Geochemistry of Rare Earth Metals in the Ore Eudialyte Complex of the Lovozero Rare Earth Deposit

Abstract

Rare earth elements belong to the category of strategic metals. The largest deposits of these strategic raw materials are associated with alkali-carbonatite formations. The largest alkali-carbonatite complexes of the world are located on the Kola Peninsula and in Polar Siberia. These complexes have great potential for strategic raw materials, including rare earths. The purpose of this work was to estimate the rare earth potential for ore eudialyte in the Lovozero deposit. Thus, 120 eudialyte grains from eudialyte ores were studied by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. In the ore eudialyte-bearing complex, the average value of the total amount of rare earths in eudialytes is 12 566 g/t, which is significantly higher than the total amount of rare earths in apatite from five deposits of the Khibiny Massif. Considering the many millions of tons of nepheline syenites of the eudialyte-bearing complex and the almost linear trend of rare-earth spectra for eudialyte, it can be concluded that the eudialyte deposit of the Lovozero Massif is extremely valuable.