Iran’s first rare-earth ingot with a purity grade of 99%, also called Mischmetal, was unveiled during a ceremony attended by Vice President Sorena Sattari, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, and the chairman of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, Mehdi Karbasian, at Iran Mineral Processing Research Center on Sunday. The ingot, the fruit of a six-month-long research project, is made up of four rare-earth elements, including cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and yttrium, all of which were extracted from mines in central Iran, IMIDRO reported on its website. Mischmetal has industrial applications such as in vacuum tube manufacturing, in batteries relying on metal hydride technology, as a spark source to start fires and flames, and used by steel manufacturers to improve cast ability and mechanical properties in certain alloys.
