Critical and rare earth minerals explained using a house | ABC NEWS

Описание: Surviving the day without critical minerals is practically impossible in the modern world.

A hundred years ago, society was reliant on about a dozen main metals. Now nearly the entire periodic table is needed to sustain our daily lives.

Rare earths have become a hot commodity, used as a bargaining chip in Donald Trump’s tariff wars, exposing supply chain vulnerabilities and highlighting China’s upper hand.

With mind-boggling names such as praseodymium, dysprosium, and ytterbium — not to be mistaken for yttrium — it can be easy to glaze over.

But due to critical minerals’ essential role in technologies, economies and national security, these elements will continue to demand attention.

So to truly understand just how critical these minerals have become, let’s take a tour around the house.

By Annika Burgess with illustrations by Sharon Gordon for ABC News Digital. Social video by David Douglas Stuart for the ABC News Social Media Team.

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