China Northern Rare Earth expands into motors, hydrogen storage, and advanced materials as China moves to convert rare earth dominance into industrial power.
Element Profile
Gadolinium
Symbol
Gd
Atomic number
64
Group
Heavy rare earth
Properties
Density
7.90 g/cm³
Melting point
1313 °C
Boiling point
3273 °C
Crustal abundance
6.2 ppm
Supply Risk
Supply risk
High
Geological scarcity
Medium
Primary economic driver
Medical imaging (MRI)
Overview
About Gadolinium
Gadolinium (Gd, atomic number 64) is the rare earth metal inside most of the contrast agents used to sharpen MRI scans. It is also one of the strongest neutron absorbers known, so nuclear fuel and reactor safety systems use it too. China has required licenses to export it since April 2025.
What gadolinium is
Gadolinium is a silvery-white metal in the lanthanide series that tarnishes quickly in moist air, according to Los Alamos National Laboratory. Like the other rare earths, it occurs mixed with its chemical neighbors.
REEx files gadolinium as the first of the heavy rare earth elements, but sources differ. A 2017 U.S. Geological Survey review lists it with the light rare earths, and the USGS heavy rare earth chapter in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 starts at terbium.
The physical properties listed on this page are from the Royal Society of Chemistry periodic table. Gadolinium is magnetic only below its Curie point. A 1998 study in Physical Review B measured that point at about 294 kelvin, roughly 21 °C.
Discovery and name
Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac discovered gadolinium in Geneva in 1880. Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran isolated the pure oxide in 1886 and named the element, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. The name honors Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin through the mineral gadolinite, though Gadolin never isolated the element himself (LANL).
How gadolinium brightens an MRI scan
A gadolinium contrast agent is paramagnetic. In the scanner's magnetic field it speeds up how nearby water molecules relax, according to the FDA-approved label for gadobutrol (Gadavist). That makes tissue show up brighter. The Gadavist label lists uses including brain and spinal imaging where the blood-brain barrier is disrupted, breast cancer, blood vessels and the heart. Los Alamos says about one in three MRI exams uses gadolinium.
Free gadolinium ions are toxic. Approved agents lock the metal inside a carrier molecule called a chelate, which limits that toxicity while keeping the contrast effect, according to a 2016 review in BioMetals. The first such agent, gadopentetate dimeglumine (Magnevist), was approved in the United States, Germany and Japan in 1988 (Advances in Therapy).
The safety record regulators have acted on
Some gadolinium stays in the body for months or years. Levels are highest in bone, and it also turns up in the brain, skin and other organs. Agents with a linear chelate leave more behind than those with a ring-shaped, or macrocyclic, one. The Gadavist label says harm from retention has not been established in patients with normal kidney function. It adds that some patients might be at higher risk, including pregnant women, children and people who need many scans.
That label also carries a boxed warning. Gadolinium agents raise the risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis in patients who cannot clear the drug normally. The risk appears highest in patients with severe chronic kidney disease or acute kidney injury. The disease can cause fatal or debilitating scarring of the skin, muscle and internal organs. The FDA required a class-wide warning on retention in December 2017.
Some newer agents use less metal. Gadopiclenol, a macrocyclic agent from Guerbet, was approved by the FDA in September 2022. In trials it was no worse than gadobutrol at half the gadolinium dose (Pharmacy Times). This page is not medical advice. Questions about a specific scan belong with a doctor or radiologist.
Why reactors use gadolinium
The isotope gadolinium-157 absorbs slow neutrons more readily than any other stable isotope, according to a 2022 review in ACS Omega. Los Alamos notes that it is called a neutron poison for this reason.
Fuel makers mix gadolinium oxide into uranium dioxide pellets as a burnable absorber. It holds down excess reactivity in fresh fuel and burns away as the fuel is used. A 2021 study in Progress in Nuclear Energy describes it as widely used this way in light water reactors. Canada's CANDU reactors use it for emergency shutdown, injecting a gadolinium nitrate solution into the moderator (Canadian Nuclear Society).
Other uses
- X-ray imaging. Gadolinium phosphors are used in X-ray imaging (USGS).
- Magnets. Small amounts go into neodymium-iron-boron magnets, alongside dysprosium (USGS).
- Alloys and electronics. It makes iron and chromium alloys easier to work, and it is used in electronic components and data storage disks (RSC).
- Garnet crystals. Gadolinium yttrium aluminum garnets are used in lasers (LANL). Gadolinium gallium garnet was the base crystal for magnetic bubble memory chips, as in this Hitachi patent.
- Magnetic cooling research. Gadolinium warms when magnetized and cools when the field is removed (LANL).
Where gadolinium comes from
No mine produces gadolinium on its own. It is recovered as a by-product of rare earth processing. As REEx reported in December 2025, that ties supply to upstream separation capacity. It comes mainly from monazite and bastnaesite and is separated by ion exchange and solvent extraction (RSC).
Los Alamos lists China, the United States, Brazil, Sri Lanka, India and Australia as sources. Monazite carries thorium, and USGS notes that many rare earth deposits are radioactive, so processors have residue to manage.
Export controls and supply risk
On April 4, 2025, China's Ministry of Commerce and customs agency placed gadolinium under export licensing in Announcement No. 18. The rule also covers samarium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, along with their metals, alloys, oxides and compounds.
In October 2025, China widened the controls to europium, holmium, erbium, thulium and ytterbium, then suspended that expansion in November 2025 before it took effect (IEA). By December 2025, China had begun issuing general export licenses to selected exporters, according to USGS. Under MOFCOM Announcement No. 70, the suspension of the October measures was set to end on November 10, 2026. As of early October 2026, China had not said whether it would extend that suspension, and the April controls on gadolinium remained in force.
The Royal Society of Chemistry's risk data names China as gadolinium's top producer and rates its supply risk at 9.5 out of 10. USGS reported that China supplied 71% of U.S. imports of rare earth compounds and metals from 2021 to 2024.
Supply outside China (as of October 2026)
In October 2025, Lynas Rare Earths announced a new heavy rare earth separation plant in Malaysia, with separated gadolinium among its first planned products (Process Online). The plant made samarium oxide first, in March 2026 (Kalkine). Coverage of Lynas's June 2026 quarterly report said first gadolinium output was expected early in fiscal 2028. Lynas's fiscal 2028 begins in July 2027.
Gadolinium in rivers, and recycling
Contrast agents leave the body in urine and pass through wastewater treatment. In 1996, Bau and Dulski traced excess gadolinium in rivers near crowded parts of Central Europe and North America to MRI contrast agents. A study of Japan's Tone River found that excess grew 7.7-fold between 1996 and 2020.
The Royal Society of Chemistry puts gadolinium's recycling rate below 10%. Researchers are testing ways to recover it from patients' urine after a scan, including an Italian hospital study and a 2025 University of Utah filtration method. Neither is a commercial recycling stream.
Why the price is hard to see
Rare earths do not trade on major commodity exchanges, according to Metals-Hub. Published prices are assessments from price reporting agencies, and USGS takes its gadolinium oxide series from Argus Media. A quoted price describes only the market and date it was assessed for.
What drives gadolinium demand and supply
Demand follows contrast-enhanced MRI use, nuclear fuel loadings, magnets and phosphors. Lower-dose agents could cut the gadolinium needed per scan. Supply outside China depends on new separation lines reaching steady output and on how China administers its licenses.
Frequently asked questions
What is gadolinium used for?
Its best-known use is in contrast agents that make tissue show up more clearly on MRI scans. Because it absorbs neutrons so well, it is also used in nuclear fuel and reactor shutdown systems. Smaller uses include X-ray phosphors, magnets, alloys, laser crystals and magnetic cooling research.
Why is gadolinium used in MRI contrast agents?
Gadolinium is paramagnetic, so in the scanner's magnetic field it speeds the relaxation of nearby water molecules and makes tissue appear brighter. Free gadolinium is toxic, so approved agents bind it inside a carrier molecule called a chelate.
Does gadolinium stay in the body after an MRI?
Some does. FDA-approved labels state that gadolinium can be retained for months or years in bone, brain and other organs, with more retention from linear agents than macrocyclic ones. The consequences of retention in the brain have not been established, and patients should raise questions with their doctor.
Where does gadolinium come from?
It is recovered as a by-product of separating rare earths from ores such as monazite and bastnaesite. China is the leading producer, and Lynas has said it plans to separate gadolinium in Malaysia.
Does China restrict gadolinium exports?
Yes. Since April 4, 2025, exporting gadolinium and its compounds, alloys and oxides from China has required a license under MOFCOM Announcement No. 18. Those April controls were not part of China's later suspension and remained in force as of early October 2026.
Primary Uses
- MRI contrast agents
- Nuclear fuel burnable absorbers and reactor shutdown systems
- X-ray imaging phosphors
- Additive in neodymium-iron-boron magnets
- Alloys, laser garnets and electronics
- Magnetic refrigeration research
Producing Projects
Companies
Found in Products
REEx Intelligence
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