It is estimated to be over three times as abundant as uranium in the Earth's crust, and is chiefly refined from monazite sands as a by-product of extracting rare-earth metals.
Diperkirakan torium tiga kali lebih banyak daripada uranium di kerak bumi, dan terutama dimurnikan dari pasir monazit sebagai produk sampingan saat mengekstraksi logam langka bumi.