Element 60 · Lanthanide (Rare Earth)
Neodymium
Neodymium drives the most powerful permanent magnets ever made — central to electric motors and wind turbines.
Element Facts
SYMBOL
Nd
ATOMIC NO.
60
ATOMIC WEIGHT
144.24
CATEGORY
Lanthanide (Rare Earth)
PERIOD
Period 6
GROUP
Group 3
Origins
Neodymium was identified in 1885 by Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach, who separated the element didymium — long thought to be a single element — into two distinct components: praseodymium and neodymium. He named the new element from the Greek neos didymos, meaning "new twin." Didymium itself had been "discovered" in 1841 as a companion to lanthanum.
For nearly a century, neodymium had modest applications. Its pink-violet glass colouring properties were used in protective goggles for glassblowers and welders, and as a colourant in artistic glass. The rare earth elements as a group were studied but remained commercially marginal.
Everything changed in 1982 when General Motors and Sumitomo Special Metals independently developed neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) permanent magnets. These are the strongest permanent magnets known — far more powerful than previous samarium-cobalt magnets. Today, neodymium magnets are in every hard drive, electric motor, wind turbine generator, and loudspeaker, making neodymium one of the most strategically important rare earth elements.
Key Properties
Neodymium is element 60, discovered in 1885 by Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach. The neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet, invented in 1984, is the strongest type of permanent magnet ever developed and has revolutionised electric motor design.
Modern Applications
NdFeB permanent magnets in electric vehicle traction motors, wind turbine direct-drive generators, hard disk drives, smartphone speakers and microphones, and MRI scanners. The growth of EVs and wind energy has driven dramatic increases in neodymium demand. Some lasers (Nd:YAG) and specialty glass.
At the Yard
Why QuickStop Metals doesn’t buy Neodymium:
NdFeB magnets are recovered from end-of-life electric motors and hard drives only by specialist processors using specialised demagnetising and acid leaching equipment. UK scrap yards handle the host steel/aluminium of motors but do not separately recover the magnet material. Recovering rare earths from magnets requires chemical processing beyond general scrap operations.
Market Value
Neodymium oxide has traded at $50–200/kg over 2021–2026, with surges driven by EV demand growth.