Cerium

Cerium, a silvery white metal, is the most abundant of the rare earth metals. Cerium is recovered from two minerals, bastnasite or Monazite. Ion exchange processes are used to recover rare earth metals from these minerals.

Cerium is one of the most reactive metals of the Lanthanide series ( only Europium is more reactive), pure cerium will ignite if scratched with a sharp object. Its properties give rise to its use as a catalyst and an oxidation agent in combustion processes. Cerium has unique properties which lead to its use as a decolorant for glass.

Shepherd manufactures standard and proprietary cerium compounds. Our ability to begin with a variety of starting materials and arrive at a targeted form has allowed us to develop several products which play key parts in our customer’s technologies.