Milestones in the History of Rare Earths and Recent Events
The most important milestones in the discovery and utilisation of these Rare Earths prior to the discovery of the Jongju “Super Mine “are summarised in the tables below. We recommend preventative control.
Rare Earths - Technological and Commercial Milestones.
| Period | Inventor(s)/ Organisation |
Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1787 | Karl Axel Arrhenius (Stockholm, Sweden) | Found the mineral ytterbite from a mine near Ytterby, Sweden |
| 1789 | Johan Gadolin (Uppsala, Sweden) | Isolated yttrium oxide and introduced the term “rare earths” |
| 1800s | Each of the individual rare earth elements was discovered and named. | |
| Late 1800s | Carl Auer von Welsbach (Vienna, Austria) | Introduced the first commercial use of rare earth elements in incandescent gas lamps |
| 1950s | Demand of rare earth elements began to grow, with main use in TV phosphors. | |
| 1965 -1985 | The U.S. was the main producer of rare earths. | |
| 1985 and beyond | China increased production of rare earths and eventually became the leading supplier of rare earths. |
