No Transparency, No Market: Why Certificates of Analysis Matter in Rare Earths

Highlights

• A Certificate of Analysis documents chemical composition, impurities, moisture, and contractual compliance—often determining who receives millions of dollars in commercial settlements.
• Testing requirements shift dramatically across the supply chain, from TREO and mineralogy at the mine to narrow alloy and gas-contamination specs for magnet manufacturers.
• A small group of specialized global labs—including SGS, ALS, Intertek, and Bureau Veritas—dominates bankable rare earth analysis, making independent assay capacity a strategic Western asset.
• China's dominance in refining and separation makes independent verification infrastructure outside China increasingly critical for attracting investment and securing long-term supply contracts.
• Without standardized testing and transparent COA reporting, rare earth markets cannot develop the benchmarks, indices, or futures contracts needed for efficient price discovery.

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Rare earth markets do not run on mines alone. They run on trust. Every shipment of concentrate, oxide, metal, alloy, or magnet ultimately depends on a document called a Certificate of Analysis (COA). Without trusted laboratory testing and independent verification, buyers cannot know what they are purchasing, sellers cannot maximize value, and true price discovery becomes nearly impossible. As the West attempts to build rare earth supply chains outside China, laboratory infrastructure and assay standards may prove nearly as important as mines and separation plants.

The Most Important Document in the Rare Earth Supply Chain

A rare earth concentrate may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. A shipment of dysprosium oxide or neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) metal can be worth millions. But how does the buyer know what is actually inside the container?

That answer comes from the Certificate of Analysis.

A COA documents the chemical composition of a material, identifies impurities, confirms moisture content, and verifies whether the product meets contractual specifications. In many cases, the COA becomes the foundation for commercial settlement between buyer and seller.

In practical terms, a rare earth deal often comes down to three numbers:

• Seller assay
• Buyer assay
• Referee assay

When disputes arise, the referee laboratory frequently determines who receives millions of dollars.

Different Tests for Different Parts of the Supply Chain

Rare earth testing changes dramatically as material moves through the value chain.

Upstream: Ore and Concentrates

Mining companies focus on:

• Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO)
• Mineralogy
• Thorium and uranium content
• Moisture
• Impurities such as phosphorus and fluorine

For deposits containing monazite, bastnaesite, or xenotime, mineralogical analysis can be just as important as chemistry because radioactive elements and impurity profiles directly affect downstream processing.

Midstream: Oxides and Separation Products

Once material reaches a separation facility, the focus shifts to:

• Oxide purity
• Rare earth distribution
• Moisture and Loss on Ignition (LOI)
• Non-rare-earth impurities

A 99.5% NdPr oxide and a 99.9% NdPr oxide may command significantly different values. Trace contamination from iron, calcium, magnesium, silicon, or other rare earth elements can affect downstream customers and pricing.

Downstream: Metals, Alloys, and Magnets

For metals and magnet materials, purity alone is no longer enough.

Testing focuses on:

• Metal composition
• Alloy chemistry
• Gas contamination
• Surface coatings
• Magnet scrap composition

At this stage, manufacturers care less about "total rare earth content" and more about whether the material falls within extremely narrow production specifications.

Who Performs the Testing?

The global market is dominated by a relatively small group of highly specialized laboratories.

Major international providers include:

• SGS
• ALS
• Intertek
• Bureau Veritas
• Actlabs

Specialized regional players include:

• Nagrom (Australia)
• Saskatchewan Research Council (Canada)
• JFE Techno-Research (Japan)
• KTR (South Korea)
• GRINM (China)

The industry is competitive at the routine assay level but far less competitive when it comes to bankable rare earth analysis involving advanced mineralogy, fusion chemistry, radiological handling, referee services, and commercial settlement work.

Why Laboratory Testing Is a Strategic Industry

Most investors focus on mines, separation plants, and magnet factories.

Few pay attention to the laboratories. That may be a mistake.

As Western supply chains emerge, independent assay capability becomes a strategic asset. The ability to verify concentrate quality, oxide purity, metal composition, and recycled materials is essential for attracting investment and supporting long-term supply contracts.

Without trusted testing infrastructure, financing becomes harder, disputes increase, and market confidence declines.

This is particularly important given China's continued dominance across rare earth refining, separation, metals, alloys, and magnets. Independent verification outside China is becoming increasingly valuable as governments and manufacturers seek alternative supply chains.

The Missing Piece of Rare Earth Price Discovery

Rare Earth Exchanges® was launched in part because the rare earth market suffers from a transparency deficit.

Unlike copper, gold, or oil, many rare earth products lack:

• Widely accepted benchmarks
• Transparent pricing
• Standardized contracts
• Uniform quality specifications

Certificates of Analysis are one of the foundations required to solve that problem.

Markets cannot function efficiently when buyers and sellers disagree on what is being traded. Before the industry can develop robust spot markets, indices, futures contracts, and broader financial participation, it must establish trusted standards for testing, reporting, and verification.

The reality is simple: a rare earth market without trusted Certificates of Analysis is like a stock exchange without audited financial statements.

No transparency. No trust.

And ultimately, no market.

Discover companies, projects, pricing intelligence, and opportunities across the global rare earth value chain at the REEx Marketplace: https://marketplace.rareearthexchanges.com/signup (opens in a new tab)