Gadolinium

Overview

Gadolinium is a soft, silvery rare-earth metal, element 64, that reacts with oxygen and water. It was identified in 1880 and named after the Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin; the metal was not isolated until 1935.¹

Its best-known use is in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): gadolinium compounds serve as contrast agents, particularly in diagnosing tumors. It is also used in magnets, electronic components and alloys, and it is a very effective neutron absorber in nuclear reactor cores.¹

Classification varies between sources. The USGS groups gadolinium with the light rare earths (lanthanum to gadolinium), whereas the EU counts it among the heavy rare earths and China's export controls treat it as a "medium and heavy" rare earth.²³⁴ Gadolinium is on the US 2025 List of Critical Minerals, and the EU classes rare-earth elements for permanent magnets, including gadolinium, as strategic raw materials.⁵⁶

Where it comes from

Gadolinium is mainly found in monazite and bastnaesite and is separated from the other rare earths by ion exchange and solvent extraction.¹ The US government records it as a potential by-product of other rare earths, iron ore and heavy mineral sands.⁵

Its share of the rare-earth content varies widely between deposits. At Bayan Obo in China gadolinium is about 0.7% of contained rare-earth oxide (REO); in the ion-adsorption clays of Jiangxi province it is about 4–6%.² These South China clays supply virtually all of the world's heavy rare earths.⁷ Similar deposits in Myanmar's Kachin State are mined by in-situ leaching, and Myanmar has supplied over 60% of China's heavy-rare-earth imports by value in recent years.⁸

The European Commission found China to be the main global processor of gadolinium, with 100% of supply, and also the source of 100% of the EU's supply.³ The USGS does not publish gadolinium production by country. For all rare earths combined, world mine output was an estimated 390,000 t REO in 2025, of which China produced about 270,000 t.⁹ The chart covers all rare earths, not gadolinium alone.

• China270,000 t · 69%
• United States51,000 t · 13%
• Australia29,000 t · 7%
• Burma22,000 t · 6%
• Thailand4,800 t · 1%
• India2,900 t · <1%
• Madagascar2,700 t · <1%
• Russia2,600 t · <1%
• Other countries4,310 t · 1%

Covers all rare earths combined, in rare-earth-oxide terms; USGS does not publish gadolinium output by country. World total is the USGS rounded figure; country figures sum to 389,310 t. USGS estimated Burma, Thailand and Madagascar from Chinese import data. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Rare Earths

What it is used for

• Medical imaging. Gadolinium complexes are used as MRI contrast agents. The gadolinium ion is bound to a ligand such as DTPA to prevent toxicity from the free ion; the complex is excreted unchanged by the kidneys.¹ MRI was assessed as 40% of EU gadolinium use.³
• Magnets. NdFeB magnets contain small amounts of gadolinium, and samarium-cobalt magnets also use some.² The metal's strong magnetic properties have also been studied for magnetic refrigeration.¹
• Alloys. As little as 1% gadolinium improves the workability of iron and chromium and their resistance to high temperature and oxidation.¹
• Nuclear. Gadolinium absorbs neutrons and is used in reactor cores.¹
• Phosphors. Gadolinium is one of the rare earths used in lighting phosphors.¹⁰

{{chart:end-uses}}

Grades and forms

Gadolinium is traded mainly as oxide, with metal, alloys, compounds and targets further down the chain. The forms below follow the product groups covered by China's export licensing.⁴

Trade and policy

The United States relied on imports for 67% of its rare-earth compounds and metals in 2025. Its main sources in 2021–24 were China (71%), Malaysia (13%), Japan (5%) and Estonia (5%); material from Estonia, Japan and Malaysia was derived from concentrates and intermediates produced in Australia, China and elsewhere.⁹

According to the USGS, the April 2025 controls remained in effect, although China had begun issuing general licenses to selected exporters.⁹

The EU Critical Raw Materials Act sets 2030 benchmarks for strategic raw materials: 10% of EU consumption from EU extraction, 40% from EU processing and 25% from recycling, and no more than 65% from any single third country.⁶

This section is factual background, not legal or trade-compliance advice.

Recycling and substitution

Limited quantities of rare earths are recovered from batteries, permanent magnets and fluorescent lamps.⁹ Gadolinium in MRI contrast agents is a dispersive use: the compound passes through the body and is excreted.¹

Substitutes are available for many rare-earth applications but are generally less effective.⁹

Sources

1. Gadolinium: element information, properties and uses. Royal Society of Chemistry, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. 2020 Minerals Yearbook: Rare Earths. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023: Final Report. European Commission, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Announcement No. 18 of 2025 on implementing export control on some medium and heavy rare earth related items. Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Federal Register, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩²

6. Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 (Critical Raw Materials Act). EUR-Lex, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩²

7. Rare Earth Element Accumulation Processes Resulting in High-Value Metal Enrichments in Regolith. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

8. Myanmar: the soft underbelly of China's rare earth dominance. Asialink, University of Melbourne, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

9. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Rare Earths. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

10. Critical Materials Strategy (December 2011). U.S. Department of Energy, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

11. Announcement No. 70 of 2025 suspending Announcements No. 55–58, 61 and 62 of 2025 (in Chinese). Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

12. China issues first batch of streamlined rare earth export licences, source says. Reuters via Yahoo Finance, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩