Europe's rare earth element resource potential: An overview of REE metallogenetic provinces and their geodynamic setting

Abstract

Security of supply of a number of raw materials is of concern for the European Union; foremost among these are the rare earth elements (REE), which are used in a range of modern technologies. A number of research projects, including the EURARE and ASTER projects, have been funded in Europe to investigate various steps along the REE supply chain. This paper addresses the initial part of that supply chain, namely the potential geological resources of the REE in Europe. Although the REE are not currently mined in Europe, potential resources are known to be widespread, and many are being explored. The most important European resources are associated with alkaline igneous rocks and carbonatites, although REE deposits are also known from a range of other settings. Within Europe, a number of REE metallogenetic belts can be identified on the basis of age, tectonic setting, lithological association and known REE enrichments. This paper reviews those metallogenetic belts and sets them in their geodynamic context. The most well-known of the REE belts are of Precambrian to Palaeozoic age and occur in Greenland and the Fennoscandian Shield. Of particular importance for their REE potential are the Gardar Province of SW Greenland, the Svecofennian Belt and subsequent Mesoproterozoic rifts in Sweden, and the carbonatites of the Central Iapetus Magmatic Province. However, several zones with significant potential for REE deposits are also identified in central, southern and eastern Europe, including examples in the Bohemian Massif, the Iberian Massif, and the Carpathians.

Global Potential of Rare Earth Resources and Rare Earth Demand from Clean Technologies

“…Primary rare earth deposits are typically associated with alkaline-peralkaline igneous rocks and carbonatites. Erosion or weathering of primary types may produce deposits, such as placer and ion adsorption deposits [20]. In this paper, based on the USGS classification [21,28,29], we split rare earth deposit types into carbonatite, alkaline igneous rock, placer, ion adsorption, iron-oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposits, and others.…”

“…Though no uniform pattern can be presented, the illegal production is estimated to reach 20% of the legal production in China [18]. Currently, more than 200 REE-bearing minerals have been identified [19,20]; however, most of the global REE production currently comes Global rare earth production and demand, the data obtained from [13][14][15][16].…”

“…Though no uniform pattern can be presented, the illegal production is estimated to reach 20% of the legal production in China [18]. Currently, more than 200 REE-bearing minerals have been identified [19,20]; however, most of the global REE production currently comes from four minerals: bastnäsite, monazite, xenotime, and loparite [9]. Bastnäsite in China constitutes the largest percentage of global REE production, followed by monazite in Australia and India, loparite in Russia, and xenotime in Malaysia.…”

On the Origin of Bastnaesite-(La,Nd,Y) in the Nissi (Patitira) Bauxite Laterite Deposit, Lokris, Greece

“…In a global scale, the large REE deposits are associated with carbonatites and alkaline-peralkaline igneous rocks and hydrothermally altered silicate rocks, including pegmatites; on the contrary, REE concentrations by metamorphic or diagenetic processes are low ( [6,14,[24][25][26] and references therein). Fluorocarbonates, phosphates, silicates and oxides occur as disseminated and very fine-grained REE-minerals hosted by peralkaline felsic volcanic/volcaniclastic rocks.…”

“…Fluorocarbonates in the Nissi (Patitira) bauxite laterite deposit, Lokris, are related with the lateritic weathering, which is an important process in the REE-enrichment in laterites [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]24]. The mineralogy of the weathered rocks and the physico/chemical conditions (temperature, acidity, redox potential) are among major controlling factors of the composition of the aqueous phase, which in turn can control the degree to which REEs are released to the downward moving fluids in contrast to iron that is quite reactive [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][24][25][26].…”