Here is a brief description of yttrium. Yttrium has a silvery-metallic lustre. Yttrium turnings ignite in air.
Yttrium is found in most rare-earth minerals.
Here is a brief summary of the isolation of yttrium. Yttrium metal is available commercially so it is not normally necesary to make it in the laboratory. Yttrium is found in lathanoid minerals and the extraction of the yttrium and the lanthanoid metals from the ores is highly complex. Modern purification techniques for these lanthanoid salt mixtures involve selective complexation techniques, solvent extractions, and ion exchange chromatography. Pure yttrium is available through the reduction of YF 3 with calcium metal.