Rare earth element
![Rare earth ore (shown with a penny coin for size comparison)These rare-earth oxides are used as tracers to determine which parts of a drainage basin are eroding.[1]Legend:gadolinium · praseodymium · ceriumsamarium · lanthanum
neodymium](/uploads/202501/03/RareEarthOreUSGOV4358.jpg)



A rare earth element (REE) or rare earth metal (REM), as defined by IUPAC, is one of a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides, as well as scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earth elements because they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties.