Occurrence
| Occurrence and Production of Lutetium |
| Occurrence
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| Found with almost all other rare earths metals but never by itself, lutetium is very difficult to separate from other elements. Consequently, it is also one of the most expensive metals, costing about six times as much per gram as gold. |
| The principal commercially viable ore of lutetium is the rare earth phosphate mineral monazite: (Ce, La, etc.)PO4 which contains 0.003% of the element. Pure lutetium metal has only relatively recently been isolated and is very difficult to prepare (thus it is one of the most rare and expensive of the rare earth metals). It is separated from other rare earths elements by ion exchange and then obtained in the elemental form by reduction of anhydrous LuCl3 or LuF3 by either an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal. |