Cerium is an element that was of value to the Federation. Janus VI was particularly rich in cerium, among many other materials, a fact which was of great interest to the Janus VI colony miners.
Three months prior to the USS Enterprise's visit in 2267, a new level was opened in the mines, which contained this element and others. It was one of the examples Vanderberg gave to James T. Kirk when explaining their plight. (TOS: "The Devil in the Dark")
External links[]
- Cerium at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Cerium at Wikipedia