Yang Zhanfeng: The rare earth needs to recognize

At present, almost all domestic rare earth production enterprises have focused on magnetic, catalytic, polishing, and several major functional materials for hydrogen storage. There has been little involvement in other fields, which has aggravated the abnormalities of industrial development to a large extent. Therefore, rare earth enterprises should have a sense of innovation, carry out applied research based on resources and national conditions, and further develop rare earth applications.

In recent years, rare earth has become a hot word and has become a symbol of strategic resources, high-tech, and emerging industries. With the promotion of public opinion and the situation, one after another rare earth enterprise was established and one after another rare earth project was launched. At the same time as rapid development, the rare earth industry has also accumulated some problems. In particular, there are some understanding issues that have affected the healthy development of the rare earth industry.

When the leading researcher of the Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute and the famous rare earth expert Yang Zhanfeng received an exclusive interview with the journalist of China Metallurgical News on August 27, they pointed out that the rare earth needs to be recognized. So, what needs to know? Yang Zhanfeng said that in the rare earth resources, mechanism, application and other aspects need to be recognized again.

The rare earth is 17 elements instead of 1 element At present, some people who do not understand rare earth think that the rare earth is 1 element, in fact, a family of rare earth elements, has 17 elements. The physical and chemical properties of each element have their own characteristics, their application effects are different, and their market value is also different. Treating a group of elements as one element is easy to use when analyzing and processing rare earth problems. The rare earth is called the magic element because of its unpredictable 4F electronic transition. Yang Zhanfeng said that this era of our lives is called the "era of new materials." Because of the peculiar electronic layers of rare earth elements, scientists can always find useful elements in the synthesis of new materials. The rare earth has also been called the title of “new material treasure house”, which is one of the reasons why it is particularly important in high and new technology. The interaction and influence between the 17 rare earth elements is itself a very complicated issue, not to mention the arrangement and arrangement of numerous non-rare earth elements. Even though the understanding of the physical and chemical characteristics of all individual elements is well known, when they are combined with other elements, the characteristic functions and potential presented are an infinitely broad research field. Therefore, the characteristics and application mechanism of rare earth element interactions need to be further understood. It is an extremely difficult project to figure out these connections.

Yang Zhanfeng said that China is a big country with rare earth resources, a big country with rare earth production, and a big consumer of rare earths. We have the obligation, responsibility, and necessity to make clear what is rare earth.

The state of resources of rare earths, exploitation and application, etc. should be recognized again. Yang Zhanfeng believes that rare earth is a scarce strategic resource. In fact, the rare earth is not "diluted" and its average abundance in the earth's crust is 200ppm, but the rare earth is not homogeneous and there are more or less stocks among the 17 elements. Scarce and very expensive are several rare earth elements, while rare earth elements such as antimony, antimony, and tellurium are not only in stock, but also have relatively low prices. Obviously, if there is no specific analysis of specific issues and restrictions on the use of plutonium, plutonium, and yttrium, as in the case of other scarce elements, then the imbalance in the use of rare earth elements will become more and more serious. The Baotou Rare Earth Industry Forum held this year puts the theme of “The Balanced Application of Rare Earth Elements and the Harmonious Development of Strategic Emerging Industries” as the theme of the forum. It also illustrates the importance of this issue from one aspect.

Yang Zhanfeng also emphasized the issue of recognizing the rare earth resources of Baiyun Obo. The main characteristic of China's rare earth resources is “Southern light and light north”. At present, the public generally believes that the Baiyunebo mine is a light rare earth ore. Yang Zhanfeng, who once worked in the Baiyun Obo mine for a long time, introduced that in fact, Baiyuebo rare earth resources are both light and heavy rare earths, but the abundance of heavy rare earths is low. Due to the misunderstanding of the rare earth resources in Baiyun Obo, the development and utilization of heavy rare earth resources needs to be further strengthened.

The development of rare earths in China requires a further understanding of rare earths Yang Zhanfeng believes that China’s research on rare earths is later than that of Western countries and that the demand is striving to catch up. However, in some high-precision areas, foreign patents cover the country, and we rarely make breakthroughs. This is the reason why the development of high-end rare earth industries in China is heavily dependent on foreign technology.

In the absence of scale impact on rare earths in China, they can rely on external technological inputs for development. However, when China’s rare earth industry is becoming increasingly strong and prosperous, it is necessary to support the future development of China’s rare earths, solve problems such as balance utilization, development and environmental coordination, and increase resource value. In the future, the new technology of China's rare earth industry must be China's independent research and development, and all this is based on the understanding of rare earth.

Yang Zhanfeng believes that many contradictions in the industry are difficult to solve, and some of them are not related to the understanding of rare earths that is comprehensive, objective, and scientific. For example, the most prominent issue of production order chaos, he believes that the current measures, such as referral, export quotas, and centralized production, are more difficult to fundamentally eliminate the impulse to expand rare earth capacity. Given the relative abundance of resource conditions and the dispersive distribution of resources, it is extremely difficult to achieve "full closure." How to find the solution to the combination of “dissolving and guiding” is a new topic that we face.

Yang Zhanfeng said that the recognition of rare earths is actually an in-depth research, production, and application of rare earths. This is a system issue that requires full force.

At the national level, it is necessary to further increase the investment in basic research. In recent years, the country has continuously increased its investment in rare earth scientific research work. In particular, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has set up special funds for rare earth for three consecutive years and has achieved great results. At present, there are many rare earth production process research projects, but there are relatively few basic researches. Not only are there few issues, there is not enough professional force, and there are insufficient scientific research conditions. It is hoped that relevant departments of the State will provide support in the training of talents for rare earth research, team building (especially professional teams) and research funding, and further build a platform for rare earth basic research.

Yang Zhanfeng pointed out that it is not difficult to discover from the development history of rare earths in China that every progress in the rare earth industry needs the drive of science and technology. The understanding of rare earths is still inseparable from science and technology, and its approach is scientific discovery and technological breakthroughs. Yang Zhanfeng said that the early science and technology reserves have been fully utilized and must now be re-accumulated. This is a new stage of development. Its start and origin is a new understanding of rare earth. Researchers should immerse themselves in scrutiny of past work and sort out problems that have been resolved or not yet resolved. Based on this, new technologies will be used to transform valuable rare earth elements into physical products that can satisfy people's needs in society.

A certain production capacity is a condition for recognizing rare earths. Products with multiple varieties and specifications can provide basic conditions for research. However, at present, raw material production enterprises generally have problems with low product quality, lack of consistency, and stability. Therefore, rare earth production companies must make great efforts.

Speaking of rare earth applications, Yang Zhanfeng said that companies should have a sense of innovation, dare to accept new things, and use rare earth applications to increase efficiency, value-added for rare earth to recognize the results of new applications of rare earths to provide a market. At present, most of the rare earth production enterprises in China have focused on magnetic, catalytic, polishing, and several major functional materials for hydrogen storage. There is very little involvement in other fields, which has aggravated the abnormalities of industrial development. Yang Zhanfeng pointed out that rare earth is widely used in both emerging and traditional industries. We must carry out applied research on the basis of resources and national conditions, and further open up the field of rare earth applications. Without reference to foreign experience, this work may be more difficult than ever.

In fact, human understanding of the rare earth is a long process that gradually deepens and fills in the gap. At this stage, our understanding of rare earths is still on the way. Yang Zhanfeng said that on the surface, recognizing rare earths is a very simple point of view, but careful research will find that this view is related to the determination of the direction of development of the industry, the solution to the development of the industry, these two major propositions, and the two major propositions Cracking is the premise and basis for the further development of China's rare earth industry. Understanding all the rare earth elements, understanding and understanding more clearly, China's rare earth will have more scientific discoveries of new applications, there will be more new technological breakthroughs. Accelerate the change of raw materials that are greater than the adverse business conditions such as application and product homogenous competition.