Along with neodymium, there has been steady growth in the demand for dysprosium as an important component of specialty magnets. These find their way into all sorts of consumer goods from smartphones to electric cars. With production sources pretty much all spoken for and sourced among just a few refineries in China there’s little expectation that the price will go anywhere but up - and it’s already pricey as is.

Making it even costlier, of course, is the mirror polishing treatment which takes several days of continuous grinding in a lapping machine. The result, besides the sticker shock that is, is a six-sided mirror made from this exotic metal. And they are absolutely beautiful!