Yttrium

Y	39

Yttrium

Abundance: 31ppm

Yttrium, periodic table Y, is a Rare Earth metal, atomic number 39. Its most common, and only stable, isotope has 50 neutrons for an atomic mass of 89.

Yttrium is found in most rare-earth minerals, it is found in some uranium ores, but is never found in the Earth's crust as a free element. About 31 ppm of the Earth's crust is yttrium, making it the 28th most abundant element, 400 times more common than silver. Yttrium is found in soil in concentrations between 10 and 150 ppm (dry weight average of 23 ppm) and in sea water at 9 ppt. Lunar rock samples collected during the American Apollo Project have a relatively high content of yttrium.

Earth Mine Production and Reserves: 10 World mine production of yttrium contained in rare-earth mineral concentrates was estimated to be 10,000 to 14,000 tons. Most of this production took place in China and Burma. Global reserves of yttrium oxide were estimated to be more than 500,000 tons.^[1]

Yttrium has a number of high end technological uses that would make it a high value mineral if found on Mars.