One of Earth’s rare elements is a metal called dysprosium, though you likely have not heard much about this element. You might not know it, but dysprosium is a metal that you really should be watching, especially if you like to invest in precious metals. Why? Well considering that dysprosium prices literally skyrocketed from a price per pound of $7 in 2003 to $130 in 2010 and projections predicting a dysprosium shortfall to occur prior to 2015, let’s just say that it is definitely one to watch.

Below, you’ll find 10 more interesting facts about dysprosium that you likely don’t yet know.

1. Dysprosium is represented by symbol Dy and 66 is the element’s atomic number.

2. Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran is credited for the discovery of dysprosium. He found dysprosium after dissolving it in oxide form in acid. He then added ammonia in order to precipitate a hydroxide. It took him over 30 attempts to finally obtain dysprosium.

3. Dysprosium is appropriately named for the Greek term, dysprositos, which means "hard to get". In fact, the purest form of the element was unable to be isolated until sometime during the 1950s, after the ion exchange technology had been developed.

4. Dysprosium, just like most rare elements, is not found on Earth in free element form. It is, however, found combined with several minerals, including bastnasite, blomstrandine, erbium, euxenite, holmium, gadolinite, fergusonite, monazite, polycrase and xenotime. The majority of dysprosium currently obtained is being found in ion-adsporption clays in China.

5. The current estimated concentration of dysprosium in the Earth’s crust is around 5.2 mg/kg; however, the concentration estimate is 0.9 ng/L in ocean and sea water.

6. Currently, China produces 99% of the world’s dysprosium. Surprisingly, only around 100 tons of this element are produced yearly for use worldwide.

7. The United States Department of Energy’s prediction is what ultimately caused the price of dysprosium to skyrocket. They have found that dysprosium currently does not have a suitable replacement and that it not only has a wide range of current uses, but also a whole array of projected uses. Many of these uses are in the clean energy sector. Because many countries are now focused more closely on the production of clean energy, a severe dysprosium shortage is expected.

8. Dysprosium is frequently used in the creation of laser materials, as well as in control rods for nuclear reactors, in infrared radiation and in data storage such as hard disks.

9. Dysprosium is often substituted in place of neodymium to increase coercivity in the drive motors of hybrid vehicles. Toyota, for instance, is projecting the manufacture of 2 million hybrid vehicles per year. As previously mentioned, this newer use of the element is going to be a driving factor in the expected shortage of dysprosium.

10. Dysprosium is also used in the production of fuel injectors, transducers and mechanical resonators. In addition, it can be used within dosimeters to measure ionizing radiation, as well as to reinforce various other materials.