Rare earth elements (REE) resources are the critical materials that have become extremely important

in the world because they are considered to have strategic prospects in the future. The projected
needs for REE in the world are increasing along with the development of green energy. In meeting
these high technology needs, REE has the potential to become a world critical mineral. A mineral is
defined as critical if it is of high economic importance and its supply is affected with significant risk.
Basically, REE are a set of seventeen metallic elements on the periodic table consisting of 15 elements
of the lanthanide group plus yttrium and scandium. The term “rare” in rare earth elements refers to
“uncommon” presence elements due to their limited availability. In the 2011-2019 period, several
countries including Indonesia, succeeded in identifying the existence of REE resources. BATAN
(National Nuclear Energy Agency) estimates that there is a potential of 1.5 billion tons of REE ore
reserves spread across Indonesia, including: Bangka Belitung, Kalimantan, Riau Islands, Sulawesi,
West Java and Papua. However, in reality, Indonesia has not yet established a definition and list of
critical minerals as its strategic resources, including REE. Thus, making Indonesia not yet recognized
as having critical mineral commodities that have economic potential to be developed. That is because
there has been no systematic exploration for potential availability of REE in Indonesia. In line with UU
Republic of Indonesia Number 3 of 2020 concerning on the development and increase in added value
of mining business activities, this study aims to analyze the potential for the presence of REE and
determine a proper direction of policy strategies.