Rare Earth Metals & Minerals
Separated oxides, metals, and upstream concentrates — assayed to TREO basis, moved under proper export licensing and radiological handling, never on a spot-market handshake.
Overview
A market defined by chemistry and by permission
Rare earths are seventeen elements that share a periodic table neighborhood and almost nothing else commercially. Neodymium and praseodymium drive permanent magnets for EV traction motors and wind turbines; dysprosium and terbium hold those magnets' coercivity at temperature; lanthanum and cerium move in far larger volumes at far lower value into catalysts, polishing compounds, and glass.
Aerisus brokers across that spread — separated high-purity oxides and metals, mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC), and upstream concentrates — with purity stated on a total rare earth oxide (TREO) basis and individual element distribution assayed by an independent laboratory before shipment. A TREO number without an element split is not a specification.
This is also the commodity book where the binding constraint is regulatory, not logistical. Export licensing regimes, end-use declarations, and — for thorium-bearing concentrates such as monazite — naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) rules govern what can move, to whom, and how. We scope licensing before quoting, not after contracting.
Specification
Products & standard grades
Purity is stated as element oxide over TREO. Element distribution, moisture, and non-rare-earth impurities are assayed per lot.
Grades shown are common commercial bases. Magnet-grade and electronic-grade tolerances, element ratios, and impurity ceilings are fixed per contract and verified before shipment.
Capabilities
Program structure
Export Licensing First
Several rare earth elements sit under active export-control regimes with end-user and end-use declarations required before material moves. We confirm licensability for the specific element, quantity, destination, and end use before an offer is firm — an unlicensable quote is worse than no quote.
Origin Diversity
Chinese separated product remains the deepest pool; Brazilian, Australian, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and U.S. material is quoted where buyers need non-Chinese supply chains for regulatory, contractual, or customer-mandate reasons. Origin is declared and documented, not implied.
Packaging
Oxides in 25kg or 50kg sealed drums or lined bags, palletized and shrink-wrapped inside 20ft containers with desiccant. Metals and master alloys vacuum-packed or argon-sealed against oxidation. Concentrates in FIBC or bulk per volume.
Radiological Handling
Monazite and some bastnäsite concentrates carry thorium and uranium. Where activity concentration exceeds exemption thresholds, cargo moves under NORM protocols with radiological survey, correct classification, and destination import permitting arranged in advance.
Pricing & Term Structure
Rare earths have no liquid exchange contract. Pricing references published assessments for the specific element and grade, with term programs and price-adjustment mechanisms preferred over spot exposure in a market this thin.
Pre-Shipment Verification
Independent sampling and assay before shipment, with retained samples and umpire provisions. Certificates of analysis, weight, and origin form part of the documentary package under letter of credit.
FAQ
Common Questions
Are rare earths actually rare?
Not in crustal abundance — cerium is more common than copper. What is scarce is economic concentration and, more binding, separation capacity: pulling chemically near-identical elements apart takes hundreds of solvent-extraction stages, and that capacity is highly concentrated geographically.
Why does the element split matter if the TREO purity is high?
TREO measures total rare earth oxide content, not which rare earths. A 99% TREO material dominated by cerium and lanthanum is a fundamentally different commodity from one dominated by neodymium and dysprosium — orders of magnitude apart in value. Any credible specification states both the TREO figure and the individual element distribution.
Can you supply outside Chinese origin?
For some elements and grades, yes — and we will say plainly which ones. Non-Chinese separated heavy rare earths in particular remain capacity-constrained; where a non-Chinese requirement cannot be met at the volume and grade requested, we say so rather than quoting material we cannot deliver.
What about export controls?
Certain rare earth elements and magnet technologies are subject to export licensing, with end-use and end-user declarations required. We scope the licensing path for the specific element, destination, and application before firming an offer, and we do not structure trades to route around a control regime.
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