Abstract
Neodymium metal was produced by metallothermic reduction of 
with calcium in a 
melt by the overall reaction 
at temperatures between 983 and 1063 K. Neodymium was recovered from the salt melt by dissolution in a molten metal pool of either Nd‐Zn or Nd‐Fe. The reduction process was observed to proceed through the following reactions
To obtain good yields it was necessary to keep the concentration of 
in the molten salt phase at least at 70 weight percent. The yield (percentage of neodymium oxide recovered as metal) was ∼95% in the case of a Nd‐Zn extraction pool. Neodymium metal, freed of zinc by vacuum distillation, was of high purity (>99% Nd). The yield was also ∼95% for the case of a Nd‐Fe extraction pool. The Nd‐Fe alloy produced was of high quality and can be directly used in producing Magnequench alloy for permanent magnets.