Towards Mining Rare Earth Elements on the Moon

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are used every day in various technology applications, including national defense (e.g., aircraft and missiles). Most of the current supplies of REEs in the U.S. are imported from China, which led the U.S. government to declare the situation a national emergency in 2019 and to call for establishing independent supply sources. This includes solutions such as re-opening former U.S. mines, closed because of extensive health and environmental regulations, or extracting REEs from waste and byproducts. However, some REEs that are utilized in defense technology, and are important to green energy, still present a supply risk at short-and medium-term (up to 15 years). Therefore, there is a need to investigate alternative options to finding a source of REEs, such as mining the Moon, in anticipation of the supply risk. This paper explores the current state-of-the-art of lunar missions and how they can be leveraged as stepping stones towards REE mining on the Moon. The short-term recommendations are to assist partners with equipment and instrumentation to better understand the distribution of REEs on the lunar surface and at depth; assist stakeholders with lunar infrastructure to integrate the idea of REE mining as soon as possible; provide recommendations on policy and mining techniques; and conduct a cost/benefit analysis for in-situ use of REEs. Longer-term recommendations include the development of environmental guidelines and eco-friendly technology to mine REEs, as well a the investigation of space health capabilities, thorough cost/benefits analysis to assess whether it is economical to return REEs to Earth, and delivery systems in case it becomes profitable.