Yttrium (Y)

Yttrium metal ingot - one troy ounce - .995 bullion   First identified by Carl Axel Arrhenius in 1787 as a coal-like mineral in a Swedish feldspar and quartz mine in the outskirts of Ytterby, yttrium was the first of the rare earth elements to be discovered. In 2013 worldwide production of yttrium oxide was about 710 tonnes with only a few tonnes being converted to our metal form each year. It along with the other rare earth elements, sit atop the British Geological Survey's Risk List. Yttrium has numerous industrial uses including in YAG lasers, synthetic garnets, microwave filters, in the production of LEDs and phosphors in LCDs and CRTs, in automobile ignition and exhaust systems, in high temperature superconductor wires, as the chemotherapeutic agent Y-90, in metallurgy to improve the properties of several metals and is also used to improve ceramics and glass.   Inscribed on our ingots are the chemical symbol (Y), purity (99.5%), weight (one troy ounce), and a serial number (thi