Provenance and Traceability of Rare Earth Products

The rare earth elements (REE) are a group of sixteen metallic elements with exceptional chemical and physical properties and they are widely used in everyday life. They are key components in permanent magnets used in motors and generators, lighting phosphors, catalysts, ceramics, and other materials.
The ISO/TC 298 Technical Committee on Rare Earths has proposed that standards on REE traceability could help ensure that REE are sourced from legitimate operations.
This research report was developed to serve as a seed document that could be used for the development of a future standard on REE provenance and traceability.