Map Reveals Where World's Rare Earth Minerals Are Located

Rare earth minerals have become crucial to almost every sector and the global economy at large, drawing significant attention to the countries that possess these vital resources.

Access to "rare earths" are now also central to many geopolitical disputes, due in part to President Donald Trump, who has said he will make the continuation of U.S. aid to Ukraine contingent on access to the country's resources.

Why Are Rare Earth Minerals So Important?

Rare earth minerals, a blanket term for 17 metallic elements found in the earth's crust, possess unique properties such as magnetic capabilities, electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion. This makes them integral for everything from cigarette lighters to smartphones and missile-guiding systems.

Their importance to technology has imbued them with a particular—and increasing—value to the global economy, sparking a modern variant of "resource wars." Desire for control over these is currently fueling unrest in Central Africa, and also thought to be behind Trump's interest in gaining control of Greenland, a substantial hub of rare earth deposits.

Where Are the World's Mineral Deposits?

Despite their name, rare earth minerals are relatively abundant the world over, but not often found in concentrated deposits. This makes extraction and refinement a complex and costly process.

The map above, based on the most recent data from the U.S. Geological Survey, displays the world's major deposits, classified by the type of mineral as as well the deposit type—the rock formation in which the material is found.

Due to tectonic plate movements that create favorable conditions for mining, certain areas such as north and southern Africa, as well as the western coast of South America, have concentrated deposits of rare earth minerals.

Morocco's zinc deposits, primarily in easy-to-mine sedimentary and hydrothermal formations, has seen it become an outsized player in the export of this versatile metal, widely used in batteries as well as pharmaceutical products.

The presence of valuable minerals in South Africa has contributed to the country having a stronger and more diversified economy than much of the African continent, though governance issues and economic mismanagement has prevented neighboring Zimbabwe from capitalizing in a similar way.

Ukraine is also home to a number of critical mineral reserves, including lithium and titanium, a lightweight and corrosion-resistant metal employed in the construction of aircraft, surgical instruments and chemical processing equipment.

The value of Ukraine's largely untapped deposits has been in the sights of Trump, who has requested that the U.S. be granted access to these in exchange for continued military aid. This proposal was presented to Ukrainian officials last week and would allow American companies to hold a 50 percent stake in Ukraine's rare earth mineral deposits as compensation for both past and future U.S. military support.

Access to valuable minerals may have also contributed to Trump's desire to buy—and potentially annex—Greenland. As well as oil and natural gas, the self-governing Danish territory contains large deposits of elements essential for various advanced technologies, particularly those used in electronics, renewable energy, and defense applications.

China remains the global powerhouse in rare earth elements, holding 44 million metric tons and remaining the world's leading rare earths producer. Its dominance could potentially intensify America's push to expand its mineral reserves, given Beijing has in the past boasted about its reserves, considering these a source over leverage given the potential impact of export limitations on global prices.

What People Are Saying

Sophia Kalantzakos, professor of Environmental Studies and Public Policy at NYU Abu Dhabi, told the BBC: "[Rare earths] are very valuable because of their various tech applications, military applications, renewable [energy] applications; You name it, they contain rare earths."

"At the moment we have enough rare earths," she added. "But as there's this huge economic competition happening, the West has woken up to the fact that China controls the entire supply chains from mine to market."

Robert Muggah, a fellow at Princeton University, and Rafal Rohozinski, senior fellow at Canada's Center for Governance Innovation, recently wrote that Ukraine's mineral resources "are not only pivotal to Ukraine's sovereignty but also to Europe's energy independence and the competition between the United States and China for technological dominance.

"Control over these resources is a decisive if underrated factor in shaping the conflict's trajectory and will almost certainly influence the contours of its resolution."

Speaking to Fox News earlier this month, President Trump said that Ukraine has "tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, oil and gas, and other things."

Trump added that he wants "the equivalent of $500 billion of rare earth" from the country in return for continued assistance, and that Ukraine had "essentially agreed to do that."

What Happens Next?

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was not ready to sign any agreement on this, as the proposal "is not ready to protect us, our interest." On Friday, however, Trump said that the U.S. and Ukraine were "pretty close to a deal" granting access to its rare earth minerals.

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