How Yttrium Is Mined and Processed

Yttrium is a rare earth element whose leading uses are in ceramics and phosphors, and nearly all the yttrium the United States imports is derived from mineral concentrates processed in China.

Which countries produce yttrium?

USGS publishes no yttrium production by country. China exported an estimated 1,600 tons (yttrium oxide equivalent) of yttrium compounds and metal in 2025, to Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Germany in descending order. In the United States, yttrium is about 0.12% of the rare earths in Mountain Pass bastnaesite ore, and there were no fully commercial facilities that could separate or refine it.

How is yttrium mined and processed?

• Bastnaesite is mined as the primary rare earth source at Mountain Pass, California, where yttrium is estimated to be about 0.12% of the rare earths in the ore, but its production content was not reported.
• Monazite concentrates containing yttrium-rich xenotime are produced from heavy-mineral-sand operations in Florida.
• There were no fully commercial facilities in the United States that could separate or refine yttrium. Nearly all imports of yttrium metal and compounds were derived from mineral concentrates processed in China.
• Large resources of yttrium in monazite and xenotime are available worldwide in placer deposits, carbonatites, uranium ores and weathered ion-adsorption clay deposits.

Resources. Large resources of yttrium in monazite and xenotime are available worldwide in placer deposits, carbonatites, uranium ores and ion-adsorption clay deposits.

Frequently asked questions

Where is yttrium produced?

USGS publishes no yttrium production by country. China exported an estimated 1,600 tons (yttrium oxide equivalent) of yttrium compounds and metal in 2025, to Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Germany in descending order.

What is yttrium used for?

Yttrium is used in ceramics and phosphors, lasers and other uses. Ceramics and phosphors: the leading domestic and global end uses.

Is yttrium a critical mineral?

Yes. Yttrium is on all four official critical minerals lists: the US, EU, Australian and Canadian. Yttrium was already on the 2022 US list and stays on the final 2025 list of 60 minerals. US net import reliance for yttrium in 2025 was 100%.

Can yttrium be recycled?

USGS rates yttrium recycling as insignificant.

Sources

Read on October 13, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.

1. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Yttrium. Production, reserves, uses, substitutes, recycling and events
2. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: introduction (Table 7 and Figures 10A and 10B). Net import reliance, leading producer and price changes for critical minerals
3. Lynas Rare Earths: 2026 Annual Report and Appendix 4E (26 August 2026). Company statements on its heavy rare earth plans
4. Iluka Resources: 2026 Half Year Results presentation (19 August 2026). Company statements on the Eneabba refinery design
5. Federal Register: Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals
6. EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252
7. Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Australia’s Critical Minerals List and Strategic Materials List
8. Government of Canada: Canada’s critical minerals
9. Aclara Resources: release on the Carina and Project Dynamo technical reports (13 April 2026)
10. China Rare Earth Group Resource Technology: 2025 annual report, in Chinese (April 2026)
11. Solvay: roadshow presentation after first-quarter 2026 results