# Rubidium

A by-product alkali metal for specialty glass, atomic clocks and quantum research, now supplied almost entirely from old stockpiles.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/

Tech & minor metals · No. 52

- US critical 2025
 Tech & minor metals · Foundation · Matter

In 2025 no mine anywhere produced rubidium, so the atomic clocks and fibre glass that need it run on old stockpiles.

Chart: Illustration: Rubidium

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Rubidium sits in zoned pegmatites, mostly in lepidolite (up to 3.5% oxide) and pollucite. It has always been a by-product, first of cesium mining and then of lithium.

##### Three things to know

1. The US Naval Observatory's timescale relies on a network of clocks that includes six rubidium fountain clocks.
2. A Western Australian pilot test reported 97% rubidium recovery from ore holding about 7,900 t of rubidium oxide.
3. A 100-gram ampoule cost $2,453 in 2025, so bulk buyers pay far less per gram than the $138 charged for a single gram.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Pegmatite**Zoned granite pegmatites
2. 2 **Host minerals**Lepidolite up to 3.5% Rb2O
3. 3 **By-product**Concentrate from cesium or lithium mining
4. 4 **Refining**Carbonate, chloride and other salts
5. 5 **End uses**Specialty glass, atomic clocks, research

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## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/links/index.md)