Yttrium is a rare earth element which does not occur in the native state. It occurs in uranium ores and is present
in nearly all the
rare earth minerals. It usually exists as a trivalent ion, Y3+, in its compounds, many of which are colourless.
Its abundance
in the Earth's crust is 33 parts per million by mass, whereas the content in lunar soil samples brought back from the Moon
ranged from
54 to 213 parts per million (ChC).
Yttrium is extracted from bastnäsite-(Y) or
xenotime-(Y), and from ion absorption clays, mostly in China. It is also
extracted from
samarskite-(Y) and fergusonite-(Y)
(Dana).
Yttrium-bearing minerals include:
Oxides
aeschynite-(Y)
davidite
euxenite-(Y)
fergusonite-(Y)
kobeite-(Y)
samarskite-(Y)
yttrotantalite-(Y)
Carbonates
bastnäsite-(Y)
decrespignyite-(Y)
donnayite-(Y)
ewaldite
kimuraite-(Y)
lokkaite-(Y)
mckelveyite-(Y)
synchysite-(Y)
tengerite-(Y)
Phosphates
churchite-(Y)
xenotime-(Y)
Arsenates
agardite-(Y)
chernovite-(Y)
Nesosilicates
britholite-(Y)
fluorbritholite-(Y)
gadolinite-(Y)
hingganite-(Y)
iimoriite-(Y)
Sorosilicates
allanite-(Y)
keiviite-(Y)
rinkite-(Y)
rowlandite-(Y)
thalénite-(Y)
yttrialite-(Y)
Cyclosilicates
kainosite-(Y)
Tectosilicates
hyalotekite
kuliokite-(Y)
vyuntspakhkite-(Y)
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