Cerium (Ce)

Atomic Number: 58 • Group: LREE

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140.116

Cerium

LREE

Primary Uses

Catalytic converters, Glass polishing/decoloring, UV filters

Scarcity & Economic Profile

Crustal Abundance

60-68 ppm

Primary Economic Driver

Glass polishing & catalysts

Geological Scarcity

LowMediumHighExtremeTotal

Supply Risk

N/ALowMediumHighExtreme

Primary Mining Countries

China USA Australia Myanmar India

Primary Processing Countries

China Malaysia USA

Sources - Crustal Abundance

Rudnick, R. L., & Gao, S. (2003). Composition of the Continental Crust. Treatise on Geochemistry, 3, 1-64.
Taylor, S. R., & McLennan, S. M. (1985). The Continental Crust: Its Composition and Evolution. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Wedepohl, K. H. (1995). The composition of the continental crust. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 59(7), 1217-1232.
U.S. Geological Survey. (2026). Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. U.S. Department of the Interior.

Short Description

Cerium is the most abundant rare earth element and is widely used in automotive catalytic converters to reduce emissions. Cerium oxide is also the industry standard for precision glass polishing in lenses, displays, and semiconductor wafers, and serves as a UV-blocking additive in glass.