mine · China
Bayan Obo
The largest rare earth deposit in the world, mined alongside iron ore.
Earthern Project Score
90 / 100
Resource, economics and jurisdiction
- Resource
- Enormous rare earth and niobium resource with iron ore co-production.
- Production
- Supplies the majority of global light rare earth feedstock.
- Economics
- Scale and integration deliver unmatched cost position.
- Infrastructure
- Fully integrated rail, power and separation complex at Baotou.
- Jurisdiction
- Elevated policy risk
- Ownership
- China Northern Rare Earth Group
- Region
- Inner Mongolia
What this asset is
The largest rare earth deposit in the world, mined alongside iron ore.
Earthern Project Score 90
Version v0.1
- Resource Quality
- 88 (weight 1.2) — Grade, continuity and metallurgical complexity of the resource.
- Project Scale
- 98 (weight 1) — Annual output potential relative to the global market for its primary mineral.
- Development Stage
- 95 (weight 0.9) — How far the asset has advanced toward or through production.
- Jurisdiction
- 87 (weight 1.1) — Political stability, permitting predictability and rule of law.
- Infrastructure
- 92 (weight 0.9) — Access to power, water, transport and processing capacity.
- Economics
- 95 (weight 1.2) — Cost position and margin resilience through the price cycle.
- Strategic Importance
- 93 (weight 1) — Relevance to national critical mineral strategies and allied supply chains.
- Supply-Chain Value
- 89 (weight 1) — Whether the asset relieves a genuine downstream bottleneck.
- Sustainability
- 81 (weight 0.9) — Carbon intensity, water use, tailings approach and community standing.
- Execution Risk
- 81 (weight 1) — Technical, financing and schedule risk to reaching nameplate output. Higher is lower risk.
Minerals produced
Neodymium
A light rare earth element and the backbone of high-performance NdFeB permanent magnets.
Dysprosium
A heavy rare earth added to magnets to preserve performance at high operating temperatures.
Praseodymium
A light rare earth usually produced and traded jointly with neodymium as NdPr oxide.
Related assets
Ganzhou Separation Complex
The centre of global heavy rare earth separation capacity.
Lynas Advanced Materials Plant
The largest rare earth separation facility outside China.
Lynas Kalgoorlie Facility
A cracking and leaching plant that moves the first processing stage onshore in Australia.
Mount Weld
One of the highest-grade rare earth deposits in the world, feeding Lynas separation capacity.
Mountain Pass
The only operating rare earth mine in the United States and the anchor of domestic magnet ambitions.
MP Independence Magnetics Facility
A US NdFeB magnet manufacturing facility completing a domestic rare earth loop.