Abstract

Rare earths were discovered in Việt Nam since 1956 and invested to search, evaluate and explore from 1957 to present day. The results of the investigation and assessment have indicated that the Vietnamese country has great potential in rare earths. Rare earth mines in Việt Nam are of from medium to large scale, consisting mostly of light rare earth group (lanthanum-cerium group), of hydrothermal origin and concentrated in the West Bắc Bộ region. Recent studies have discovered the deposit type of ion absorbing rare earths in the Lào Cai area. At present, the demand for using rare earths more and more increases, especially China (the country supplying the world market with 95% rare earths) begins to realize the storage policy on mineral resources, therefore, the world market of rare earth becomes animated. The work of investigation, evaluation and exploration of rare earths as well as the research on policy of investment, exploitation, processing and export of rare earths need to be paid worthy attention.