Heavy Rare Earths (HREE)

The scarcer, higher-atomic-weight rare earths, including dysprosium and terbium.

Definition

The heavier elements in the rare earth series, including europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, and yttrium. HREEs are more valuable and scarcer than light rare earths, critical for high-performance magnets and advanced technology.

Why it matters

Heavies are far less abundant than the light rare earths and command much higher prices, because the magnet metals that survive heat are found here. A deposit with a meaningful heavy split is disproportionately valuable.

See also

  • Light Rare Earths (LREE) The lighter elements in the rare earth series, including lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethiu
  • Dysprosium (Dy) A heavy rare earth element (atomic number 66) added to neodymium magnets to improve temperature stability and
  • Magnetic Rare Earths Rare earth elements used in permanent magnet production, primarily neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and te
  • TREO (Total Rare Earth Oxides) The sum of all rare earth element oxides in a mineral deposit, typically expressed as a grade percentage or pa

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