Are gallium and germanium rare earths?

Jul 30, 2023

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Are gallium and germanium rare earths?
Gallium and germanium are not rare earth elements at all, but so-called "rare metals". Taking gallium as an example, the global annual output is about 450 tons, including 420 tons in China, 13 tons in Russia, and 4 tons in Ukraine, and the 4 tons in Ukraine are still in the Donbas region.
So which substances can be called rare earths?
In the periodic table of chemical elements, rare earth refers to the general name of 17 metal elements including lanthanides, scandium and yttrium. According to the atomic and electronic layer structure and physical and chemical properties of rare earth elements, as well as their symbiosis in minerals and different ionic radii that can produce different properties, seventeen rare earth elements are usually divided into two groups: light rare earths include: lanthanum, cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium. Heavy rare earths include: gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium.
The position of rare earth elements in the periodic table of elements
Classified by extraction and separation: light rare earth (P204 weak acidity extraction) - lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium; medium rare earth (P204 low acidity extraction) - samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium and dysprosium; heavy rare earth (P204 medium acidity extraction) - Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium, Yttrium.

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