Large deposits of 15 rare earth elements (REE) have been found by India's National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Anantapur city, Andhra Pradesh state.
These REE minerals include Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Yttrium, Hafnium, Tantalum, Niobium, Zirconium, and Scandium.
According to reports, the minerals are important elements that are used in electronic devices and various industrial applications, including medical technology, aerospace, defense, clean energy, and in manufacturing permanent magnets.
Experts believe that the discovery of these minerals in Andhra Pradesh will have a significant impact on India's electronics and clean energy sectors as it will reduce the country's reliance on foreign imports.
The discovery of the REEs was part of a study funded by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-India) under a project called SHORE (Shallow subsurface imaging of India for resource exploration).
Senior principal scientist in NGRI, Dr. PV Sunder Raju, told Indian media that they found these strong anomalous (enriched) light rare earth elements minerals in whole-rock analyses.
Scientists shared that deep drilling to more than at least one kilometer will ascertain the consistency of the REE presence at depth.