• Rare Earth Description:

a) As defined by IUPAC, rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a collection of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and the fifteen lanthanides.Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earth elements since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties.

b) Despite their name, rare earth elements (with the exception of the highly unstable promethium) are relatively plentiful in the Earth's crust, with cerium being the 25th most abundant element at 68 parts per million (similar to copper). However, because of their geochemical properties, rare earth elements are not often found in concentrated and economically exploitable forms, generally called rare earth minerals. It was the very scarcity of these minerals (previously called "earths") that led to the term "rare earth". The first such mineral discovered was gadolinite, a mixture of cerium, ytterbium, iron, silica, and other elements. This mineral was extracted from a mine in the village of Ytterby, Sweden; many of the elements bear names derived from this location.

c) The principal economic sources of rare earths are the minerals bastnasite, monazite, and loparite and the lateritic ion-adsorption clays.

d) The rare earths are a relatively abundant group of 17 elements composed of scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides. The elements range in crustal abundance from cerium, the 25th most abundant element of the 78 common elements in the Earth's crust at 60 parts per million, to thulium and lutetium, the least abundant rare-earth elements at about 0.5 part per million.

e) The elemental forms of rare earths are iron gray to silvery lustrous metals that are typically soft, malleable, and ductile and usually reactive, especially at elevated temperatures or when finely divided. The rare earths' unique properties are used in a wide variety of applications. 

Rare Earth Abbreviation Definitions:

The definitions that follow are acronyms used in the industry.  The list is to aid in reading and understanding technical content of our website:

REE = rare earth elements, lanthanum to lutetium by atomic weight plus yttrium
LREE = light rare earth elements, lanthanum to samarium by atomic weight
HREE = heavy rare earth elements, europium to lutetium plus yttrium
TREO = rare earth elements, calculated as oxides, including lanthanum to lutetium plus yttrium
HREO = heavy rare earth elements, as per HREE above, calculated as oxides
LREO = light rare earth elements, as per LREE above, calculated as oxides 
 

• Rare Earth End-Use Applications:

a) Because of their ability to readily give up and accept electrons, the Rare Earth elements have become uniquely indispensable in many electronic, optical and magnetic applications for the US Defense industry. From Predator unmanned aircraft to precision guided munitions, from laser targeting and range finding to satellite communications - Rare Earth applications are ubiquitous and enabling in almost all sophisticated weapon and communication systems the US Defense agencies has or will deploy in the future.  

b) Metallurgy, Glass Ceramics, Agricultural Uses, New Materials, Permanent Magnets, Polishing Powders, Hydrogen Storage Alloy Powders, Fluorescent Powders, Catalysts 

•  Listing of Rare Earth Elements:

A table listing the seventeen rare earth elements, their atomic number and symbol, the etymology of their names, and their main usages (see also Lanthanide#Technological_applications) is provided here. Some of the rare earths are named for the scientists who discovered or elucidated their elemental properties, and some for their geographical discovery.

•  The rare earth elements (Lanthanide Series) available from READE are:

a) Lanthanide
 
b) Allanite
 
c) Apatite
 
 d) Bastnäsite
 
e) Britholite
 
f) Brockite
 
g) Cerite
 
h) Fluocerite
 
i) Fluorite
 
j) Gadolinite
 
 k) Monazite
 
l) Parisite
 
m) Stillwellite
 
 n) Synchisite
 
 o) Titanite
 
p) Xenotime
 
 q) Zircon
 
 r) Zirconolite
 

• Rare Earth TSCA (SARA Title III) Status: 

 Listed.
 

• Rare Earth Product Safety Information: 

TBA
 

• Rare Earth CAS Number: 

 Varies
 

• Rare Earth RTECS Number: 

 Varies