How is xenotime formed?
Abstract. Xenotime (YPO4) is a trace component in many metasedimentary and some igneous rocks, altered rocks and many hydrothermal ore assemblages, where it forms in response to a range of different processes from igneous crystallisation to low-temperature early diagenesis.
What group is xenotime in?
A group of tetragonal anhydrous phosphates and vanadates (and one arsenate).
Where is xenotime mined?
Xenotime is a rare mineral which occurs, like monazite, as an accessory constituent in granite, gneiss and pegmatite veins. Found as rolled grains in the stream sands, particularly in Brazil.
What is Euxenite used for?
Use. Euxenite is used as an ore of the rare earth elements it contains. Rare large crystals have also been used in jewelry.
Is xenotime a mineral?
xenotime, widely distributed phosphate mineral, yttrium phosphate (YPO4), though large proportions of erbium commonly replace yttrium), that occurs as brown, glassy crystals, crystal aggregates, or rosettes in igneous rocks and associated pegmatites, in quartzose and micaceous gneiss, and commonly in detrital material.
Where is ytterbium found?
Ytterbium is found with other rare-earth elements in several rare minerals. It is most often recovered commercially from monazite sand (0.03% ytterbium). The element is also found in euxenite and xenotime. The main mining areas are China, the United States, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, and Australia.
What minerals contain phosphorus?
Sources. Phosphorus is obtained mainly from the minerals apatite and fluorapatite. It is mined mostly in the USA (Florida), Kazakhstan, China, Morocco, and Tunisia. Other phosphorus-bearing minerals include phosphophyllite, turquoise and vivianite.
What is Euxenite made of?
THE MINERAL EUXENITE. Chemical Formula: (Y, Ca, Er, La, Ce, U, Th)(Nb, Ta, Ti)2O6, Yttrium Calcium Erbium Lanthanum Cerium Uranium Thorium Niobium Tantalum Titanium Oxide. Uses: A minor ore of rare earth elements and uranium, sometimes cut as a gemstone and as mineral specimens.
What is monazite made of?
Monazite is a brown crystalline mineral consisting of cerium, lanthanum, other rare earth elements, and thorium. Monazite usually occurs in small, isolated crystals or grains that are resistant to weathering and become concentrated in soils and sediments downslope from the host rock.
What is yttrium used for?
Yttrium is often used as an additive in alloys. It increases the strength of aluminium and magnesium alloys. It is also used in the making of microwave filters for radar and has been used as a catalyst in ethene polymerisation. Yttrium-aluminium garnet (YAG) is used in lasers that can cut through metals.
What is ytterbium used for?
Uses of Ytterbium It is used as a doping agent to improve the strength, grain refinement and mechanical properties of stainless steel. It also acts as an industrial catalyst. Few alloys of Ytterbium are used in dentistry.
How much is ytterbium worth?
It is expected that the price of ytterbium oxide will reach some 69 U.S. dollars per kilogram in 2017.