Element 90 · Actinide
Thorium
Thorium was once used in gas mantles for camping lanterns — now mostly relegated to specialist applications.
Element Facts
SYMBOL
Th
ATOMIC NO.
90
ATOMIC WEIGHT
232.04
CATEGORY
Actinide
PERIOD
Period 7
GROUP
Group 3
In Brief
Thorium is element 90, a weakly radioactive actinide named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. About three times more abundant than uranium in the Earth's crust.
History
Thorium oxide gas mantles for incandescent gas lighting and Coleman-style camping lanterns — produced over a billion units in the 20th century, all containing low-level radioactive thorium. Now phased out for safer alternatives.
Uses Today
Some experimental thorium nuclear reactor research (advocated as a safer alternative to uranium fuel cycles). Specialist optical glass and high-temperature refractories. Welding electrodes (thoriated tungsten for TIG welding).
Why We Don't Buy It
Why QuickStop Metals doesn’t buy Thorium:
Thorium-containing items are radioactive — even old gas lamp mantles. Disposal must go through licensed radioactive waste channels, not general scrap. We do not buy thorium-containing items.
Value & Pricing
Thorium has no meaningful scrap market price. Because it is a radioactive material, any possession, transfer, or trading of thorium — including as scrap — requires specific licences from the relevant nuclear regulatory authority (in the UK, the Environment Agency and ONR). The regulatory burden far exceeds any commercial value the metal might otherwise have.
Thorium is occasionally recovered as a by-product of rare earth element mining from monazite sands, but this thorium is typically treated as a waste product and must be disposed of as radioactive waste — at significant cost. There is no established scrap or secondary market. Any metal suspected to contain thorium should be assessed by a specialist radiation protection adviser before being moved or traded.