Article
Article
Rare-earth mineral
Article By:
Miyawaki, Ritsuro Department of Geology, National Science Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Last reviewed:December 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.757627
A naturally occurring solid formed by geological processes that contains one or more rare-earth elements—the lanthanides (elements 57–71), along with scandium (element 21) and yttrium (element 39)—as major constituents. In a rare-earth mineral, at least one crystallographic site contains a total atomic ratio of lanthanides and yttrium that is greater than that of any other element. The mineral name generally has a suffix, called a Levinson modifier, indicating the dominant rare-earth element; for example, monazite-(La) [LaPO4] contains predominantly lanthanum and monazite-(Ce) [CePO4] contains predominantly cerium. See also: Mineral; Monazite; Periodic table; Rare-earth elements
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