The calculator

How much rare earth does a project actually take?

Abstractions like "critical minerals" hide the arithmetic. Pick a project, drag the scale, and see the actual tonnage of each element — priced live from the same tracker data, at either Chinese reference prices or the ex-China prices Western buyers actually pay for the controlled heavies. The gap between those two buttons is the whole geopolitics of this market in one number.

1 · Pick a project

2 · Set the scale

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3 · Cost basis

Total rare earths needed

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Estimated material cost

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Share of one year of world mine output

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Prices used (same data as the tracker):

About these intensities

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Material cost only — the rare-earth content of the finished product, not the price of motors, magnets加工 or manufacturing. Real magnet prices include alloying, sintering, coating and yield losses on top of the raw material, and contracts are negotiated, not read off a screen. Treat the totals as well-sourced estimates, not quotes.