Show Notes
In this episode, we dive into the fascinating world of Rare-Earth Elements (REEs), a group of seventeen specialty metals crucial for high-technology industries due to their unique chemical, magnetic, and luminescent properties. We'll explore where these vital elements are found, how they are classified, and the complex processes involved in extracting them from the Earth.
What are Rare-Earth Elements? REEs include the lanthanide series (lanthanum to lutetium) and yttrium, with scandium also often discussed in this group. They are strategically important commodities, increasingly attractive targets for the mineral industry. REEs are used in various applications, such as high-strength permanent magnets, catalysts for petroleum refining, metal and glass additives, and phosphors used in electronic displays.
Australian REE Deposits and Geological Settings Australia holds significant REE resources, found in diverse geological environments including igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Elevated concentrations of REEs have been documented in various deposit types, including: Heavy-mineral sand deposits (beach, dune, marine tidal, and channel); Carbonatite intrusions and (per)alkaline igneous rocks, Iron-oxide breccia complexes and calc-silicate rocks (skarns); Fluorapatite veins, pegmatites, phosphorites, fluviatile sandstones, unconformity-related uranium deposits, and lignites. The mineral-system approach is used to classify major Australian REE deposits. This framework helps understand the geological processes critical for deposit formation and aids in identifying new areas for mineralization. The highest level of this classification includes four general 'mineral-system association' categories: regolith, basinal, metamorphic, and magmatic.
Key REE-Bearing Minerals The only REE-bearing minerals commercially extracted on a large scale are bastnäsite, monazite, and xenotime. Bastnäsite: A cerium-type mineral that is a major source of light rare earth elements (LREEs). Monazite: A phosphate mineral, primarily a cerium-type mineral rich in Ce, La, Pr, and Nd. It also contains thorium and variable amounts of uranium. Xenotime: A yttrium phosphate mineral that is a major source of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). It is often found with monazite and extracted as a by-product. Ion-adsorbed clays are also important sources of HREEs, occurring as rare earth element ions. Other REE-bearing minerals, such as eudialyte, synchysite, samarskite, allanite, zircon, steenstrupine, cheralite, rhabdophane, apatite, florenceite, fergusonite, loparite, perovskite, cerianite, and pyrochlore, are also found, though only some are economically significant.
Beneficiation of REE-Bearing Minerals Beneficiation refers to the processes used to concentrate REE-bearing minerals from raw ore. Common techniques include gravity separation, magnetic separation, electrostatic separation, and froth flotation. Froth Flotation is particularly crucial for complex ores, like the Bayan Obo deposit in China, where fine grain size makes other methods difficult. Flotation often involves using fatty-acid or hydroxamate-based collector systems.
This review provides a comprehensive overview of the geological settings, resources, and beneficiation techniques for rare-earth elements, drawing on the latest information from Australian and international sources.
Sources: Australian Mines Atlas Geological setting and resources of the major rare-earth-element deposits in Australia. The story of rare earth elements (REEs): Occurrences, global distribution, genesis, geology, mineralogy and global production. A review of the beneficiation of rare earth element bearing minerals
Disclaimer: AI generated content created using Google's NotebookLM.
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