Deposit types/Rare earths

Ion-adsorption clay rare earths

Weathered clay from which rare earths are leached, mined in southern China and valued for medium and heavy rare earths.

What it is

Weathered clay from which rare earths are leached, mined in southern China and valued for medium and heavy rare earths.1

How it forms

Not described in the sources read. The USGS chapter only states that these clays are mined in southeastern provinces of China and are valued for medium and heavy rare earths, unlike bastnaesite ores.1

Mines of this type

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Mines

An example ofBrowns RangeBrowns Range's Wolverine deposit is rich in the heavy rare earths dysprosium and terbium.2An example ofBayan OboSouthern China's clays give heavy rare earths. Bayan Obo, found in 1927, is the northern giant.1

Sources

  1. Critical Mineral Resources of the United States (PP 1802), Chapter O: Rare-Earth Elements US Geological Survey
  2. Browns Range HRE project page Northern Minerals

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Salar de Atacama, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).