Ytterby

The pit Ytterby is a former mine in the Swedish municipality of Vaxholm on the island Resarö in the archipelago near Stockholm.

The pit Ytterby played an important role in the history of the discovery of the rare earth elements, as many of them were found for the first time; as gadolinium (named after the Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin ), holmium ( from the Latin name for Stockholm ), thulium ( Thule is an old word for Scandinavia) and yttrium, ytterbium, terbium and erbium, which were all named after Ytterby.

Yttrium ( Y) and terbium ( Tb) were discovered in 1843 by Swedish chemist Carl Gustav Mosander. 1878 discovered the Swiss Jean Charles de Galissard Marignac the ytterbium ( Yb), and in 1879 came the Swedes Per Teodor Cleve and Lars Fredrik Nilson to the elements erbium ( Er), holmium ( Ho) and thulium (Tm ).

Today, the deposit of Ytterby is largely exhausted.

In 1989, the mine was recognized by ASM International as an important place for the discovery of metals and added to the list of Historical Landmarks. A similar plaque was placed at the entrance of the pit.