Rare earth ore

"Rare earth elements" and "rare earth metals" are trivial names sometimes applied to a collection of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides. The former two are included as they tend to occur with the latter in the same ore deposits. (The lanthanide promethium, which does not occur naturally on Earth, is not generally considered to be a rare earth element.) The terms are used extensively in geochemistry. Rare earth ore, with a cent for size comparison Source: US Government File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Rare earth ore, with a cent for size comparison Source: US Government File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... In chemistry, a trivial name (also common or vernacular name) is a non-systematic name. ... A chemical element, often called simply element, is a substance that cannot be divided or changed into other chemical substances by ordinary chemical methods. ... The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular method of displaying the chemical elements, first devised in 1789 by Antoine Lavoisier containing 33 elements, updated by Johann Dobereiner in 1817,John Newlands in 1863, Lothar Meyer in 1864 then redesigned as the modern table Known today in1869 by... General Name, Symbol, Number scandium, Sc, 21 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 3, 4, d Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 44. ... General Name, Symbol, Number yttrium, Y, 39 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 3, 5, d Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 88. ... The lanthanide series comprises the 15 elements from lanthanum to lutetium on the periodic table, with atomic numbers 57 through 71. ... General Name, Symbol, Number promethium, Pm, 61 Chemical series lanthanides Group, Period, Block n/a, 6, f Appearance metallic Atomic mass [145](0) g/mol Electron configuration [Xe] 4f5 6s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 23, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Density (near r. ...

"Earth" is an obsolete term for oxide. At the time of their discovery, earths of these elements were believed to be scarce in abundance as minerals. However, the term "rare earth" is now deprecated by IUPAC, as these elements are in fact relatively abundant in the Earth's crust: the most abundant, cerium, at 60 parts per million, is the 25th most abundant in the crust of any element, more common than lead, while even the least abundant "rare" earth element, lutetium, is 200 times more abundant than gold. An oxide is a chemical compound of oxygen with other chemical elements. ... The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to the advancement of chemistry. ... Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. ... General Name, Symbol, Number cerium, Ce, 58 Chemical series lanthanides Group, Period, Block n/a, 6, f Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 140. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish white Atomic mass 207. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lutetium, Lu, 71 Chemical series lanthanides Group, Period, Block n/a, 6, d Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 174. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ...

The principal economic sources of rare earths elements are the minerals bastnasite, monazite, and loparite and the lateritic ion-adsorption clays. Despite their relative abundance, however, these are more difficult to mine and extract than those of other transition metals, making them relatively expensive. Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. ... In geology, the mineral bastnasite is one of a family of three carbonate-fluoride minerals. ... Monazite powder In geology, the mineral monazite is a reddish-brown phosphate containing rare earth metals and an important source of thorium, lanthanum, and cerium. ... In chemistry, the term transition metal (sometimes also called a transition element) has two possible meanings: It commonly refers to any element in the d-block of the periodic table, including zinc and scandium. ...

For more details of the properties and uses of these elements, refer to the lanthanides article. The lanthanide series comprises the 15 elements from lanthanum to lutetium on the periodic table, with atomic numbers 57 through 71. ...