| Dysprosium is never encountered as a free element, but is found in many minerals, including xenotime, fergusonite ((Ce,La,Nd)NbO4), gadolinite ((Ce,La,Nd,Y)2FeBe2Si2O10), euxenite, polycrase, blomstrandine, monazite and bastnasite; often with erbium and holmium or other rare earth elements. Currently, most dysprosium is being obtained from the ion-adsorption clay ores of southern China. In the high-yttrium version of these, dysprosium happens to be the most abundant of the heavy lanthanoids, comprising up to 7-8% of the concentrate
(as compared to about 65% for yttrium).
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Occurrence