j_sum1
Administrator
Posts: 6338
Registered: 4-10-2014
Location: At home
Member Is Offline
Mood: Most of the ducks are in a row
|
|
Found: a little bit of Dy.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-11-30/rare-earth-mine...
I don't think this is likely ro be a game-changer for anything. But it always interesting when these kinds of discoveries are made.
Aus has pretty rich minerology.
|
|
|
pantone159
National Hazard
Posts: 591
Registered: 27-6-2006
Location: Austin, TX, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: desperate for shade
|
|
Why would there be just Dy there, and not the other lanthanides also? And would there be the same issues with Th as part of the ore making the
byproducts nasty?
But yes, interesting!
|
|
|
j_sum1
Administrator
Posts: 6338
Registered: 4-10-2014
Location: At home
Member Is Offline
Mood: Most of the ducks are in a row
|
|
Dunno. News articles are notoriously bad at giving all the details and doing it accurately. When I get a chance I will try to find out more.
|
|
|
MrHomeScientist
International Hazard
Posts: 1806
Registered: 24-10-2010
Location: Flerovium
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
It's likely dysprosium was singled out because of excitement about a particular application, or that it's in an unusually high concentration there.
The lanthanides are always found mixed together, and separation is quite difficult. Plus they say dysprosium, but clearly they didn't find chunks of
the metal; they're talking about an ore (monazite?).
|
|
|
Bezaleel
Hazard to Others
Posts: 444
Registered: 28-2-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: transitional
|
|
Sound as if all the REs are present, but current focus seems to be on Dy, since "Dy magnets also keep their magnetism at high temperatures". Maybe
it's even relatively Dy-rich, due to some geological circumstances. Who knows.
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xpblue/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
