Yttrium is a highly crystalline iron-gray metal. Usually considered a rare-earth metal , it is found above lanthanum in group IIIb of the periodic table .
Yttrium is fairly stable in air but oxidizes readily when heated.
It reacts with water and mineral acids. Yttrium metal has found some use alloyed in small amounts with other metals. Yttrium is not found uncombined in nature, but occurs in many minerals, e.g., gadolinite, euxenite, and xenotime. It is recovered commercially from monazite and bastnasite. In 1794, Johan Gadolin isolated impure yttria from the mineral gadolinite.