TELF AG analyzes Africa’s prospects in the rare earth sector

A bright future

In addition to representing one of the best sources for a large part of the strategic resources related to the energy transition, the African continent could soon also increase its international weight in the production of rare earths, which are highly sought after by modern industry.

This group of resources includes 17 elements currently used in the production processes of smartphones, electrical machinery, and photovoltaic panels, without forgetting some advanced equipment such as radar and lasers. Rare earths also play a key role in semiconductors, one of the most sought-after technologies in the high-tech sector (and not only).

Much of the value of rare earths does not derive so much from their rarity – they are, in fact, quite widespread on the earth’s crust – but from the complexity of their processing and the fact that their structural characteristics make them practically irreplaceable. In such a context, where the production and refining of these elements are still quite concentrated in certain parts of the globe, we could witness the emergence of a new player in this specific sector, namely Africa.

According to a recent report by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, within the next five years, rare earths from African mines could represent about a tenth of all rare earths globally. The analysis also reports the names of the countries that could host the most productive mines, the sourcing sites (eight in total) capable of producing the largest quantity of rare earths for industry: these are Tanzania, Angola, Malawi and South Africa, which according to the report could start their production by 2029 and make their own personal contribution to global supply, quantified at 9% of the total.

The largest deposits on the continent

The African potential linked to rare earths was certainly not unknown. Still, the analysis by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence seems to open up new possibilities for creating new global supply chains. Until now, rare earths deposits in Africa had been reported, in particular in the eastern and southern areas of ​​the continent, in nations such as Madagascar, Namibia, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, and Burundi (in addition to the four already cited in the report and mentioned above). One of the first nations to valorize these resources was Burundi, thanks to the Gakara Rare Earth Project (launched a few years ago).

The possible increase in the production of African rare earths would not only have an impact on the economy of the continent, but would also generate specific repercussions on the global market and on the main supply chains. This fact could be of great interest, especially for those international players (such as the United States and the European Union) that continue to strive to strengthen their global supplies of strategic resources. According to the report, a good part of Africa’s rare earth production (more than 60%) could, in fact, be directed towards these interlocutors, and in particular towards those areas that are greatly increasing their rare earth processing capacity, such as Europe.

Furthermore, large deposits of rare earths have recently been discovered in the old continent, particularly in Sweden and Norway, which could represent a further incentive for the development of European capacities in the field of processing and refining.