Mineralogical characteristics and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic compositions of banded REE ores in the Bayan Obo deposit, Inner Mongolia, China: Implications for their formation and origin

Abstract

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a focus of current research due to their importance in a wide range of industries and technologies. Bayan Obo in China is the largest REE deposit in the world. Although some studies have investigated the banded REE ores in the Bayan Obo deposit, the origin and formation processes of the ores are unclear. In this study, we used X-ray powder diffraction, electron microprobe, laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry, and mass spectrometry methods to investigate the mineral assemblages and geochemical characteristics of minerals in banded ores in the Bayan Obo REE deposit. Based on petrographic observations, the early minerals that precipitated were alkali- and Fe-rich silicates, such as aegirine–augite and arfvedsonite, followed by bastnäsite, fluorite, barite, calcite, and monazite in the late stage. The REE minerals in the banded REE ores are mainly monazite, bastnäsite, and parisite (1–10 vol%) that overprinted gangue minerals, suggesting that REE mineralization occurred during the late hydrothermal stage. The sequence of mineral formation and their evolution caused progressive enrichment in REEs, F, Sr, and Ba. For example, fluorite in the banded REE ores has high concentrations of Sr (252–1910 ppm), Ba (1040–8230 ppm), and light REEs (1001–16,079 ppm), but is depleted in Nb and Ta. The bastnäsite is enriched in Sr (885–4046 ppm), Ba (1073–80,809 ppm), and ΣREEs (99,631–158,227 ppm). The fluorite, arfvedsonite, and bastnäsite in the banded REE ores have ɛNd(t) values of −3.68–1.78, −5.54, and 0.05, and initial (87Sr/86Sr)i (ISr) ratios of 0.70352–0.70478, 0.70620, and 0.70346, respectively. Based on these data, and the regional geological setting and Pb isotope data, it is proposed that fluorite and bastnäsite crystallized from ferrocarbonatite and fine-grained dolomite, and the REE source was a mixture of HIMU mantle and global marine sediments. We also suggest that the carbonatite- or dolomite-hosting ores in Bayan Obo formed by melting of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, which might have been previously metasomatized by REE- and CO2-rich fluids derived from subducted marine sediments.