Magnets declared a rare earth substance/mineral

leslie hempel

leslie hempel

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Ok so I have heard unconfirmed chatter that magnets will become quite expensive since they are being declared a rare earth substance,

Speculation suggests that anything using an impellor will tripple in price,

Can anyone shed light on these rumours.
 
Tag....
 
Tagging along
 
If memory serves me right from back in school.

Rare earth magnets is just a name they are made from lead or tin which funnily enough is anything but rare. They are more brittle than other magnets and are easily broken. Rare earth magnets are the strongest magnets made
 
Eish, will need bring out damsel propelled wave makers.:eek:
 
Toolboysa said:
If memory serves me right from back in school.

Rare earth magnets is just a name they are made from lead or tin which funnily enough is anything but rare. They are more brittle than other magnets and are easily broken. Rare earth magnets are the strongest magnets made
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i am talking about magnet that specifically mined not a composition... im going tio get googling on the subject...
 
seen as tho the energy of tomorrow can be generated by a few magnets powered by the wind, I see this becoming a reality in the not too far distant future...
 
Wes said:
seen as tho the energy of tomorrow can be generated by a few magnets powered by the wind, I see this becoming a reality in the not too far distant future...
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we are in the wind turbine game aswell, another reason for me asking....
 
Toolboysa said:
If memory serves me right from back in school.

Rare earth magnets is just a name they are made from lead or tin which funnily enough is anything but rare. They are more brittle than other magnets and are easily broken. Rare earth magnets are the strongest magnets made
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You mean these guys?
Neodymium magnets, they are synthetic, developed in 1982 by General Motors and Sumitomo Special Metals, neodymium magnets are the strongest type of permanent magnet made.

Here is a link for you Neodymium magnet

So I don't see any shortage of these guys in the future as they are manufactured, not dug up.
 
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Neodymium used to be mined all over the place...it's just recently that China started selling it at silly low prices (thanks to government subsidies) and killed the viability of most of the small mines elsewhere in the world. There isn't exactly a lack of rare earth metals around. If the price goes up a bit there are plenty of alternative sources. There will likely be a price increase, but I very much doubt they're going to triple in price...
 
To clarify, since some people apparently weren't paying attention in science class. :tt2:

leslie hempel said:
they are being declared a rare earth substance,
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They have always been rare earth elements. It's just the term for that group of elements on the periodic table, not necessarily a reflection of their actual rarity.

Toolboysa said:
If memory serves me right from back in school.

Rare earth magnets is just a name they are made from lead or tin which funnily enough is anything but rare.
Click to expand...

Rare earth magnets are made from rare earth metals (which have a similar rarity to lead and tin, so half right).

leslie hempel said:
i am talking about magnet that specifically mined not a composition... im going tio get googling on the subject...
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They're all alloys. You don't get commercial magnets that come out of the ground and are usable.

leslie hempel said:
from my understanding they are only mined in one place in the world.... reading the article
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Nope, they're found all over the world in significant quantities. China is just currently the main supplier.
 
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