The principal problem is simply that so much ore is required to provide small amounts of radium. About one ton of pitchblende yields about one seventh of a gram of radium.
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Radium is difficult to extract from pitchblende because it occurs in very low concentrations and is chemically similar to other radioactive elements in the ore. Its extraction requires a series of complex chemical and physical processes, such as acid leaching, precipitation, and purification, which are time-consuming and costly. Additionally, the handling of radium is hazardous due to its high radioactivity, requiring specialized equipment and precautions.
pitchblende was the first, but any good uranium ore will do as it is a daughter element of uranium's decay.
Radium was discovered by Marie Sklodowska Curie, a Polish chemist, and Pierre Curie, a French chemist, in 1898. Marie Curie obtained radium from pitchblende, a material that contains uranium, after noticing that unrefined pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium that was separated from it. She reasoned that pitchblende must contain at least one other radioactive element. Curie needed to refine several tons of pitchblende in order to obtain tiny amounts of radium and polonium, another radioactive element discovered by Curie. One ton of uranium ore contains only about 0.14 grams of radium. Today, radium can be obtained as a byproduct of refining uranium and is usually sold as radium chloride (RaCl2) or radium bromide (RaBr2) and not as a pure material.
the main element extracted was radium
Radium was more or less discovered by accident while the Curies were looking for Uranium in samples of Pitchblende. In 1898, they discovered in tiny amounts, Polonium in July, and Radium in December.
You think probably to radium (Ra) and polonium (Po).