Highlights

• A new review highlights lanthanum's diverse technological applications across environmental, energy, catalytic, and biomedical sectors.
• China dominates global lanthanum production, controlling over 60% of mined rare earth oxides and 85-90% of rare earth oxide refining.
• Despite promising advances, researchers caution about challenges in material synthesis, toxicity, and commercial implementation of lanthanum-based technologies.

A newly published review in Rare Metals (opens in a new tab) by Jadhav et al. (2025) underscores the growing industrial relevance of lanthanum (La), a light rare earth element increasingly recognized for its diverse applications across next-generation technologies. The study evaluates recent advancements in La-based materials, emphasizing their superior functionality in environmental sensing, energy storage, catalysis, and biomedicine sectors.

In environmental monitoring, La compounds deliver heightened sensitivity and selectivity for pollutant detection. In the energy sector, La-enhanced supercapacitors demonstrate improved electrochemical stability and performance. In catalytic applications—particularly water splitting for hydrogen production—La materials show promising efficiency gains. The biomedical potential of lanthanum is also rising,with the review citing biocompatible La formulations for drug delivery systems and medical imaging agents.

Despite these advances, the authors caution that challenges remain in material synthesis scalability, toxicity profiles, and integration into commercial systems. The study calls for targeted research to bridge laboratory advances with industrial implementation.

Lanthanum’s multipurpose utility further reinforces the strategic importance of securing upstream supply and investing in downstream innovation, especially as global demand accelerates across energy, environmental, and healthcare technologies.

Like most light rare earth elements, lanthanum is primarily mined and refined in China, which dominates the upstream and midstream segments of the global rare earth supply chain. China is the largest global producer, accounting for over 60% of mined rare earth oxides, much of which comes from Bayan Obo in Inner Mongolia—the world’s largest rare earth mine—where lanthanum is typically recovered as part of bastnaesite ore rich in light REEs. Myanmar also contributes to global supply via ionic clay deposits, though these are more associated with heavy REEs; some lanthanum is co-produced. Additional sources include Australia’s Mt. Weld mine, operated by Lynas Rare Earths, and the United States’ Mountain Pass mine in California, operated by MP Materials, both of which produce bastnaesite concentrates containing lanthanum.

However, China continues to refine over 85–90% of the world’s rare earth oxides, including lanthanum, with much of the globally mined material still sent there for processing. China’s refining capacity is concentrated in Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, and Jiangxi provinces, where major state-owned enterprises like China Northern Rare Earth Group and Chinalco run large-scale separation and refining facilities.