Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it has developed a process to extract the rare earth scandium from its titanium dioxide production process and is studying ways to commercially produce the mineral.
The move is the latest example of Rio taking a second look at the waste from its core mining business in an effort to reprocess it and produce so-called strategic minerals and rare earths, a grouping of 17 minerals used to make electronics.
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of many of these minerals, including rare earths. That has prompted efforts by politicians and companies in Canada, the United States and elsewhere to try and produce their own supplies.