Before the discovery of the neodymium magnet, the strongest permanent magnet was ... a need for new permanent magnets that combined rare-earth elements and iron. “Iron is more abundant, cheaper ...
CAYANA: I mean, we do have three types of different magnets, and I wonderwhich one out of these would be the strongest. CAYANA: Oh, how about we use these. LOUISE: Okay. So how's that going to work?
This is the strongest permanent magnet in wide-scale use today ... which is the third most abundant rare-earth element - a set of 17 metals found in the Earth's crust that have diverse applications.