Lanthanum (La)

Atomic Number: 57 • Group: LREE

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138.905

Lanthanum

LREE

Primary Uses

Catalysts (refining), Camera lenses, Battery alloys (NiMH)

Scarcity & Economic Profile

Crustal Abundance

30-35 ppm

Primary Economic Driver

EV batteries & oil refining

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

Lanthanum is widely used in petroleum refining catalysts for fluid catalytic cracking, which produces gasoline from crude oil. It is also critical for high-refractive-index optical glass in camera lenses and was historically important in nickel-metal hydride battery electrodes for hybrid vehicles.