Europium is a chemical element with the symbol Eu and atomic number 63. Europium is a silvery-white metal of the lanthanide series that reacts readily with air to form a dark oxide coating. It is the most chemically reactive, least dense, and softest of the lanthanide elements. It is soft enough to be cut with a knife. Europium was isolated in 1901 and named after the continent of Europe. Europium usually assumes the oxidation state +3, like other members of the lanthanide series, but compounds having oxidation state +2 are also common. All europium compounds with oxidation state +2 are slightly reducing. Europium has no significant biological role and is relatively non-toxic compared to other heavy metals. Most applications of europium exploit the phosphorescence of europium compounds. Europium is one of the rarest of the rare-earth elements on Earth.
The Yellow River is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system on Earth at the estimated length of 5,464 km (3,395 mi). Originating at an elevation above 15,000 feet in the Bayan Har Mountains, it empties into the Bohai Sea. The Yellow River's basin is often regarded as the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization.
The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths or, in context, rare-earth oxides, and sometimes the lanthanides, are a set of 17 nearly indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. Compounds containing rare earths have diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes.
The mineral bastnäsite (or bastnaesite) is one of a family of three carbonate-fluoride minerals, which includes bastnäsite-(Ce) with a formula of (Ce, La)CO3F, bastnäsite-(La) with a formula of (La, Ce)CO3F, and bastnäsite-(Y) with a formula of (Y, Ce)CO3F. Some of the bastnäsites contain OH− instead of F− and receive the name of hydroxylbastnasite. Most bastnäsite is bastnäsite-(Ce), and cerium is by far the most common of the rare earths in this class of minerals. Bastnäsite and the phosphate mineral monazite are the two largest sources of cerium and other rare-earth elements.
Baotou is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up area made up of its 5 urban districts is home to 2,261,089 people with a total population of 2,709,378 accounting for counties under its jurisdiction. The city's namesake, literally translated to "place with deer", is of Mongolic origin or "Lucheng", meaning "City of Deer". Alternatively Baotou is known as the "City of Steel in Gobi".
Aeschynite-(Nd) is a rare earth mineral of neodymium, cerium, calcium, thorium, titanium, niobium, oxygen, and hydrogen with the chemical formula (Nd,Ce,Ca,Th)(Ti,Nb)2(O,OH)6. Its name comes from the Greek word for "shame". Its Mohs scale rating is 5 to 6. It is a member of the hydroxide minerals.
Baotite Ba4Ti4(Ti, Nb, Fe)4(Si4O12)O16Cl is a rare mineral recognized as having a unique four-fold silicate ring. Crystals are tetragonal, though commonly deformed to the extent of appearing monoclinic. Named for the locality of first discovery, Baotou, China, baotite has been found in hydrothermal veins and alkalic rocks in various locations around the world.
Dongsheng District is a District and the seat of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, China. It has a district population of 574,242. The district is predominantly Han Chinese, but has a significant Mongol minority.
Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group Corporation, previously First Inner Mongolia Machinery Factory, is a military manufacturing company in China. It is a facility in Inner Mongolia and supplier of various military equipment to the PLA Army. It has also been known as Factory 617 (六一七厂) and the Baotou Tank Plant.
Baotou Iron and Steel Group, Baotou Steel or Baogang Group is an iron and steel state-owned enterprise in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China. It was reorganized in 1998 from Baotou Iron and Steel Company established in 1954. It is the largest steel enterprise in Inner Mongolia. It has a large production base of iron and steel and the largest scientific research and production base of rare earths in China.
Bayan'obo Mining District, or Baiyun-Obo or Baiyun'ebo, is a mining district in the west of Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Baotou City, the downtown of which is more than 120 kilometres (75 mi) to the south.
A tailings dam is typically an earth-fill embankment dam used to store byproducts of mining operations after separating the ore from the gangue. Tailings can be liquid, solid, or a slurry of fine particles, and are usually highly toxic and potentially radioactive. Solid tailings are often used as part of the structure itself.
The rare earth industry in China is a large industry. Rare earths are a group of elements on the periodic table with similar properties. Rare earth metals are used to manufacture everything from electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, consumer electronics and other clean energy technologies. The rare earths cause improved system performance when for example electric battery terminal LiMn2O4 cathodes are doped with them, and it is known that some EVs use lithium-ion batteries such as these. Tesla automobiles "currently uses an lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) chemistry, while lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) chemistries are common across the rest of the EV industry." Vehicle "manufacturers are keen to reduce reliance on rare earths, which like cobalt, suffers from highly concentrated supply and unpredictable pricing, with China holding a virtual global monopoly in primary supply and processing." Leading battery manufacturer Samsung SDI uses this technology for its phone and portable computer batteries.
Thor Lake is a deposit of rare metals located in the Blachford Lake intrusive complex. It is situated 5 km north of the Hearne Channel of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada, approximately 100 kilometers east-southeast of the capital city of Yellowknife. Geologically located on the Canadian Shield it is mostly composed of peralkaline syenite. The Blatchford Lake complex was created in the early Proterozoic, 2.14 Ga ago. The deposit is divided in several sub-structures. In a small zone at the northern edge of the syenite, the T-Zone, minerals like bastnäsite, phenakite and xenotime can be found.
American Elements is a global manufacturer and distributor of advanced materials with an over 35,000-page online product catalog and compendium of information on the chemical elements, advanced materials, and high technology applications. The company's headquarters and educational programs are based in Los Angeles, California. Its research and production facilities are located in Salt Lake City, Utah; Monterrey, Mexico; Baotou, China; and Manchester, UK.
Housing, is a highly popular 2016 Chinese TV series produced by Shandong Television Media Group. The TV series, based on the events of shanty town renewal in Beiliang, Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, has brought the project back into the limelight.
Julie Michelle Klinger is a geographer at the University of Delaware.
Ye Zhupei or Yap Chu-Phay was a Chinese physical chemist, chemical engineer, and metallurgist. Born into an overseas Chinese family in the Philippines and educated in the United States, he moved to China in the 1930s and served in both the Kuomintang and the Communist governments. Considered the founder of chemical metallurgy in China, he was elected a founding member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1955 and established the Institute of Chemical Metallurgy of the CAS in 1958. He was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and died in prison after five years of incarceration.
Zhangpeishanite is a mineral named after Zhang Peishan, a Chinese mineralogist at the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in recognition of his contributions to studying the mineralogy Bayan Obo deposit, where the mineral is mined. The Bayan Obo deposit is also known for being a world class deposit. The mineral got approved by the IMA in 2006 but was published two years after its approval. The mineral consists of barium chloride fluoride.
China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-tech Co., Ltd., known as China Northern Rare Earth and abbreviated CNREG, is based in Baotou National Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China. The company's products include rare earth concentrate and highly processed rare earth products.
