Samarium is a slivery-white metal belonging to the Lanthanide group of the periodic table. Samarium is the 40th most abundant element in Earth’s crust and more common than metals such as Tin. Samarium is never found in nature as the simple substance but found along with other members of the rare earth elements in many minerals, including cerite, gadolinite, samarskite, monazite, and bastnasite, the last two being the most common commercial sources of the element. These minerals are mostly found in China, the United States, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, and Australia; China is by far the world leader in Samarium mining and production.
Samarium and its compounds can be used as catalyst and chemical reagent. One of the most important applications of Samarium is in Samarium Cobalt magnets. SmCo5Â series and Sm2Co17Â series magnets generally contain 23-28wt% and 33-37wt% Samarium, respectively. Samarium price trend is extremely stable for a long time and hence has very limited impact the price movement of Samarium Cobalt magnets.
