Porcelain is a translucent vitreous material that consists of clay (kaolin), feldspar and quartz which has been mixed and heated together to cause a metamorphic reaction. In Sweden, the Porcelain industry was established in 1726 at Rörstrands castle in Stockholm and is today one of the oldest industries in Europe to produce porcelain. Around the 1790’s Rörstrand got its feldspars and quartz from the Ytterby mine that was located at Resarö in Stockholm’s archipelago making the raw material somewhat easy to access. Rörstrand owned the mine in the 1850’s to 1926. During the time Ytterby mine was active, an amateur geologist by the name of Carl Axel Arrhenius, discovered an unusual black mineral in the quarry ore in 1787 which later led to the discovery of 8 new rare earth elements (REE) with the help of several Swedish chemists throughout time. These elements are Yttrium, Ytterbium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Thulium, Erbium, Holmium and scandium. This study will focus on the Swedish porcelain industry and how it has evolved throughout history and Rörstrand’s role in the discovery of yttrium.

The Ytterby mine is located on Resarö island in the Stockholm archipelago. Mainly feldspars but also quartz were historically quarried in the mine, which is also the place of discovery of seven rare earth elements (REE). During the cold war era, the mine shaft was used as a diesel and jet fuel deposit for the Swedish Armed Forces. Recently, a spatial coupling between multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic neurodegenerative disease in the central nervous system, prevalence and the quarry has been suggested. Previous studies show that adverse neurological health effects are associated with oral intake of REEs and there is support for a coupling between ionizing radiation and MS. The extent and character of health effects as a result of exposure to petroleum products are still debated. However, a substantial number of scientific reports support a coupling between neurodegenerative health effects and toxic constituents of jet fuels such as benzene, toluene, and n-hexane. My data show that a possible overrepresentation of MS patients within the Ytterby postal code area could be an indication of a spatial coupling between the mine and MS. Such a possible coupling could be associated with the REEs present in the local rocks, with the previous storage of diesel or jet fuel MC-77 in the mine and/or with zones of high natural radioactivity in the area. Water samples collected in 15 wells in the Ytterby village show traces of five REEs, i.e. scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), lanthanum (La), neodymium (Nd) and samarium (Sm) and the majority of sample locations at low ground elevation show contamination of diesel which is the most recent fuel stored in the mine. Moreover, results from an analysis of a black substance leaking out of cracks in the mine corridors confirm that REEs are present in substantial concentrations in the local rocks and also appear to be mobile. This should be taken into account when considering a potential contamination of the local water supply. Measurements of natural radioactivity have also been made around the contours of the quarry and zones of high ionizing radiation have been identified. By using these zones of high ionizing radiation as a proxy for rare minerals containing rare earth elements, I further suggest that the REE occurrences are highly localized around the quarry and could be associated with, or remobilized by, younger faults.  My data show that a full investigation is warranted of a possible spatial coupling between neurological health issues, MS being one of them, and the mine.

Microbes exert extensive control on redox element cycles. They participate directly orindirectly in the concentration and fractionation of elements by influencing the partitioningbetween soluble and insoluble species. Putative microbially mediated manganese (Mn) oxidesof the birnessite-type, enriched in rare earth elements (REE) + yttrium (Y) were recentlyfound in the Ytterby mine, Sweden. A poorly crystalline birnessite-type phyllomanganate isregarded as the predominant initial phase formed during microbial Mn oxidation. Owing to ahigher specific surface area, this biomineral also enhances the known sorption property of Mnoxides with respect to heavy metals (e.g. REE) and therefore has considerable environmentalimpact.The concentration of REE + Y (2±0.5% of total mass, excluding oxygen, carbon and silicon)in the Ytterby Mn oxide deposit is among the highest ever observed in secondary precipitateswith Mn and/or iron. Sequential extraction provides evidence of a mineral structure where theREE+Y are firmly included, even at pH as low as 1.5. Concentration ratios of Mn oxideprecipitates to fracture water indicate a strong preference for the trivalent REE+Y overdivalent and monovalent metals. A culture independent molecular phylogenetic approach wasadopted as a first step to analyze the processes that microbes mediate in this environment andspecifically how the microbial communities interact with the Mn oxides. Plausible players inthe formation of the investigated birnessite-type Mn oxides are mainly found within theferromanganese genera Hyphomicrobium and Pedomicrobium and a newly identified YtterbyBacteroidetes cluster most closely related to the Terrimonas. Data also indicate that thedetected microorganisms are related to the environmental constraints of the site including lowconstant temperature (8°C), absence of light, high metal content and possibly proximity to theformer storage of petroleum products.