8. Conclusion

Rare earths have become indispensable in many applications (vehicles, telephones, green energy production, computers, medical diagnostics...), and some are now classified as strategic metals. Although they are relatively abundant, raw materials production units are still mainly concentrated in China. Since 2010, new opportunities have arisen for the extraction and production of raw materials outside China, as well as a sharp rise in demand for Nd for the manufacture of permanent magnets. The immediate future of rare earths today remains focused on optimizing magnet performance, while new uses are emerging, notably in the field of "all-solid state" batteries for the development of more efficient electric vehicles.