Rare earth minerals are minerals that contain one or more of the 17 rare earth elements as major metal constituents. These elements include 15 lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually scarce in the Earth's crust but are called "rare" because they tend to occur dispersed and not often concentrated enough for easy mining. These minerals have unique geochemical properties and are essential components in many modern technologies such as electronics, magnets, lasers, and renewable energy devices. Common rare earth minerals include bastnäsite, monazite, and loparite, which contain elements like cerium, neodymium, lanthanum, and yttrium.

Rare earth minerals are vital for manufacturing strong permanent magnets, catalysts, and components in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defense applications.