Pakistan can reduce its reliance on imported ytterbium-based compounds, mixtures, and products by focusing on domestic exploration and processing of this critical resource, Chief Geologist of Koh-e-Daleel Minerals Company (Pvt) Ltd Abdul Bashir told WealthPK. Sustainable recovery of ytterbium must be planned after proper scientific exploration to address the future medical, industrial, and agricultural research needs, he opined. “Silvery-shinning ytterbium is a transitional metal that mostly occurs in euxenite rocks, classified as a rare earth metal. It ensues in crystal-forming pegmatites or melange (heterogenous rock units forming large crystals) and is also associated with ophiolites (crystallite rocks having a hue of red oxide). “These rock formations are a regular part of the axial belt. It means all areas from where the Axial belt passes in Pakistan are rich in ytterbium-bearing euxenite rocks. The rocks are also known to be associated with large crystalline granitic pegmatites (commonly existing in Ras Koh mountain range and Chagai, Balochistan),” he said.

The chances of ytterbium-bearing rocks in the Northern Areas, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan, are bright. In GB, the Kohistan Ladakh arc sequence (located between the Indian and Eurasian continental plates, separated here by the Main Mantle and Main Karakoram thrusts) is an ideal geological place for the occurrence of euxenite rocks. The same rock sequence is stretched toward KP and in all tourmaline or other gemstone-bearing rock formations there. All the described areas in Pakistan require a greenfield exploration to find ytterbium. No proper exploration to find rare earth minerals, including ytterbium, has ever occurred there. But, now is the time for exploration. “A number of countries are exploring rare earth metals and minerals and are earning a handsome foreign exchange by exporting the products based on them. In this regard, Pakistan must get the coordination of its friendly countries,” added Bashir. Ytterbium is used for a variety of industrial purposes. For example, it is used in manufacturing microwave filters for radars, lasers, and superconductors.

It is often used as an additive in different alloys to increase their strength (especially in magnesium and aluminum alloys), as a doping agent to produce fibre-optic, and as a catalytic agent for many organic chemicals and ethene polymerization. To manufacture optical devices, ultra-pure forms of ytterbium are used. It is also an important additive in anti-forgery-based inks and solar cells. Ytterbium-based fibre laser amplifiers are used for marking, etching, and engraving different plastic, and metallic surfaces or products; and to weld steel and different alloys. Medically, it is used in many dentistry alloys, and as an alternative to radioactive iodine to treat prostate cancer. Ytterbium is also a part of biosensors to detect urea in water (used in the agricultural -fertilizer industry). The international ytterbium target market is projected to grow to US$28.4 billion by the year 2030 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.2% from US$28.4 billion in 2021. It is high time for the policymakers in Pakistan to consider the exploration and processing of ytterbium and other rare earth metals for economic prosperity.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)