El Laco, an extinct volcano in Chile. Fernando Tornos Arroyo
Scientists have found that some extinct volcanoes, which have not erupted for thousands or millions of years, may contain key metals used in clean energy.
For the research, scientists melted down rocks similar to those found in extinct volcanoes that are rich in iron, discovering the rocks likely contained rare-earth elements, such as neodymium, that are used in wind turbines and electric car motors. “Our findings suggest that these iron-rich extinct volcanoes across the globe, such as El Laco in Chile, could be studied for the presence of rare-earth elements,” said Michael Anenburg, of the Australian National University, who coauthored the research.
While so-called rare-earth elements are actually fairly common, they are scarcely found in their pure form and are generally difficult to refine. The new study, published in Geochemical Perspectives Letters, suggests that the rare-earths lurking under extinct volcanoes may be may be easier to extract. The iron-rich magma that formed some extinct volcanoes would be up to 100 times more efficient at concentrating rare-earths than the magma found in active volcanoes today.
The clean tech industry is searching high and low for the materials needed for wind, solar, and electric cars, with startups racing to gather lithium, cobalt, and other metals by plumbing oil fields, filtering industrial wastewater, and mining the deep ocean. Rare-earths pose a particular challenge for the industry, as manufacturers are heavily reliant on just one country, China, for their supply.
By one estimate, demand for rare-earths is set to grow fivefold by the end of this decade. To guard against supply shocks, Western automakers are looking to curb the use of rare-earths in electric cars, while governments are aiming to produce these metals closer to home.
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