What is it?
Counted as a rare earth even though it sits elsewhere on the periodic table, because it behaves like one and is found with them.
Why does it matter?
Yttria-stabilised zirconia is the ceramic coating that lets a jet-engine turbine blade sit in gas hotter than the metal's own melting point.
Deeper written sections for this material have not been published yet. Everything below is drawn straight from the source datasets and is complete.
Where it comes from in the rock
All ore minerals →These are the minerals that actually carry yttrium. A deposit is only an orebody if one of them is concentrated enough to pay for digging it up.
Xenotime
A yttrium phosphate that also carries the heavy rare earths — dysprosium, terbium, erbium — that magnets need.
Ion-Adsorption Clay
Weathered granite where rare-earth ions cling loosely to clay surfaces. Grades are very low but the metal washes out…
Who produces it
See it on a map →mine production of Y2O3 equivalent contained in rare-earth mineral concentrates
mine production of Y2O3 equivalent contained in rare-earth mineral concentratesmetric tons 2025 (estimated) World total 12,500 metric tons
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · Reported as yttrium oxide (Y2O3) equivalent. · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Country | Production | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| World total | 12,500 | 100% |
“Withheld” means the USGS suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing an individual company's data — it does not mean zero. Country rows do not always sum to the world total because the source rounds each figure independently and does not always break out an “other countries” line.
Price
average, dollars per kilogram: Yttrium metal, minimum 99.9% purity
Annual averagedollars per kilogram
Basis: average, dollars per kilogram: Yttrium metal, minimum 99.9% purity. Annual averages as published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗. These are reference annual averages, not a live market quote.
average, dollars per kilogram: Y2O3, minimum 99.999% purity
Annual averagedollars per kilogram
Basis: average, dollars per kilogram: Y2O3, minimum 99.999% purity. Annual averages as published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗. These are reference annual averages, not a live market quote.
Mines that produce it
All mines →
Southern China Ion-Adsorption Clays →
Where it is processed and refined
| Plant | Kind | Stage | Country | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aero-Engine Turbine Plant, Derby | Manufacturing plant | Product | United Kingdom | Input |
| Ganzhou Rare Earth Cluster | Separation plant | Refining | China | Output |
What it is used for
All end markets →| End market | What it does there | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Aerospace & Defence | Thermal barrier coatings | Important |
| Consumer Electronics | Display phosphors and lasers | Present |
| Hydrogen & Electrolysis | Solid-oxide cell electrolyte | Present |
How much of it a technology needs
| Technology | Quantity | Quoted | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-Crystal Turbine Blade | trace | per blade set | Yttria-stabilised zirconia coating |
Indicative range compiled from published technology studies and chemistry; verify against a manufacturer specification before use. Run these numbers at any scale in the material calculator →