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| Occurrence and Production of Neodymium |
 Occurrence
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| Neodymium is never found in nature as the free element; rather, it occurs in ores such as monazite sand ((Ce,La,Th,Nd,Y)PO4) and bastnasite ((Ce,La,Th,Nd,Y)(CO3)F) that contain small amounts of all the rare earths metals. Neodymium can also be found in Misch metal; it is difficult to separate it from other rare earth elements. |