Occurrence

Series of alkaline earth metals.

Beryllium occurs in the Earth's crust at a concentration of two to six parts per million (ppm),[49] much
of which is in soils, where it has a concentration of six ppm. Beryllium is one of the rarest elements in
seawater, even rarer than elements such as scandium, with a concentration of 0.2 parts per trillion.[50]
[51]
However, in freshwater, beryllium is somewhat more common, with a concentration of 0.1 parts
per billion.[52]
Magnesium and calcium are very common in the Earth's crust, being respectively the fifth- eighth-
most-abundant elements. None of the alkaline earth metals are found in their elemental state.
Common magnesium-containing minerals are carnallite, magnesite, and dolomite. Common calcium-
containing minerals are chalk, limestone, gypsum, and anhydrite.[2]
Strontium is the fifteenth-most-abundant element in the Earth's crust. The principal minerals
are celestite and strontianite.[53] Barium is slightly less common, much of it in the mineral barite.[54]
Radium, being a decay product of uranium, is found in all uranium-bearing ores.[55] Due to its
relatively short half-life,[56] radium from the Earth's early history has decayed, and present-day
samples have all come from the much slower decay of uranium.[55]

Production[edit]
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Emerald, colored green with trace amounts of chromium, is a variety of the

mineral beryl which is beryllium aluminium silicate.
Most beryllium is extracted from beryllium hydroxide. One production method is sintering, done by
mixing beryl, sodium fluorosilicate, and soda at high temperatures to form sodium
fluoroberyllate, aluminium oxide, and silicon dioxide. A solution of sodium fluoroberyllate and sodium
hydroxide in water is then used to form beryllium hydroxide by precipitation. Alternatively, in the melt
method, powdered beryl is heated to high temperature, cooled with water, then heated again slightly
in sulfuric acid, eventually yielding beryllium hydroxide. The beryllium hydroxide from either method
then produces beryllium fluoride and beryllium chloride through a somewhat long process.
Electrolysis or heating of these compounds can then produce beryllium.[11]
In general, strontium carbonate is extracted from the mineral celestite through two methods: by
leaching the celestite with sodium carbonate, or in a more complicated way involving coal.[57]
To produce barium, barite (impure barium sulfate) is converted to barium sulfide by carbothermic
reduction (such as with coke). The sulfide is water-soluble and easily reacted to form pure barium
sulfate, used for commercial pigments, or other compounds, such as barium nitrate. These in turn
are calcined into barium oxide, which eventually yields pure barium after reduction with aluminium.
[54]
The most important supplier of barium is China, which produces more than 50% of world supply