves account for nearly 40% of the world’s total.
China also has the world's leading rare earth mining, smelting and separation technology, making it the only country in the world with a complete rare earth industry chain. Meng Qingjiang, executive deputy secretary-general of the Jiangxi Rare Earth Society, said: Rare earths mined abroad can only be sent to China. ?
So, most of the rare earths from other countries are shipped to China for smelting and separation. A considerable part of China's rare earths are imported rare earth ores from foreign countries, then refined, and finally exported as rare earth products.
China imported approximately 25,000 tons of rare earths and oxides from the United States in 2018, becoming the largest importer of rare earths. This not only ensures that China's rare earth reserves will not be over-consumed, but also prevents European and American rare earth companies from making a comeback.
Many people say that one of China’s three trump cards against the United States is to control the export of rare earths to the United States.
Among the materials and equipment made of rare earth materials, China occupies a monopoly on rare earth permanent magnet materials. As the name suggests, rare earth permanent magnet materials contain rare earth metals as alloy elements in the permanent magnet materials.
Rare earth permanent magnet materials are important materials in electronic technology and communications. They are mainly used in traveling wave tubes and circulators in artificial satellites, radars, etc., as well as in micro motors, micro recorders, aviation instruments, electronic watches, on seismographs and other electronic instruments.
In addition, the application of rare earth permanent magnets has penetrated into automobiles, household appliances, electronic instruments, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging machines, audio equipment, micro motors, mobile phones, etc.
Mainland China’s magnet exports totaled US$1.7 billion (approximately 11.78 billion yuan) last year, of which US$257 million of the total US imports of approximately US$395 million came from mainland China.
It is worth mentioning that rare earth magnet processing plants outside China are mainly in Japan and Germany, but these two countries also rely on China to import rare earths, and even other countries also have rare earth mines. The processing is still inseparable from China.
Citigroup reported: If China only imposes restrictions on the export of rare earth metals and rare earth alloys to the United States, and if processing capacity outside China is quickly built, the United States can still cope with it. However, if the scope of restrictions is extended to manufactured products such as magnets and permanent magnet motors, the situation will be much more serious, and some special industries in the United States may be trapped in supply interruptions.
In order to obtain China’s rare earth permanent magnet materials, the United States even did not hesitate to exchange for rhenium. Rhenium is a rare refractory metal. Its content in the earth’s crust is only one billionth of a billionth, and its melting point is 3180°C. Boiling point is 5627°C. Pure rhenium is soft and has the same appearance as platinum. It not only has good plasticity, mechanical properties and creep resistance, but also has good wear resistance and corrosion resistance. It is resistant to most gases except oxygen. Can maintain relatively good chemical inertness.
Rhenium and its alloys are widely used in aerospace, electronics industry, petrochemical industry and other fields. In particular, rhenium plays an important role in jet engines and rocket engines. Rhenium can double the life of the engine. It can improve the high-temperature resistance of the engine turbofan blades. The melting point of rhenium is as high as 3100 degrees, and it is extremely strong.
Applying it to hollow single crystal turbine blades can make the engine afterburner work longer and not easily damaged, which has a huge effect on increasing the thrust of the engine.
So about 80% of the world's rhenium is used in the production of aircraft engines, which is of great significance in military strategy and is one of the must-have strategic reserves of various countries.
But it is more difficult to obtain than diamonds. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the world's proven rhenium reserves are only about 2,500 tons, with the United States ranking first in the world in rhenium reserves. In order to maintain its dominant position in the aviation industry, the United States and some other Western countries have been targeting China for materials and Technical blockade. Although the British aero-engine giant Rolls-Royce has invested in and built factories in China, it has put many layers of security on its Chinese employees.
In 2010, at the mine at the southern foot of Mount Huashan, workers unexpectedly discovered the rare metal rhenium, with reserves reaching 176 tons, accounting for about 7% of global reserves. Chengdu Hangyu purified rhenium and produced Qualified single crystal blades, but China’s rhenium production is far from enough.
At this time, China took advantage of its rare earth advantages and allowed the United States to exchange rhenium for rare earth permanent magnet materials by embargoing them. At present, China's J-20 engine is said to use rhenium materials.
But let’s not be too happy. China still lags behind the United States in many core technologies and materials. China still needs to continue to work hard.