U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 930-N 

International Strategic Minerals Inventory 

Summary Report- Rare-Earth Oxides 

Prepared as a cooperative effort among earthscience and mineral-resource agencies of 

Australia, Canada, the Federal Republic of 

Germany, the Republic of South Africa, the 

United Kingdom, and the United States of 

America 
Geologic Time Scale 

I Million years Age before present 

Holocene 

Quaternary 1- 0.01 

Pleistocene r- 2 (.) Pliocene 0 

N - 5 

Miocene 0 

z r- 24 

Oligocene Tertiary w 

(.) r- 38 

Eocene r-- r- 55 

Paleocene 

· Late Cretaceous I 63 

Cretaceous (.) r- 96 

Early Cretaceous 0 

N r- 138 

0 Jurassic en 

w 

~ r- 205 

Triassic 

-240 

Permian 

t- 290 

Pennsylvanian 

Carboniferous r- -330 

Mississippian (.) 

0 r- 360 

N Devonian 0 

w 410 ....J r-

<( Silurian a.. 

- r- 435 

Ordovician 

r- 500 

Cambrian 

-570 u Late Proterozoic 0 

~ t- 900 

Middle Proterozoic a: 

w r- 1600 z 1-

0 <( 

a: Early Proterozoic a: 

0.. m 2500 ~ 

<( z 

(.) <( 

w w 

a: :::c 

a.. (.) 

a: 

<( 
International Strategic Minerals Inventory 

Summary Report-Rare-Earth Oxides 

By Wayne D. Jackson and Grey Christiansen 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 930-N 

Prepared as a cooperative effort among earthscience and mineral-resource agencies of 

Australia, Canada, the Federal Republic of 

Germany, the Republic of South Africa, the 

United Kingdom, and the United States of 

America 

1993 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Robert M. Hirsch, Acting Director 

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive 

purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1993 

Free on application to 

U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution 

Box 25286, MS 306, Federal Center 

Denver, CO 80225 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Jackson, Wayne D. 

International strategic minerals inventory summary report-rare-earth oxides I by 

Wayne D. Jackson and Grey Christiansen. 

p. em. - (U.S. Geological Survey circular ; 930-N) 

"Prepared as a cooperative effort among earth-science and mineral-resource agencies of 

Australia, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of South Africa, 

the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.'' 

Includes bibliographical references. 

Supt. of Docs. no.: II9.4/2:930N 

I. Earths, Rare. 2. Strategic materials. I. Christiansen, Grey. II. Title. 

III. Series. 

TN490.A2J33 1993 

333.8'5494-dc20 93-35407 

CIP 
FOREWORD 

Earth-science and mineral-resource agencies from several countries started the 

International Strategic Minerals Inventory in order to cooperatively gather information 

about major sources of strategic raw materials. This circular summarizes inventory 

information about major deposits of rare-earth oxides, one of the mineral commodities 

selected for the inventory. 

The report was prepared by Wayne D. Jackson and Grey Christiansen of the U.S. 

Bureau of Mines (USBM). It was edited by David M. Sutphin and transcribed by Dorothy 

J. Manley of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Rare-earth oxide inventory information 

was compiled by Wayne D. Jackson, Grey Christiansen (chief compiler); Ian R. McLeod 

(retired), Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia; Roy R. Towner, Australian Bureau of 

Agricultural and Resource Economics; Aert Driessen, Australian Bureau of Resource 

Sciences (BRS); Andrew J. Sozanski and Y annis Lepinis, Energy, Mines & Resources 

(EMR), Canada, Mineral Policy Sector (MPS); W. David Sinclair, EMR, Geological 

Survey of Canada; and Andrew E. Grosz, USGS. Additional contributions were made by 

Antony B.T. Werner, EMR, MPS; Erik Hammerbeck, Geological Survey of the Republic 

of South Africa; Richard N. Crockett (retired), British Geological Survey; Gordon C. 

Battey, BRS; Ulrich H. Krauss, Bundesanstalt ftir Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, 

Federal Republic of Germany; Richard J. Pantel and James B. Hedrick, USBM; and Peter 

J. Modreski, USGS. 

Acting Director 

m 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Forewoni------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TIU 

Abstract-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part I -Overview -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 

Definition and background of rare earths - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 

Applications----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 

Mineralogy and geology- --- - - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---- -- -- - --- -- -- ------- - - - - - 8 

Rare-earth minerals- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 

Types of rare-earth deposits- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10 

Distribution of REO deposits - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 

REOresources--------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 

REO production------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 

Supply and consumption- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - ---- - - - - - --- 28 

Production and capital costs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 29 

Mining and beneficiation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 34 

Metallurgy and refining ---- - - - - - - --- -- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---- - - - - - - - -- - - - --- -- - - - - - - 35 

World trade in REO ---------------------------------------------------------------- 41 

Conclusions----------------------------------------------------------------------- 42 

Part II-Selected inventory information for REO deposits and districts- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 45 

References cited ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 66 

Additional references on rare-earth oxide resources- --- - - - --- - - - - - - - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - 67 

FIGURE 1. 

2. 

3. 

4-9. 

ILLUSTRA liONS 

Page 

Diagram showing United Nations resource categories used in this report--------------- 3 

Map showing location, geologic deposit type, and total resources of the world's major 

rare-earth oxide deposits and districts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14 

Map showing World Bank economic classification of countries containing major 

rare-earth oxide deposits and districts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16 

Graphs showing4. Rare-earth oxide ore resources, by country, deposit type, and mineral type-------- 18 

5. Comparison of selected rare-earth oxide R1E resources, by economic class and 

country------------------------------------------------------------ 22 

6. Rare-earth oxide production, 1983-89, for major producing countries-- --- -- -- -- - - 22 

7. Rare-earth oxide production, 1983-89, for World Bank economic class of country - - 26 

8. Actual and potential 1989 rare-earth oxide production, by country---------------- 26 

9. Forecast world and U.S. consumption of rare-earth and yttrium oxides for 1990 

and2000 ---------------------------------------------------------- 26 

10. Map showing operating and production status of the world's major rare-earth oxide 

deposits and districts----------------------------------------------------- 30 

11-13. Graphs showing11. Amount of actual 1988 and forecast 1995 world and U.S. consumption of rare 

earths and their products--- - -- - --- - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - --- -- 32 

12. Value of actual 1988 and forecast 1995 world and U.S. consumption of rare earths 

and their products -- -- - ---- - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- ----------- --- -- -- - 33 

13. Average mine and mill production costs per metric ton of ore for selected 

countries---------------------------------------------------------- 33 

14. Flowsheet showing bastnaesite beneficiation-------------------------------------- 34 

15. Flowsheet showing separation process of individual rare earths ---------------------- 36 

16. Map showing location of the world's rare-earth processing plants -------------------- 38 

v 
Page 

17. Graph showing U.S. exports of rare-earth products in 1989, by country - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 44 

18. Graph showing U.S. imports of rare-earth products in 1989, by country-------------- 45 

TABLE 1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

TABLES 

Page 

Rare-earth elements and selected properties - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 

Major uses of individual rare-earth elements - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- 5 

Typical rare-earth-element distribution of the three major source minerals - - -- - - - - -- -- - 9 

Chemical formula, major REO group, and percent REO of the major rare-earth 

minerals--------------------------------------------------------------- 9 

Distribution of rare-earth oxide deposits, mineral types, and production status of mines 

in those deposits, by country ---------------------------------------------- 11 

Rare-earth oxide resources in the world's major rare-earth oxide deposits, by geologic 

deposit type and resource category ----------------------------------------- 18 

Tonnages of rare-earth oxide ore-grade material in R1E resources, by continent and 

country, deposit type, and mineral----------------------------------------- 19 

Tonnages of rare-earth-oxide-bearing minerals in R1E resources, by continent and 

country, deposit type, and mineral - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - 20 

Tonnages of rare-earth oxides in R1E resources, by continent and country, deposit 

type, and mineral ------------------------------------------------------- 21 

Tonnages of rare-earth oxides in R1E resources, by World Bank economic class of 

country, deposit type, and mineral ----------------------------------------- 23 

Tonnages of rare-earth oxide ore-grade material in R1E resources, by World Bank 

economic class of country and by actual or proposed mining method - - - - - - - - - - --- 24 

Annual global rare-earth oxide production, by country, 1983-89--------------------- 25 

Rare-earth oxide production, by year and World Bank economic class of country ------- 25 

Actual and potential rare-earth oxide production in 1989 for selected countries, by 

country, deposit type, and mining method ----------------------------------- 27 

Actual 1988 and forecast 1995 world and U.S. consumption of rare-earth products, by 

industry--------------------------------------------------------------- 29 

Consumption of rare-earth compounds in 1988, by weight and value - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - 32 

Average mine and mill production costs in 1989 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - --- -- - - -- -- 33 

Location and ownership of the world's rare-earth processing plants------------------- 40 

U.S. exports of rare-earth products in 1989, by country---------------------------- 43 

U.S. imports of rare-earth products in 1989, by country---------------------------- 43 

Selected geologic and location information from ISMI records for rare-earth oxide 

deposits and districts- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 46 

Selected production and mineral-resource information from ISMI records for rare-earth 

oxide deposits and districts- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - -- - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - 56 

VI 
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MINERALS INVENTORY 

SUMMARY REPORT 

RARE-EARTH OXIDES 

By Wayne D. Jackson 1 and Grey Christiansen 1 

Abstract 

Bastnaesite, monazite, and xenotime are currently the 

most important rare-earth minerals. Bastnaesite occurs as a 

primary mineral in carbonatites. Monazite and xenotime also 

can be found in primary deposits but are recovered principally 

from heavy-mineral placers that are mined for titanium or tin. 

Each of these minerals has a different composition of the 15 

rare-earth elements. 

World resources of economically exploitable rare-earth 

oxides (REO) are estimated at 93.4 million metric tons in place, 

composed of 93 percent in primary deposits and 7 percent in 

placers. The average mineral composition is 83 percent bastnaesite, 13 percent monazite, and 4 percent of 10 other 

minerals. Annual global production is about 67,000 metric tons 

of which 41 percent is from placers and 59 percent is from 

primary deposits; mining methods consist of open pits (94 

percent) and dredging (6 percent). This output could be 

doubled if the operations that do not currently recover rare 

earths would do so. 

Resources are more than sufficient to meet the demand 

for the predictable future. About 52 percent of the world's 

REO resources are located in China. Ranking of other countries is as follows: Namibia (22 percent), the United States (15 

percent), Australia (6 percent), and India (3 percent); the 

remainder is in several other countries. Conversely, 38 percent of the production is in China, 33 percent in the United 

States, 12 percent in Australia, and 5 percent each in Malaysia 

and India. Several other countries, including Brazil, Canada, 

South Africa, Sri lanka, and Thailand, make up the remainder. 

Markets for rare earths are mainly in the metallurgical, 

magnet, ceramic, electronic, chemical, and optical industries. 

Rare earths improve the physical and rolling properties of 

iron and steel and add corrosion resistance and strength to 

structural members at high temperatures. Samarium and 

Manuscript approved for publication July 28, 1993. 1 U.S. Bureau of Mines, Denver, Colo. 

neodymium are used in lightweight, powerful magnets for 

electric motors. Cerium and yttrium increase the density and 

heat resistance of sintered ceramics. Yttrium and gadolinium 

contribute to the efficiency of electronic switches and sensors. Cerium improves the effectiveness of catalysts in the 

petroleum and automotive industries. Cerium oxides speed 

glass melting and are used to polish glass by chemical, rather 

than mechanical, means. Cerium, europium, terbium, and 

yttrium, as phosphoric compounds, promote the vivid colors 

of television screens. Consumption of rare earths is expected 

to grow by about 2.6 percent per year. 

PART I-OVERVIEW 

INTRODUCTION 

The reliability of future supplies of so-called strategic minerals is of ooncem to many nations. This 

widespread concern led to duplication of effort in the 

gathering of information on the world's major sources of 

strategic mineral materials. With the aim of pooling such 

information, a cooperative program named International 

Strategic Minerals Inventory (ISMI) was started in 1981 

by government officials of the United States, Canada, 

and the Federal Republic of Germany. They were 

subsequently joined by the Republic of South Africa, 

Australia, and the United Kingdom. 

The objective of ISMI reports is to make publicly 

available, in convenient form, nonproprietary data and 

characteristics of major deposits of strategic mineral 

commodities for policy considerations in regard to shortterm, medium-term, and long-term world supply. This 

report provides a summary statement of the data compiled and an overview of the supply aspects of rare-earth 
oxides in a format designed to benefit policy analysts and 

geologists. Knowledge of the geologic aspects of mineral resources is essential in order to discover and 

develop mineral deposits. However, technical, financial, 

and political decisions also must be made, and often 

transportation and marketing systems must be developed 

before ore can be mined and processed and the products 

transported to the consumer. The technical, financial, 

and political aspects of mineral-resource developments 

are not specifically addressed in this report. The report 

addresses the primary stages in the supply process for 

rare-earth oxides and includes only peripheral considerations of rare-earth oxide demand. 

The term "strategic minerals" is imprecise. It 

generally refers to mineral ores and derivative products 

that come largely or entirely from foreign sources, that 

are difficult to replace or substitute, and that are important to a nation's economy, in particular to its defense 

industry. In general, the term relates to a nation's 

perception of vulnerability to supply disruptions and to 

its concern to safeguard its industries from the disruptions of a possible loss of supplies. 

Because a mineral that is strategic to one country 

may not be necessarily strategic to another, no definitive 

list of strategic minerals can be prepared. The ISMI 

Working Group decided to commence with commodity 

studies on chromium, manganese, nickel, and phosphate. All of these studies, plus those of platinum-group 

metals, cobalt, titanium, graphite, lithium, tin, vanadium, zirconium, and niobium (columbium) and tantalum have now been published. Additional studies on 

rare-earth oxides (this report) and tungsten have been 

subsequently undertaken. 

The data in the ISMI rare-earth oxides inventory 

were collected from October 1989 to June 1990. This 

report was submitted for review and publication in 

December 1990. The information used was the best 

available to the various agencies of the countries that 

contributed to the preparation of this report. These 

agencies were the Bureau of Mines and the Geological 

Survey of the U.S. Department of the Interior; the 

Geological Survey of Canada and the Mineral Policy 

Sector of the Canadian Department of Energy, Mines & 

Resources; the Federal Institute for Geosciences and 

Natural Resources of the Federal Republic of Germany; 

the Geological Survey and the Minerals Bureau of the 

Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs of South 

Africa; the Bureau of Resource Sciences of the Australian Department of Primary Industries and Energy; and 

the British Geological Survey, a component of the 

Natural Environment Research Council of the United 

Kingdom. 

2 

No geologic definition of a deposit or district is 

used for compiling records for this report. Deposits and 

districts are selected for the inventory on the basis of 

their present or expected future contribution to world 

supply. Records for all deposits compiled by ISMI 

participants meet this general "major deposit" criterion 

and are included in the inventory. No information is 

provided on deposits that were once significant but 

whose resources are now considered to have been 

depleted. Some records refer to districts that contain 

several deposits; these deposits are grouped because they 

are too small to be listed individually or because published data are available only for the deposits as a group. 

The ISMI record collection and this report on 

rare-earth oxides have adopted the international classification system for mineral resources recommended by the 

United Nations Group of Experts on Definitions and 

Terminology for Mineral Resources (United Nations 

Economic and Social Council, 1979; Schanz, 1980). The 

terms, definitions, and resource categories of this system 

were established in 1979 to facilitate international 

exchange of mineral-resource data; the Group of Experts 

sought a system that would be compatible with the 

several systems already in use in several countries. 

Figure 1 shows the United Nations (U.N.) resource 

classification used here. This report focuses on category 

R1, which includes reliable estimates of tonnages and 

grades of known deposits. The familiar term "reserves," 

which many would consider to be equivalent to rlE or 

R1E, has been interpreted inconsistently and thus has 

been deliberately avoided in the U.N. classification. 

It should be noted that, generally, until a deposit 

has been extensively explored or mined, its size and 

grade are imperfectly defined. In many cases, deposit 

size will prove to be significantly larger, sometimes even 

several times larger, than was established when the 

decision to mine was made. Experts with a sound 

knowledge of a deposit and its geologic setting might 

infer that the deposit extends beyond the bounds reliably 

established up to that time. Tonnage estimates for such 

inferred extensions fall into category R2. For major 

deposits, ISMI records show R2 estimates in the few 

cases for which they are readily available. Category R3, 

postulated but undiscovered resources, is not dealt with 

in this report. 

The term "ore" in tables 21 and 22 (Part II) refers 

to mineralized rock or sands that contain an economic 

quantity of minerals, of which the rare-earth oxides may 

be of primary or secondary value. In those cases of 

primary value, the rare-earth oxides occur mainly as 

bastnaesite or monazite in igneous intrusions. In those 
R* 

IN SITU RESOURCEsQuantities of economic Interest 

for the next few decades 

R1 R2 R3 

KNOWN DEPOSITsReliable estimates 

EXTENSIONS OF KNOWN DEPOSITS 

AND NEWLY DISCOVERED DEPOSITsUNDISCOVERED DEPOSITsTentative estimates 

R1E 

~ R1M R1S R2E R2S 

Economically Marginally Subeconomic Economically Subeconomic 

exploitable economic exploitable 

*The capital''ff' denotes resources in situ; a lower case··,-· expresses the corresponding recoverable resources for each category and 

subcategory. Thus. r1E is the recoverable equivalent of R1E. This report deals only with R1 and R2, not with R3. 

FioURE 1. United Nations resource categories used in this report (modified from Schanz, 1980, p. 313). 

cases of secondary value, the primary mineral of economic interest is usually titanium-bearing ilmenite or 

rutile deposited in black mineral sands, with the rareearth oxides occurring in associated monazite or 

xenotime. 

Not all companies or countries report resource data 

in the same way. In this report, all resource data are 

quoted as being in place. Mining recovery from an ore 

body depends on individual conditions and may vary 

considerably. For placer deposits, over 90 percent of the 

ore is generally recovered; for open-pit primary deposits, 

mining recovery is generally in the order of 7 5 to 90 

percent. After mining, up to about 5 percent of the 

economic mineral content of alluvial ore may be lost in 

the mineral processing (concentration and separation 

stages). The metallurgical recovery rates of hard-rock 

ore depend very much on grain size and ease of 

liberation. 

The World Bank economic classification of countries (World Bank, 1986, p. 180-181), which is based 

primarily on gross national product per capita, has been 

used in this and other ISMI reports to illustrate distribution of resources and production according to economic 

groupings of countries. This classification was chosen 

because it relies primarily on objective economic criteria 

and does not contain political bloc labels that might be 

perceived differently by different countries. 

DEFINITION AND BACKGROUND OF RARE EARTHS 

The term "rare earths" is a misnomer. They were 

originally called rare because they were discovered in 

3 

isolated monazite crystals in certain types of granite. 

"Earth" is an old chemical name for oxides and refers to 

the fact that the metals always occurred in the oxide form 

(Martin, 1985). 

Rare earths are not really rare in the Earth's crust. 

Cerium, the most abundant of the rare earths (crustal 

abundance=70 parts per million (ppm)), is more plentiful than nickel (58 ppm) or copper (47 ppm). Neodymium (37 ppm), yttrium (29 ppm), and lanthanum (29 

ppm) are more plentiful than cobalt (18 ppm) or lead (16 

ppm). Praseodymium (9 ppm), samarium (8 ppm), 

gadolinium (8 ppm), dysprosium (5 ppm), and erbium 

(3.3 ppm) are each more plentiful than tin (2.5 ppm). 

Ytterbium (330 parts per billion (ppb)) and thulium (270 

ppb), the least abundant of the rare earths, are each more 

plentiful than mercury (83 ppb) or silver (70 ppb). 

Rare earths are universally described as those 15 

chemically similar elements in the periodic table that 

range from lanthanum through lutetium, which have 

atomic numbers 57 through 71, inclusively (table 1). 

Commonly, yttrium (no. 39) is included because it is 

invariably physically associated with this group. Scandium (no. 21) and thorium (no. 90) are sometimes 

considered as a part of the rare-earth series but are not 

included in the scope of this report. Since lanthanum is 

the first name in the rare-earths list, the whole group is 

sometimes referred to as the "lanthanides." The upper 

half of this series is termed the "light" or "cerium" 

subgroup, and the lower half is called the "heavy" or 

"yttrium" subgroup. An unusual property of the rare 

earths is that those elements having even atomic numbers 

are more abundant than their odd-numbered neighbors. 
TABLE 1. -Rare-earth elements and selected properties 

[ppm, parts per million. -, does not have a stable isotope and is not found in nature. Sources: Pincock, Allen 

and Holt, 1988, p. 1.2; Wellmer and others, 1988, p. 116] 

Chemical Element symbol 

Light rare earths (cerium group) 

Lanthanum .................. La 

Cerium ...................... Ce 

Praseodymium ............... Pr 

Neodymium ................. Nd 

Promethium ................. Pm 

Samarium ................... Sm 

Europium .................... Eu 

Gadolinium .................. Gd 

Heavy rare earths (yttrium group) 

Terbium ..................... Tb 

Dysprosium .................. Dy 

Holmium .................... Ho 

Erbium ...................... Er 

Thulium ..................... Tm 

Ytterbium ................... Yb 

Lutetium .................... Lu 

Yttrium ..................... y 

Thus, given the choice, an even-numbered element 

should be selected for specific applications because it 

would be more available (Kilbourn, 1988). 

The rare earths do not occur naturally as metallic 

elements. Their strong affinity for oxygen causes them to 

form mostly as oxides, although other combinations are 

possible. An exception is promethium, which does not 

have a stable isotope and is not found in nature. Because 

of their reactivity, it is difficult to refine the rare earths 

to a pure form. Due to their chemical similarity, it is 

even more difficult to separate them into individual 

elements or compounds. 

APPLICATIONS 

The rare-earths industry began in 1883 when the 

incandescent gas mantle was developed. By 1891, this 

mantle, composed of 1 percent ceria (Ce02) and 99 

percent thoria (Th02), was in commercial production 

(Neary and Highley, 1983). At the tum of the century, 

manufacturers started using a complex alloy of rare-earth 

metals, so-called "mischmetal," as the main ingredient 

in lighter flints. By the late 1940's, rare earths were 

employed in the formulation of ductile iron. A major 

surge in demand for rare earths in the late 1960's and 

early 1970's came with their use as additives in highstrength low-alloy steels and in oil refinery catalysts. 

Present and potential applications of the rare earths 

include metallurgy, magnets, ceramics, and electronics 

Atomic Atomic Crustal 

Valence abundance Oxides number weight (ppm) 

4 

57 3 138.92 29.00 L~03 58 3,4 140.13 70.00 Ce02 

59 3,4 140.92 9.00 Pr60ll 

60 3 144.27 37.00 Nd20 3 

61 3 145.00 none 

62 2,3 150.43 8.00 Sm20 3 

63 2,3 152.00 1.30 Eu20 3 

64 3 156.90 8.00 Gd20 3 

65 3,4 159.20 2.50 Tb407 

66 3 162.46 5.00 Dy203 

67 3 164.94 1.70 Ho20 3 

68 3 167.20 3.30 Er20 3 

69 3 169.40 .27 Tm20 3 

70 2,3 173.04 .33 Yb203 

71 3 174.99 .80 Lu20 3 

39 3 88.92 29.00 Y203 

and chemical, optical, medical, nuclear, and other uses. 

In the following paragraphs, a short description of the 

main markets for each element is given (Hong Kong 

Correspondent, 1990), followed by an expanded discussion of the markets (Business Opportunity Report, 

1989). Table 2 shows the major uses of the rare earths by 

industry. 

Uses for individual rare earths. -Lanthanum's 

primary use is in ceramic glazes and optical glass, such 

as camera lenses. Cerium, the chief constituent of 

mischmetal, is used in the steel industry. It improves the 

strength and ductility of aluminum alloys and raises the 

high-temperature properties of magnesium alloys. Other 

uses of cerium are as radiation shielding in cathode-ray 

tube face plates, petroleum refinery catalysts, ceramic 

capacitors, and heat-resistant jet engines. 

Praseodymium is a constituent of ceramic tiles and 

capacitors and permanent magnets. When mixed with 

neodymium, the combination is known as didymium, 

which is used in glassmaker' s goggles. 

Europium, one of the scarcest of these elements, is 

employed in colored lamps and cathode-ray tubes. The 

oxide provides the red phosphor for color television. It is 

also an essential constituent of control rods in nuclear 

reactors because of its propensity for absorbing neutrons. 

When irradiated, thulium produces an isotope that emits 

X-rays and is used in portable X-ray machines. 

Yttrium is used as a deoxidizer in stainless steel, 

in super-alloys for aircraft engines, in rechargeable 
TABLE 2. -Major uses of individual rare-earth elements 

[Simplified from Pincock, Allen and Holt, Inc., 1988] 

Mixed Industry REE La Ce Pr 

Metallurgy 

Ferrous ............................ X X X 

Nonferrous ......................... X X X X 

Magnets .............................. X X X X 

Ceramic .............................. X X X X 

Electronic ............................ X X X X 

Chemical (metallurgical catalysts) ...... X X X 

Catalysts ........................... X X X 

Optical (including glasses) ............. X X X X 

Medical .............................. 

Pharmaceuticals .................... X X 

Nuclear 

Fuel ............................... X 

Control and shielding .............. , X 

Miscellaneous 

Farming ........................... X 

Hydrogen storage ................... X X X 

Cryogenics ......................... X 

Batteries ........................... X 

batteries, and as a radioactive isotope used in pain 

killers. It can be forged, either cold or hot, deforms 

easier at temperatures above 800 °C, and is highly 

susceptible to oxidation, requiring that work be conducted in an inert atmosphere. 

Of the other rare-earth elements, samarium is used 

mainly in permanent magnets and in glass lasers; gadolinium is an essential component of solid-state lasers and 

computer memory chips; terbium is used in cathode-ray 

tubes and in magneto-optical computer memories; and, 

dysprosium is employed in permanent magnets and in 

nuclear reactor control rods. Holmium also is used to 

control nuclear reactions; erbium forms a pink glaze on 

ceramics; lutetium has no known practical uses; and 

ytterbium is similar to lutetium but has a higher magnetic 

susceptibility. 

Metallurgy. -One of the major applications of rare 

earths is in metallurgical alloys. One of the oldest of 

these alloys is mischmetal, which is made from bastnaesite concentrates. Mischmetal is used to improve the 

physical and rolling properties of iron and steel, a market 

currently in a decline, and in high-strength low-alloy 

steels. It is also a constituent of pyrophoric alloys, which 

give tracer shells their distinctive fiery trail. 

A galvanizing zinc alloy, which offers much better 

protection to underlying steel than does the normal zinc 

cover, is made with 5 percent aluminum and small 

amounts of lanthanum and cerium. The contribution of 

5 

Rare-earth element 

Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu y 

X 

X X X 

X X X X X 

X X 

X X X X X X X X X X X 

X X X X X X 

X X X X 

X X X X X X X X X X 

X X X X X X 

X X 

X X X X X X 

X 

X X 

the rare earths to metallurgy is fluidity, wettability, and 

the elimination of intergranular corrosion. 

It is expected that there will be increased substitution of rare earths for toxic materials, such as chromates, 

zinc, cadmium, and nitrates, in aqueous corrosion protection coatings. The corrosion resistance of REO coatings approaches that of chromates. They have excellent 

adhesion and can be applied easily in 30 to 90 seconds at 

slightly above room temperature. 

Selected rare earths improve the life of nickel and 

cobalt alloys that protect structural materials subject to 

intense cyclic heat and oxidation. Their additions cause 

the protective alloy to adhere much more strongly to the 

underlying metal, as for example in jet-engine exhaust 

nozzles. Use of these alloys in reaction vessels and heat 

exchangers permits chemical activity at higher temperatures, thus improving operating efficiencies. 

Yttrium oxide is mechanically milled into nickelchromium and iron-chromium alloys to improve hightemperature strength and creep resistance and to fight 

cyclic corrosive oxidation due to high heat and water 

vapor. Following mechanical alloying, the combined 

powders are compressed and sintered to required shapes. 

A new aluminum alloy, composed of aluminum, 

iron, and cerium, is under development as a replacement 

for titanium compounds in specific applications in the 

temperature range of 93 to 316 °C. Cerium contributes 
required corrosion resistance at elevated temperatures. A 

similar alloy of titanium and erbium also is being tested. 

Addition of rare earths to cast iron improves the ductility 

of the metal by reducing the size of the graphite grains 

and by improving the dispersion of smaller grains 

throughout the matrix. Rare earths are also used to 

control deleterious elements in ductile iron. 

Two magnesium alloys are being developed for 

use in high-performance engines for aircraft, space 

rockets, and satellites. The first contains 4 percent zinc 

and 1 percent mischmetal and can be used in applications 

encountering temperatures as high as 159 °C. The second 

alloy, which contains 5.5 percent yttrium, 3.5 percent 

other rare earths, and 0.5 percent zirconium, is stable at 

temperatures as high as 282 °C. 

Magnets. -Rare earths appear to be achieving 

their fastest growth in the magnet industry. In the late 

1960's, samarium, alloyed with cobalt, was first used in 

magnets. However, the relative scarcity and cost of 

samarium, coupled with cobalt supply problems encountered in 1978, led to a search for other materials. This 

resulted in development in 1982 of the neodymium-ironboron magnet. 

Samarium-based magnets are supplied in two 

grades: (1) 35 percent samarium and 65 percent cobalt or 

(2) 24 percent samarium and 20 percent zirconium plus 

iron, copper, and cobalt. Samarium-cobalt magnets 

impart a high remanence and have exceptional resistance 

to demagnetization. Major uses are in applications in 

which space is at a premium and cost is not crucial, as in 

lightweight electronic equipment. 

Neodymium-based magnets also come in two 

grades: (1) 35 percent neodymium, 64 percent iron, and 

1 percent boron or (2) 28 percent neodymium, 7 percent 

dysprosium, 40 percent iron, and 25 percent aluminum 

and boron. Their primary advantages are lower cost and 

better magnetic properties than samarium-cobalt 

magnets. However, compared to the samarium variety, 

these magnets have poor temperature and corrosion 

susceptibility. 

For computers in which rotating disks are impractical, magnetic "bubble" memories that have no moving 

parts are used. The so-called bubble is a micron-sized 

magnetic spot, in a thin rare-earth orthoferrite layer, that 

can be switched off or on by a laser. As manufactured, 

the REO-alloy layer has a positive magnetism. In use, a 

moveable laser beam heats a bubble above a critical 

temperature to temporarily destroy its magnetism; upon 

cooling, the magnetism is restored, but in the reverse 

direction. 

Gadolinium compounds can be employed in magnetic refrigeration. The underlying principle is that a 

6 

gadolinium-based solid heats up in a strong magnetic 

field and cools when removed from that field. The 

system works at room temperature, but the greatest 

prospects may be in cryogenic applications. 

Ceramics. -For the purpose of this report, ceramics are considered to be silicon compounds of sintered 

fine powders. They are physically hard, have high 

mechanical and heat strength, and resist thermal shock 

and corrosion but tend to be brittle. An unusual property, 

depending upon composition, is that ceramics can be 

either insulators or conductors of electricity. The main 

contributions of rare-earth additives are to increase the 

density and heat resistance of the sinter. 

Ceria, yttria, and some other rare-earth oxides are 

used as a sintering aid due to their facility to eliminate 

weakening voids. As an example, during firing of silicon 

nitride, the elements form a Si-Y-0-N liquid phase. 

Upon cooling, the nitride grains regrow, and a yttrium 

oxynitride cools into a microcrystalline intergranular 

bond between the grains, which resists crack development. The resultant silicon nitride ceramic is used in 

hot-zone engine parts and high-speed cutting tools. 

Yttria has a major use in the stabilization of 

high-temperature zirconia. This product forms one of the 

best high-temperature, high-strength and thermal-shock 

resistant refractory compositions that is stable under 

many conditions of oxidation and reduction at elevated 

temperatures. Consequently, it has high thermalinsulation properties and is used as a barrier coating to 

protect hot parts in jet engines. Because of inherent 

oxygen defects, yttria has an electrical resistivity that 

allows it to be used as an oxygen sensor in automobile 

exhaust systems. It is also employed in medicine for hip 

replacement parts and in dentistry for tooth fillings. 

The rare earths have lately been receiving extraordinary attention in superconductivity research, which has 

involved ceramics composed of barium, copper, and 

oxygen. Why the rare earths contribute to this property is 

not fully known, and experiments continue with assorted 

compounds to improve superconductivity at higher temperatures. Once the critical current densities become 

commercial, the ceramics can be used for power generation and transmission, electromagnets, super computers, magnetic levitation (high-speed trains), and the 

supercollider. 

Electronics. -Rare-earth materials are used in 

electronic devices that convert energy from one form to 

another. In some cases, both input and output are 

electricity, but the output variance is determined by 

another energy type, such as thermal or radiation. The 

rare earths in these materials are added to manmade 

garnet crystals: yttrium-iron, yttrium-aluminum, and 
gadolinium-gallium. Examples of these energy converters are diverse. The oxygen sensor, described earlier, 

produces a specific voltage corresponding to a certain 

oxygen input. Phosphors change electricity to luminescence. Window glass is now being made containing lead 

lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT), which can be 

switched electrically from transparent to opaque. 

Chemical. -Rare earths contribute to the effectiveness of catalysts, which are used to modify chemical 

reactions while remaining unaltered themselves. The two 

major applications of these catalysts are in the petroleum 

and auto industries. 

In oil refining, catalysts are used to increase the 

yield of gasolines extracted from the heavier oil fractions 

by a process called "cracking." Particularly in production of leaded gasolines, the catalyst is composed of a 

porous zeolite, which has as much as 5 percent rare 

earths lining its cavities. The rare earths create a strong 

electrostatic field, inducing surface acidity, to protect the 

zeolite against the high temperatures involved in regeneration by burning off accumulated carbon. Selection of 

a particular rare earth is based entirely on cost, as all of 

them are effective. Since 1985, oil refineries have been 

phasing out leaded gasolines and phasing in higher 

octane varieties. Since rare earths tend to lower octane 

rating, their growth rate is declining in this industry. 

In automobiles, catalytic converters have been 

used since the 1970's to alter hydrocarbons, carbon 

monoxide, and nitrous oxides in engine exhausts to 

water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. The catalysts are 

composed of alumina and small amounts of precious 

metals and are activated by cerium, which is about 5 

percent by weight. The cerium is used to give oxidation 

resistance at high exhaust temperatures, to stabilize 

palladium and rhodium dispersions, to minimize the 

interaction of rhodium with the alumina, and to enhance 

the oxidizing ability of the system. Testing is underway 

regarding substitution of lanthanum-enriched palladium 

for more expensive rhodium. 

Optical. -The optics industry is usually interpreted as ranging from glasses through lasers and fiber 

optics to phosphors and fluorescent lights. Through the 

use of rare earths in these products, communications and 

vision are improved. Addition of small amounts of 

cerium oxide, for example, accelerates the melting of 

glass, and addition of neodymium and praseodymium 

gives glass its red or green color. If decolorizing is 

necessary due to iron contained in the glass, cerium is 

added to oxidize the iron. Cerium is also used in glass 

bottles to absorb ultraviolet light and thus protects the 

product and prevents browning of the glass due to 

radiation. Addition of lanthanum to camera lenses 

7 

contributes a high refractive index and low dispersion. 

Praseodymium is used for vacuum-deposited antireflective coatings on lenses and as a constituent in tinted-glass 

filters for selective light absorption. 

Special REO compounds, containing from 50 to 90 

percent cerium oxide (the remainder are other light 

rare-earth elements), are used to polish glass surfaces 

without abrading. Other polishing agents, such as rouge, 

silica, and zirconia, are slow, dirty, and leave minute 

scratches. REO compounds are much faster, cleaner, 

and offer a superior finish. Polishing with REO is mostly 

a chemical reaction, whereby the hydroxyl ions in the 

agent interact with sodium ions in the glass to form a 

thin, softer hydrated layer that is removed or reformed. 

Rare earths are used as activators in laser lenses 

and crystals. Neodymium is the most popular rare earth 

for the purpose, especially when combined with yttriumaluminum-garnet. Researchers in California have experimented with a rare-earth laser in the "welding" of 

animal skin as a replacement for suturing. A promethium 

laser is undergoing testing for underwater communications and for contacting submarines and other submerged 

receivers. 

Glass fibers containing rare earths can transmit 

data over exceptionally long distances without booster 

stations. The glass for these fibers, which may be 

composed of fluorides of lanthanum, zircon, barium, 

aluminum, sodium, and hafnium, is formed by 

chemical-vapor deposition, rather than through a melt, to 

minimize impurities. 

Color for television and computer screens is made 

possible through the use of three phosphors: a europiumyttrium compound for red; a terbium-fluoride-zincsulfide for green; and, a cerium-strontium-sulfide for 

blue. When activated by photons, these phosphors emit 

the luminescence that makes the screen so attractive. A 

typical 19-inch (48 em) television screen contains 5 

grams of yttrium oxide and 0.5 grams of europium 

oxide. The TV faceplate contains neodymium oxide, 

which blocks ambient light from ruining the picture. In 

health care, terbium, thulium, and europium are used in 

X-ray phosphors to convert X-rays into visible light, 

which then strikes photographic film. The advantages of 

rare-earth phosphors over calcium-tungstate phosphor 

are reduced radiation exposure for the patient and staff, 

less silver in the film, and a sharper picture because of 

reduced patient movement within a shorter time interval. 

Addition of rare earths to the phosphors in fluorescent lights makes the light seem more natural. Europium and terbium act as activators, and yttrium, lanthanum, or gadolinium as hosts. The resultant light is 

stronger and results in a savings of about 25 percent in 
capital and operating costs. The general mix of rare 

earths in the mineral monazite, when converted to 

fluorides and added to the core of carbon arcs, dramatically increases and whitens arc intensity. Yttrium, in a 

tantalum jacket, is used in high-pressure mercury-vapor 

lamps to absorb hydrogen gas, which is gradually 

released during operations and increases the ignition 

voltage and, thus, reduces the lighting efficiency. 

Medical.-Rare-earth compounds have several 

uses in the medical profession. Cerium oxalate is prescribed for seasickness and morning sickness. Neodymium isonikotinate helps in the treatment of thrombosis. A 

gadolinium radioisotope is employed to diagnose and 

measure osteoporosis. 

Nuclear. -The nuclear industry takes advantage of 

rare earths because of their ability to absorb neutrons and 

to remain stable at high temperatures. Yttrium metal is 

used in the tubes for molten-salt reactors. Cerium and 

yttrium hydrides are constituents of neutron moderators. 

Europium can be utilized in control rods. 

Miscellaneous. -The Chinese have been experimenting with the use of rare earths as fertilizer. Crop 

yields have increased from 5 percent to 20 percent, and 

no harm to people or animals is indicated. 

Lanthanide intermetallics can absorb and desorb 

large amounts of hydrogen at convenient temperatures 

and pressures. Thus, lanthanum pentoxide plus hydrogen 

will form a lanthanum nickel hydride in an exothermic 

reaction. Heating of the hydride will reverse the reaction, releasing hydrogen. Additions of cerium, praseodymium, and neodymium to the alloy allow the reaction 

to be tailored to specific requirements. Applications of 

these alloys are for hydrogen storage, catalysts, hydrogen purification, thermal compression, waste-heat 

engines, heat pumps, refrigeration, and batteries. 

Refrigeration processes can cool cryogenic equipment to almost 33 °K (-240 °C) without the use of 

electricity. Lanthanum nickel hydride in a chamber is 

heated to about 377 °K (104 °C), which releases stored 

hydrogen gas. The gas passes through a heat exchanger, 

and is then allowed to expand. The expansion creates a 

considerable cooling effect and produces some liquid 

hydrogen. The gas is conducted to another chamber, 

where it is absorbed by more lanthanum pentoxide to 

form the hydride. The cycle is then repeated, using the 

new hydride, until the cooling chamber attains the target 

temperature. 

Two types of hydrogen-based rechargeable batteries contain rare-earth elements. Both offer long life, high 

energy and power density, effective protection from 

over- and under-charging, and contain no toxic metals. 

The first type uses electrodes composed of lanthanum, 

8 

neodymium, nickel, cobalt, and silica. The second 

battery type is composed of a nickel-oxide anode, a 

lanthanum-nickel-tin cathode, and a separator of polyamide resin containing caustic potash. When an electrical 

load is applied, the cathode releases the contained 

hydrogen, which consists of protons and electrons: the 

protons pass through the separator to the anode, and the 

electrons generate electrical current. 

MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY 

Rare earths are mined and treated in their oxide 

form, known as rare-earth oxides (REO). More than 95 

percent of REO occur in three minerals: bastnaesite 

(CeFC03), monazite (Ce,Th,Y)P04 , and xenotime 

(YP04 ). Bastnaesite, found in vein deposits, contact 

metamorphic zones, and pegmatites, is also a rare 

accessory mineral in igneous rocks, most importantly in 

carbonatites and related veins. It contains approximately 

70 percent REO, mostly of the lighter elements, and is 

mined in California and China as a primary ore. 

Monazite and xenotime concentrations occur in 

placers as heavy mineral sands. Beach-sand placers are 

the most important source of heavy minerals; alluvial, 

stream, and aeolian deposits are much less significant. 

Monazite, a rare-earth thorium phosphate (sometimes as 

much as 10 percent Th02) containing about 70 percent 

REO, mostly of the lighter elements, is recovered as a 

byproduct in the mining of titanium placers in Australia, 

Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and the United 

States. Xenotime, a yttrium phosphate containing about 

67 percent REO, mostly of the heavier elements, is 

recovered mainly from tin placers in Malaysia, although 

recently some production has come from Australian 

heavy-mineral sands. A listing of typical rare-earthelement distributions within these three minerals is 

shown in table 3. 

Cerium is by far the most abundant rare-earth 

element in most bastnaesite and monazite, accounting 

for almost 50 percent of the rare-earth content of each 

mineral. Lanthanum and neodymium make up most of 

the remainder. Bastnaesite contains less than 1 percent of 

the heavy rare-earth elements, whereas monazite has 

almost 3 percent. The most abundant element in xenotime is yttrium, which is about 60 percent of the total. 

The lighter elements make up about 15 percent of 

xenotime, and the heavier elements make up 85 percent. 

Individual rare-earth element percentages vary for the 

same mineral found in different locations. 

The types of rare earths contained in each mineral 

recovered are crucial to the success of a mining and 

beneficiating operation. Bastnaesite, which essentially 
TABLE 3.-Typical rare-earth-element distribution of the three 

major source minerals 

[N.r., not reported, values extremely variable, ranging from a trace to 

a significant number, depending upon the sample location. Figures 

may not add to totals shown due to rounding. Source: Business 

Opportunity Report, 1989, p. 28] 

Mineral 

Element1 (percent of REO content) 

Bastnaesite Monazite Xenotime 

Light rare earths 

Lanthanum .......... 32.0 23.0 

} Cerium ............. 49.5 46.5 2

10.6 Praseodymium ....... 4.2 5.1 

Neodymium ......... 13.0 18.4 

Samarium ........... .8 2.3 1.2 

Europium ........... .11 .07 .01 

Gadolinium ......... .15 1.7 3.6 -- -- Subtotal .......... 99.76 97.07 15.41 

Heavy rare earths 

Terbium ............ 

} 

.16 1.0 

Dysprosium ......... .52 7.5 

Holmium ........... .12 .09 2.0 

Erbium ............. .13 6.2 

Thulium ............ } .013 1.27 

Ytterbium ........... .02 .061 6.0 

Lutetium ............ .006 .63 

Yttrium ............. .10 1.95 59.99 -- Subtotal .......... .24 2.93 84.59 

Total ........... 100.00 100.00 100.00 

1 Promethium is not shown because it does not occur in the 

minerals listed. 2 Percent of lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, and neodymium in xenotime is extremely variable, but the total percentage for 

these four elements averages 10.6. 

contains all light rare-earth elements, cannot supply any 

of the heavier elements needed by industry. In contrast, 

xenotime, which contains predominantly heavy rareearth elements, can furnish very few of the light elements. Monazite has a slightly better balance but is 

burdened with a major problem in that recovery of a few 

specific elements also requires production of other 

undesired rare-earth elements, which must be stored, 

discarded, or sold at a low price. 

Rare-earth minerals 

As shown in table 4, there are a number of 

minerals that are, or could be, of importance in the 

economic recovery of REO. Because some of these 

minerals are mined for primary products other than rare 

earths, the REO tailings are stockpiled or discarded. 

9 

TABLE 4.-Chemicalformula, major REO group, and percent 

REO of the major rare-earth minerals 

[The letter "R" in the formulas represents rare earths. -, no data. 

Source: Business Opportunity Report, 1989, p. 24; Fleischer and 

Mandarino, 1991; A.N. Mariano, unpub. data, 1990] 

Major Percent Mineral Chemical formula REO REO designation 

Allanite ..... (R,Cah(Al,Fe,Mn,Mg)3 light 5-20 

(Si04hOH 

Apatite ...... (Ca,R)s((P ,Si)04h light 0-12 

(F,Cl,OH) 

Bastnaesite .. RFC03 light 60-70 

Brannerite ... (U,Ca,Y,Ce)(Ti,Feh06 heavy 12 

Cerite ....... (Ce,Ca) 10(Si04)6(0H,F)5 70 

Eudialyte .... ( (Ca,RhNa4)(Fe,Mn, Y) either 

ZrSi8(0H,Clh 

Euxenite ..... (R,Ca,U,Th)(Nb,Ta,Tih heavy 14-43 

06 

Fergusonite .. (R,Ca, U, Th)(Nb, Ta, Ti) 46 

04 

Florencite ... RAliP04h(OH)6 32 

Fluocerite ... RF3 70 

Gadolinite ... Be2FeR2Si20 10 heavy 48 

Loparite ..... (R,Ca)(Ti,Nb h06 light :s;30 

Monazite .... (R,Th)P04 light 50-78 

Parisite ...... CaRiC03hF2 60 

Perovskite ... (Ca,R)Ti03 light 

Pyrochlore ... (Ca,Na,RhNb20 6F variable 

Samarskite ... (Y,Ce,U,Fe+3

h 22 

(Nb,Ta,Ti)50 16 

Xenotime .... RP04 heavy 54-65 

Zircon ....... (Zr,Th,R)Si04 either 

Allanite. -This rare-earth-bearing member of the 

epidote group occurs in igneous, hydrothermal, and 

metamorphic environments. Normally limited to about 5 

percent REO, allanite is usually too scattered in the rock 

to be of economic significance. There are, however, 

three deposits that have potential for allanite mining-the Mary Kathleen uranium tailings in Queensland, 

Australia; the Alice Springs prospect in the Northern 

Territory, Australia (1 million metric tons; 4 percent 

allanite, 20 percent REO); and the Hall Mountain Group 

in Idaho, United States. 

Apatite.-Apatite, a calcium fluorophosphate, is 

found in carbonatites, alkaline igneous rocks, and some 

sediments. Currently, apatite is mined at certain locations as a source for phosphate fertilizers. At specific 

sites, such as the Kola peninsula in the former Soviet 

Union, the REO content may be high enough to warrant 
recovery as a byproduct. Potential REO projects based 

upon apatite are Phalaborwa in South Africa (124 million 

metric tons; 1.5 percent apatite, 7 percent REO) and the 

Mineville dumps in New York State, United States (16 

million metric tons; 17 percent apatite, 6 percent REO). 

Bastnaesite.-Exploitable deposits of bastnaesite, 

a fluorocarbonate of the cerium group, have been found 

as veins and disseminations in a complex of carbonatesilicate rocks, occurring with and related to alkaline 

intrusives (as in California), in quartz veins that cut 

micaceous schists and quartzite (as in Burundi), and in 

fluorite-bearing veins and breccia fillings in Permian 

sandstone (as in New Mexico). It is a primary source of 

light REO at Bayan Obo in China (800 million metric 

tons; 6 percent REO) and at Mo.untain Pass in California, 

United States (3.3 million metric tons; 7.7 percent 

REO). Bastnaesite is also the main REO mineral at 

Brockman in Australia, Po~os de Caldas in Brazil, Thor 

Lake in Canada, and Karonge in Burundi. The chemical 

susceptibility of bastnaesite to weathering causes the 

REO to dissolve and combine with available phosphates. 

Brannerite.-Brannerite, which can be an ore of 

uranium, occurs in pegmatites and conglomerates. The 

major economic location for brannerite is at Elliot Lake, 

Canada, where uranium is the primary product and 

where REO (as yttrium) is an occasional byproduct. 

Eudialyte. -Eudialyte, a silicate, occurs in nepheline syenite (as at the Ilimaussaq deposit in Greenland) 

and in peralkaline granite (as at Pajarito in New Mexico, 

United States). Grades are 0.9 percent and 0.18 percent 

REO, respectively. Eudialyte tends to form as coarsegrained euhedral crystals, which are easily dissolved in 

acids. 

Euxenite, fergusonite, florencite, gadolinite, and 

loparite. -Euxenite and fergusonite, complex oxides 

containing niobium and tantalum, are potential sources 

of REO. Florencite, an aluminum phosphate, is found in 

the weathered zone of carbonatites; by itself, this mineral 

can be relatively high in REO but is not known to occur 

in economic tonnages. Gadolinite, a beryllium iron 

silicate found in granite, granitic pegmatite, and placers, 

tends to be enriched in the heavy rare-earth elements. 

Loparite is basically an ore of niobium in which REO 

can be valuable byproducts. In the former Soviet Union, 

loparite contains as much as 30 percent REO. 

Monazite.- A thorium-bearing phosphate, monazite originates in granites and carbonatites and contains 

mostly the light REO elements. In scattered locations, 

monazite content in the rock can be high enough to 

constitute an ore. However, due to its chemical and 

physical stability throughout the weathering cycle, most 

recoverable monazite is found in placers. It is often a 

10 

byproduct of titanium mining (as in Australia). The 

thorium, which is radioactive, presents a handling and 

disposal danger during the beneficiation process. Some 

countries, such as Brazil, that wish to stockpile radioactive material, mandate that any thorium be removed 

before the material can be exported. 

Perovskite.-Perovskite is known mainly as a 

possible titanium ore having REO byproduct potential. A 

major prospect containing perovskite is at Powderhorn in 

Colorado, United States, where the rock contains 0.36 

percent REO. 

Xenotime.-A yttrium phosphate, xenotime originates in igneous and metamorphic rocks and in pegmatites. It becomes concentrated in tin-bearing placers, 

most of which are dredged for tin offshore of Malaysia 

and Thailand. Xenotime is the only major REO mineral 

that is composed mostly of the heavy REO elements. 

Types of rare-earth deposits 

REO minerals occur in a variety of geological 

environments. In general, they are found in hard rock 

deposits or in placer sands and are of primary or 

secondary origin, respectively. Composition of the REO 

minerals is strongly influenced by the presence of 

carbonates and phosphates. 

The predominant sources of REO are carbonatitesdeep-seated magmas rich in carbon dioxide and low in 

silica that intruded the Earth's crust and solidified. 

Magmas forming closer to the surface commonly lose 

their carbon dioxide and other volatile agents and do not 

carry rare earths. Rare earths in carbonatites consist 

almost entirely of the light rare-earth elements contained 

in minerals such as bastnaesite, allanite, and apatite. 

Monazite, if present, contains a maximum amount of 

REO and a minimum amount of calcium and thorium. 

Pegmatites, a hard-rock source of REO, begin as 

granitic magmas formed by remelting of crustal material. 

As the magma cools, crystals, incorporating heavy 

rare-earth elements, form. The liquid residue, relatively 

rich in the lighter REO elements, then crystallizes. 

Monazite and allanite in pegmatites tend to be richer in 

the heavy rare earths than when found in other rocks 

(A.N. Mariano, unpub. data, 1990). However, because 

monazite is likely to have more calcium and thorium, its 

overall REO content is reduced. 

Hydrothermal solutions, developed through the 

interaction of hot underground water with crustal material, can carry rare-earth elements. Since the light 

rare-earth elements are less soluble than the heavier 

elements, they tend to settle out first, leaving the heavy 

elements more concentrated in the liquid. Thus, hydro-
TABLE 5. -Distribution of rare-earth oxide deposits, mineral types, and production status of mines in those 

deposits, by country 

Deposit type Mineral Production status 

No. of Country deposits Placer Hard Monazite Bastnaesite Other1 Non- Producer REO 

rock produce~ concentrates3 

Argentina ............... 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 

Australia ................ 35 28 7 30 2 3 21 14 11 

Brazil .................. 16 14 2 14 1 1 12 4 2 

Burundi ................ 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 

Canada ................. 5 0 5 0 1 4 2 3 1 

China .................. 4 3 1 3 1 0 0 4 4 

Egypt .................. 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 

Gabon .................. 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 

Greenland .............. 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 

India ................... 5 5 0 5 0 0 1 4 4 

Kenya .................. 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 

Malawi ................. 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 

Mauritania .............. 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 

Mozambique ............ 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Namibia ................ 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 

New Zealand ............ 2 2 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 

South Africa ............ 3 1 2 2 0 1 0 3 1 

Sri Lanka ............... 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 

United States ............ 40 13 27 32 3 5 32 8 2 

Uruguay ................ 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 - - Total ............... 123 71 52 96 11 16 82 41 26 

1 Includes allanite, anatase, apatite, brannerite, davidite, eudialyte, florencite, gadolinite, perovskite, and xenotime. 2 Mines or deposits known or assumed to have no production. 3 Number of mines or deposits of the known producers that generate REO concentrates for each country. 

thermal deposits tend to contain minerals such as xenotime, which are enriched in the heavy rare earths. 

Deep chemical weathering of carbonatites causes 

the dissolution of calcite, dolomite, and apatite. The 

REO released by this activity have an affinity for the 

phosphate radical and will form supergene monazite. 

Extreme lateritic weathering will convert pyrochlore to 

florencite and convert perovskite to anatase. In general, 

the light rare-earth minerals are converted to heavy 

rare-earth minerals. 

Placers may contain recoverable amounts of REO 

minerals, such as monazite, xenotime, and anatase. 

These minerals have a high specific gravity, are chemically inert, and are stable during the erosion and transportation cycles of weathering. The major locations for 

placers are rivers, deltas, and coastlines. Along the 

coast, heavy minerals are concentrated by a combination 

of tidal action, longshore currents, waves, winds, and 

natural traps, such as a cape. Most of the placers being 

mined are recent beaches and dunes along coastlines; 

some are older deposits that have become stranded due to 

land elevation or ocean withdrawal. Mining of the 

11 

placers is usually for a primary product such as ilmenite, 

rutile, tin, or gold; REO minerals, if recovered, are 

commonly byproducts. 

Minor amounts of REO minerals are commonly 

associated with phosphate and uranium deposits. No 

phosphate operation recovers REO minerals. A few 

uranium mines in Canada, however, occasionally 

recover REO in brannerite. 

DISTRIBUTION OF REO DEPOSITS 

The ISMI rare-earth inventory covers 123 REO 

deposits in 20 countries. Of these deposits, most are in 

the United States (40), followed by Australia (35), Brazil 

(16), Canada and India (5 each), China (4), and 18 in 14 

other countries. Table 5 shows the relative numbers, 

by country, for placer and hard-rock deposits, 

mineral types, and production status of REO-mineral 

concentrates. 

As a simplification, the deposits are categorized 

either as placers or as hard-rock deposits. A total of 71 

(58 percent) of these deposits are placers, and the 
remaining 52 (42 percent) are hard-rock deposits. The 

placers occur mostly in recent or ancient shorelines and 

less frequently along present or former riverbanks. 

Monazite is the predominant REO mineral in placers, 

except for Malaysia in which xenotime prevails; however, no Malaysian deposits are in the ISMI REO 

inventory. Countries having major placer deposits are 

Australia (28), Brazil (14), the United States (13), India 

(5), China (3), and New Zealand (2); Argentina, Egypt, 

Mozambique, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Uruguay 

have 1 each. 

The hard-rock deposits are derived mainly from 

magmatic activity. The exception is in Canada, where 

REO are associated with secondary uranium. The United 

States has the most hard-rock deposits (27), followed by 

Australia (7) and Canada (5); Brazil, Burundi, and South 

Africa have 2 each, and 7 countries have 1 each. 

Monazite is the major REO mineral at 96 (78 

percent) of the deposits, and bastnaesite is predominant 

at 11 (9 percent) sites. The leading minerals at the 16 (13 

percent) remaining properties are allanite (3), brannerite 

(3), apatite (2), and eudialyte (2); anatase, davidite, 

florencite, gadolinite, perovskite, and xenotime are limited to individual properties. 

In the United States, there are 32 monazite and 3 

bastnaesite deposits, of which 8 are in actual operation, 

including only 2 (1 monazite and 1 bastnaesite) that are 

producing REO mineral concentrates. Australia has 30 

monazite and 2 bastnaesite properties and 3 properties 

having other REO minerals; 14 are operating, of which 

11 are producing monazite concentrates. Brazil hosts 14 

monazite deposits, 1 bastnaesite deposit, and 1 deposit 

with other REO minerals; 4 are known to be operating, 

and 2 of these are making monazite concentrates; the 

status of the other 12 projects is not known. All five of 

the properties in India are monazite based, of which four 

are operating and producing monazite concentrates. In 

China, there are three monazite deposits and one bastnaesite deposit, all of which are operating and producing 

REO concentrates. Canada has three brannerite mines 

currently working, and one is producing REO concentrate. All three mines in South Mrica are operating, but 

only Richards Bay is recovering a monazite byproduct. 

Sri Lanka has one operating monazite property, which 

produces a monazite concentrate. The map in figure 2 

displays the names, locations, deposit type, and the size 

range of the world's major REO deposits and districts. 

Australia.-In Australia, 27 of the 35 REO deposits are placers on, or close to, the west and east 

coasts-15 in Western Australia, 7 in Queensland, and 5 

in New South Wales. Some operations on the east coast, 

such as Fraser Island, Moreton Island, and Munmorah, 

12 

have been closed by the government because of environmental concerns; none of the west coast operations have 

been shut down for similar reasons, but incipient projects 

must undergo strict regulations, especially with regard to 

wetlands. The remaining eight deposits are inlandthree in Western Australia, two in South Australia, and 

one each in the Northern Territory, Queensland, and 

Victoria. WIM-150, in Victoria, is the only far-inland 

placer. A planned operation at Port Pirie, in South 

Australia, proposes new plants for the processing of 

stockpiled REO-rich uranium tailings and for extracting 

rare earths from foreign and domestic monazite concentrate (Hammond, 1990). 

Brazil.-Data regarding Brazilian projects are 

incomplete. There are numerous beach-sand deposits, 

which, contrary to placers in most other countries, are 

mined principally for the thorium content of the monazite. Two of the more interesting REO deposits are Sao 

Gon~ala de Sapucaf and Tapira. The former will be the 

frrst inland REO placer to be dredged in the country. It 

is located on the Sapucaf River in Minas Gerais, and 

mining was scheduled to start in 1991 (Mining Journal, 

1990a). At Tapira, which is an existing phosphate mine 

based on apatite in the same state, anatase-bearing 

overburden is currently stockpiled but will be mined and 

treated for recovery of titanium and REO (O'Driscoll, 

1989). 

Canada.-As market conditions warrant, REO are 

also extracted as a byproduct of uranium mining at Elliot 

Lake (Skillings Mining Review, 1990). There are indications, based upon beryllium content, that production 

could also come from Strange Lake, a deposit on the 

Quebec-Labrador border. Pyrochlore, fluorite, and REO 

would be byproducts (Engineering and Mining Journal, 

1990). 

China. -China undoubtedly has more REO deposits than the four reported. However, these four properties 

are among the world's largest resources, and their 

combined output strongly affects global supply. Bay an 

Obo is primarily an iron-ore mine, which has rare-earth 

minerals occurri.N.g both in separate bastnaesite zones and 

in the ferrugino material. REO production so far, and 

in the foreseeable uture, is strictly from the bastnaesite 

zones; REO in th iron ore becomes locked in slag 

during the steel-m · g process and is not recoverable 

by current extractive rocedures (L.J. Drew, USGS, 

unpub. data, 1990). The other three deposits are beachriver· placers, which are "worked by hand sluices. Ionabsorption clays are another undetailed resource. 

India.-India has five major REO placer deposits, 

of which four are in production, all in coastal areas. The 

fifth placer, unworked, is inland, remote from necessary 
infrastructure. The federal or state governments own 

these projects and recover almost all of the minerals in 

the sands-ilmenite, rutile, zircon, garnet, sillimanite, 

leucoxene, magnetite, and monazite. Thorium is 

extracted from the monazite. Resources on the coastal 

placers of India and Sri Lanka may be underestimated 

because the beach sands are replenished by annual 

monsoons. 

Mozambique. -A new (1992) REO placer operation is scheduled at Congo lone, which is on the coast, 15 

km north of Angoche. A complete infrastructure, including port and town, will be established. The consortium 

consists of Kenmare, the Mozambique government (25 

percent free interest), and the Yugoslavia Geological 

Survey (Mining Journal, 1989). 

New Zealand.-Two placer projects are in the 

pilot-plant stage in New Zealand. Important byproducts 

will be gold, cassiterite, magnetite, zircon, and monazite. Main products will be titania slag and pig iron 

(Industrial Minerals, 1990a). 

South Africa. -South Africa has three major mines 

that contain REO minerals in the ore. Recently closed 

down, Buffalo Fluorspar produced three grades of fluorspar but did not recover the associated monazite. At 

the Phalaborwa Complex, Palabora Mining Company 

operates a large copper mine that has byproducts of 

sulfuric acid, uranium, precious-metal slimes, zircon, 

and vermiculite. Foskor runs a separate nearby apatite 

mine. REO are not extracted from the apatite, which is 

recovered for fertilizer manufacture. Richards Bay is a 

major beach-dredging operation producing ilmenite and 

byproduct zircon and monazite concentrates. 

United States. -REO deposits are scattered across 

the United States, from inland California to the lower 

east coast. In Idaho, most properties are phosphate 

deposits, which are mined for fertilizer; inherent monazite is not recovered. Mountain Pass, in California near 

Las Vegas, Nev., is a major bastnaesite operation. The 

only other domestic rare-earth mine is at Green Cove 

Springs in Florida, where monazite is a byproduct of 

beach-sand dredging. Some of the coastal and inland 

placers are unlikely to be mined due to environmental 

problems. The map in figure 3 shows the World Bank 

(1986) economic class of each country that contains a 

major REO deposit. 

REO RESOURCES 

Total in-place resources in the world's major 

rare-earth oxide deposits are reported in terms of deposit 

type, mineralogy, and resource category. Amounts for 

recoverable ore resources, REO minerals, and REO will 

13 

vary with the type and efficiency of mining and beneficiation. Table 6 summarizes the resources in the world's 

major REO deposits. 

Based upon available data from 106 deposits, 

worldwide R1E REO ore resources amount to 20.6 

billion metric tons, composed of 85 percent placer and 

15 percent hard rock. The mineral mix consists of 90 

percent monazite, 6 percent bastnaesite, and 4 percent 

other REO minerals. 

REO minerals at 85 deposits amount to 36.9 

million metric tons, comprising 33 percent in placers and 

67 percent in hard rock. Composition is split into 79 

percent monazite, 9 percent bastnaesite, and 12 percent 

other REO minerals. 

Exclusive of ore and mineral statistics, REO at 103 

properties amount to 93.4 million metric tons, of which 

7 percent are in placer and 93 percent are in hard 

rock. The overall mineral composition is 20 percent 

monazite, 77 percent bastnaesite, and 3 percent other 

REO minerals. 

As is apparent from the table and the discussion, 

monazite in placers is the predominant type of REO ore 

in terms of resource tonnage. With respect to REO 

content, bastnaesite is much more important. However, 

both mineral varieties are necessary to supply a complete 

range of light and heavy rare earths. 

The category of "other resources" is based upon a 

much smaller set of records and consists mostly of 

poorly drilled areas contiguous to known properties. 

Whether they would ever be mined depends upon the 

exhaustion of the existing property and the market 

demand at the time. 

REO ore resources, REO minerals, and REO data 

have been recast in terms of countries and their continents in tables 7, 8, and 9, respectively. Only R1E 

resources are shown since the other resource categories 

are not critical to this presentation. 

With respect to RlE resources (table 7 and fig. 4), 

Australia possesses the largest resource at 8.6 billion 

metric tons, of which 94 percent occurs in placer sands 

and 95 percent is associated with monazite. Second in 

terms of tonnage is South Africa, with 5.2 billion metric 

tons, of which 97 percent occurs in placer sands and 98 

percent is associated with monazite. The United States is 

third and has 3. 3 billion metric tons of 63 percent placer 

sands and 90 percent monazite. 

The United States is the leader in REO mineral 

resources (table 8); of 22.3 million metric tons, 97 

percent are in hard-rock deposits and 73 percent are 

monazite. Australia is second at 5. 2 million metric tons, 

consisting of 97 percent in placers and 99 percent 
_v -._.r; ··-...)! ~ v~ · C':7 cl ·~( 1 .> :J 

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~~;!:"_p () L-.> '--< .j \ • (;. ~\ ~['] 

~/!,~- n 1"',\) ~~ ~ ~ ',l,. - ' ~J , , .. " ·1.:' ,.~ t.Vo:--_J / :; ~ ~Z') 

·,; ··· .. .,. .. , __ ·, __ _.. - .§·'e_? '·'··~_.· .. ·. ;~!;~.-----,, \~ ~§_J ~~ 

L,_ ( ':=- '-' /...J \\ \ ' · ~ I ~ '/ :J' 'f) ..,')..:s 

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~~ , v ~:1':-r~~~~{,~ ~ ~~~~) \ -...r? ~'·~·r' d..v'~ .--:'"~ ~ Vj2,~GREENLAND "-....../ l,-..J--- ~ ~ C? r- -~ ( ~"" _ 0 J -~~ ~ llimaussaq 

60° - ~ l<t.;~"- -~-~ ( v ' 

i,.. .. \-0$ . ·-~~- p · ~UNIT;OSTATES (,) ~ ~~ cfl/ -~~ 4 ~:~~~~~~ain Grou; ' CANADA t"-1"\_ \ ~.P '---~~> Diamond Cr~ek~ \ ""' Thor Lake l:_,J 'f' h 

'<... 71 Bald Mountam )./>~ -A. Strange Lake Vr ~':¢ ~ 7 Bear todge ~Elliot Lake (Denison! ~ ,__./ · ·- - ·• '- '-/: ._ --"""' Elliot Lake (R1o Algom, except Stanlelgh)-..lUNJTED STATES \ ~-~~-4!R" ~ Elliot Lake (R1o Algom, Stanle1gh) "\ 

oGold Fork-~L~~ f1y:· --' '* t o Pearsol Creek , 1 ,-5"--' ~r ~--.......... .. ~. o Bear Valley '; \"" 1

..1 ...-r r-, o Big Creek i. . , UNITED STATES : j / 

\~ {;i Mineville Dumps ~ 1 • UNITED STATES \. ~ '- ..o Hicks Dome v-j' ./-

Idaho Phosphates ~ North and South Carolina placers 1~'( 

~ g~=~tJI:~~~~ ~~~En~ai~~~J.E -. . . . _. -, ~~i~G~i~~ /f , .. ) 0 Champ I o Mus1c Valley , : , .•· . Aiken County . • ... / o Conda • Iron Hill . ,_ · Hilton Head Island ., 1 ... _( 

o Gay and South Forty OPowderhorn_ i,\ __ ~, Brunswick-Aitamaha I r·-' ';>, o Henry OWet Mountams ,') .., , Cumberland Island 1 ,; , ·,_ 

o Husky o Gallinas Mountains ) •.. r·-, ~ • ~ra~lfeove Springs MAURITANIA ic-J \ ·,, __ 

20o ·- o Maybe Canyon o Pajarito '-., \.. ! j o Bou Naga~,' ' o Mountain Fuel ._"--- --\·-rT · o North Henry '-.._.."'"~. l !6--....--~ 1 ·\. (.:'y···"-- -',o#/,~- o Smoky Canyon ·.-z:.,~-' 1 • ) • --- .. o Trail Creek 1"·-'. .~·-.,~--~ ~, .. ._,,_; , .. ,.'J. 

o Wooley Valley ~><' '<:~- 7' Y";,.. J -~ \'; J ····;r ~ !-7, ·-"'~-L--~ 

/, 5.L::- :_>~-). 

~ /',-,,1 ~-:~---. ~~~~~ni• <',,- ( 

,-' ~BRAZIL J • Northeast dunes (coastal place \ , .......... l~·-"..., Camaratuba ,\ .,· !' Sao Gongala de Sapucaf 

... , ~Prado 

-, ..... __ 1~, ,.--; ~ ~~~r~;a 

! ( ·-..__ .) \ ( ~~=~:pari J ~r~~: -- ~Anchieta 

ARGENTINA i / -;~1 ) -o Tapirs 

NAMIBIA * Etanenoi '• 1 • Careacu (Minas Gerias) 

EXPLANATION 

• RIO Tercero -tt--- ~- • t~~ ~~;;:l?~~nas Geriasl 

I ( ' • Sao Sebastio da Bela Vista 

( ( ../ URUGUAY (Minas Gerias) 

Geologic deposit type 

(Location of deposit on mapl 

• Placer 

• Magmatic 

; ,r ;- Atlantida 

Total resources (metric tons of contained 1 ,_J 

rare-earth oxides; symbol with deposit !Ji! 9 or mine name} ~t ~ ,) 

0 <1X1 0

5 \tJj ,> 

0 1x105 -1x1 06 , 

\ 

* > 1X106 ~1'-

• Unreported ~-

FIGURE 2. Location, geologic deposit type, and total resources of the world's major rare-earth oxide deposits and districts. 

14 
40' 

Locations and names are 

80' 120' 

70' 

1000 

MERCATOR PROJECTION 

0• O' LATITUDE 7?F77 70' 

160' 

500 500 1000 KILOMETERS 

The designations employed ~nd8 tl1.!::!~~~:~t~~~ aeowissenschaft~ und Roohr'~~~e~i~e tl1e delimitation of its frontiers. 'Nhatsoever on the part of ~ ~y country or territory or of ItS au ntleS, concerning the legal status o a 

' I . 

• + ! i ' . .' . n~t imply the expression of any opinion I ' . ' . f tl1e material in ti11S publication do federal Republic of Germany 

from tables 21 and 22 in Part II. 

15 
160° 

o· . 

lt!B.lli\B 

~ 

EXPLANATION 

Low-income economies 

Lower middle-income economies 

Upper middle-income economies 

Industrial market economies 

GABON 

Mabounie

NAMIBIA 

Etaneno

'----p,V.,,. de Caldas 

Cordislandia (Minas Gerias) 

Careacu (Minas' Gerias) 

Sao Sebastio da Bela Vista 

(Minas Gerias) 

FIGURE 3. World Bank (1986) economic classification of countries containing major rare-earth oxide deposits and districts. 

16 
40' 80' 120' 

ME RCA TOR PROJECTION 

O'STT37 0' LATITUDE 1o· m 1o· 

160' 

1000 500 0 500 1000 KILOMETERS 

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression ·of any opinion 

whatsoever on the part oi the Bundesanstalt fOr Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe of the Federal Republic of Germany 

concerning the legal status of any country or territory or of its authorities. or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers 

Locations and names are from tables 21 and 22 in Part II. 

11 
TABLE 6. -Rare-earth oxide resources in the world's major rare-earth oxide deposits, by geologic deposit type and 

resource category 

[Percentages shown are weighted by the tonnages, not by the number of records. Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding. 

N.r., not reported] 

RIE Other resources 

Deposit type Mineral Number of Million Number of Million 

deposits metric tons 1 Percent deposits metric tons 1 Percent 

REO ore resources 

Placer .............. Monazite 59 17,421 85 14 7,278 61 

Hard rock ........... Monazite 21 991 5 14 1,270 11 

Bastnaesite 10 1,302 6 5 2,815 23 

Other 16 866 4 6 662 6 

Total 106 20,580 100 39 12,025 100 

REO minerals 

Placer .............. Monazite 57 12.132 33 12 5.534 20 

Hard rock ........... Monazite 20 16.806 46 10 2.725 10 

Bastnaesite 4 3.381 9 3 18.829 70 

Other 4 4.556 12 1 N.r. N.r. - Total 85 36.875 100 26 27.088 100 

REO 

Placer .............. Monazite 57 6.732 7 10 3.230 13 

Hard rock ........... Monazite 21 11.605 12 13 1.987 8 

Bastnaesite 11 72.118 77 5 18.936 76 

Other 14 2.959 3 6 .894 4 

Total 103 93.414 100 34 25.047 100 

1 Although this report is based upon 123 global REO deposits, individual project resource tonnages are not always available for the three 

main categories of ore (placer, hard rock), minerals (for example, monazite and bastnaesite), and rare-earth oxides. As a consequence, the 

tonnages for each category must stand alone and should not be compared with the tonnages for other categories. 

South 

Africa 

China 

India 

Brazil 

Canada 

0 

EXPLANATION 

Deposit type Mineral 

D Placer sands • Hard rock 

Monazite D Bastnaesite, others 

1 1ncludes, in order of greatest resources, Mozambique (167), New Zealand (73), Egypt (44), Argentina (32), 

Greenland (30), Malawi (111. and Sri Lanka (2). 

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

REO Rl E resources (million metric tons) 

FIGURE 4. Rare-earth oxide ore resources, by country, deposit type, and mineral type (see also table 7). 

18 

9 
TABLE 7. -Tonnages of rare-earth oxide ore-grade material in Rl E resources, by continent and 

country, deposit type, and mineral 

[N.r., not reported. Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding. See also figure 4] 

Country 

Deposit type 

(million metric tons) 

Placers Hard rock Total 

Africa 

Burundi........................... N.r. N.r. N.r. 

Egypt............................. 44 N.r. 44 

Kenya............................ N.r. N.r. N.r. 

Malawi .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . N.r. 11 11 

Mauritania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. N.r. N.r. 

Mozambique .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 167 N.r. 167 

Namibia........................... N.r. N.r. N.r. 

South Africa....................... 4,980 174 5,154 

Subtotal...................... 5,191 185 5,376 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

China ............................ . 

India ............................. . 

Sri Lanka ........................ . 

Asia 

982 

647 

2 

800 

N.r. 

N.r. 

1,782 

647 

2 

Subtotal .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1,631 800 2,431 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Australasia 

Australia.......................... 8,135 476 8,611 

New Zealand...................... 73 N.r. 73 

Subtotal .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8,208 476 8,684 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

North America 

Canada............................ N.r. 276 276 

Greenland......................... N.r. 30 30 

United States...................... 2,091 1,241 3,332 

Subtotal .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2,091 1,547 3,638 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

South America 

Argentina......................... 32 N.r. 32 

Brazil............................. 267 152 419 

Subtotal .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 299 152 451 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Total......................... 17,420 3,160 20,580 

Percent of world total .......................................... . 

Mineral 

(percent of RlE resource) 

Monazite Bastnaesite 

and others 

N.r. 100 

100 N.r. 

100 N.r. 

100 N.r. 

100 N.r. 

100 N.r. 

N.r. N.r. 

98 2 

98 2 

55 45 

100 N.r. 

100 N.r. 

67 33 

95 5 

100 N.r. 

95 5 

N.r. 100 

N.r. 100 

90 10 

82 18 

100 N.r. 

64 36 

62 38 

85 15 

monazite. In third place is India at 4. 7 million metric 

tons, with 100 percent each in placers and monazite. 

South Africa is fourth; of 3.5 million metric tons, 67 

percent are in hard-rock deposits and 47 percent are 

monazite. 

REO, also in bastnaesite (Murray, unpub. data, 1989). 

The United States is third; of 14 million metric tons of 

REO, 73 percent is monazite. Australia is fourth; of 5.7 

million metric tons of REO, 69 percent is in monazite. 

The country having the largest amount of REO 

(table 9) is China, which has 48 million metric tons in 

bastnaesite (L.J. Drew, USGS, unpub. data, 1990). 

Second is Namibia, which has 20 million metric tons of 

19 

Distribution of REO resources in the RlE category, by economic class of country, is shown in figure 5 

(for selected countries) and table 10. Most of these 

resources are in the low-income economy countries, with 

a total of 51 million metric tons of REO. The ratio 
TABLE 8. -Tonnages of rare-earth-oxide-bearing minerals in RJE resources, by continent and 

country, deposit type, and mineral 

[N.r., not reported. Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding] 

Deposit type Mineral 

(thousand metric tons) (percent of RlE resource) 

Country 

Placers Hard rock 

Africa 

Total Monazite Bastnaesite 

and others 

Burundi........................... N.r. 4 4 N.r. 100 

Egypt............................. 222 N.r. 222 100 N.r. 

Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. 24 24 100 N.r. 

Malawi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. 550 550 100 N.r. 

Mauritania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. 8 8 100 N.r. 

Mozambique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 N.r. 11 100 N.r. 

Namibia........................... N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. 

South Africa....................... 1,145 2,358 3,503 47 53 

Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,378 2,944 4,322 

Percent of total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 43 

Asia 

China............................. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. 

India.............................. 4,654 N.r. 4,654 100 N.r. 

Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 N.r. 2 100 N.r. 

Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,656 4,657 

Percent of total................................................. 100 N.r. 

Australasia 

Australia.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,068 148 5,216 99 

New Zealand...................... 1 N.r. 1 100 N.r. 

Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,069 148 5,217 

Percent of total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 

North America 

Canada............................ N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. 

Greenland......................... N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. 

United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647 21,651 22,297 73 27 

Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647 21,651 22,297 

Percent of total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 27 

South America 

Argentina ........................ . 5 N.r. 5 

376 

100 

100 

N.r. 

Brazil ............................ . 376 N.r. N.r. 

Subtotal ..................... . 382 382 

Percent of total ................................................ . 100 N.r. 

Total......................... 12,132 24,743 36,875 

Percent of world total .......................................... . 78 22 

between placers and hard-rock deposits is 5:95. Approximately 96 percent of the deposits are composed of 

bastnaesite or minerals other than monazite. China has a 

major influence on these numbers since it has 48 million 

metric tons of hard-rock-deposit bastnaesite. 

The industrial-market economy countries are second in tonnage; 21.0 million metric tons are composed of 

15 percent in placers and 85 percent in hard rock 

deposits. Monazite accounts for 67 percent of the REO 

20 

minerals. In this economic class, the United States 

contains the largest resource, 14.0 million metric tons, 

followed by Australia, which has 5. 7 million metric 

tons. 

Lower middle-income economy countries are third 

in tonnage, which is 20.1 million metric tons, composed 

of 1 percent in placers and 99 percent in hard-rock 

deposits. About 99 percent of the REO is contained in 

bastnaesite and minerals other than monazite. Most of 
TABLE 9. -Tonnages of rare-earth oxides in Rl E resources, by continent and country, deposit type, 

and mineral 

[N .r., not reported. Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding] 

Country 

Deposit type 

(thousand metric tons) 

Placers Hard rock Total 

Africa 

Burundi........................... N.r. 2 2 

Egypt............................. 122 N.r. 122 

Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. 13 13 

Malawi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. 330 330 

Mauritania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N .r. 4 4 

Mozambique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 N.r. 6 

Namibia........................... N.r. 20,000 20,000 

South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630 405 1,035 

Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758 20,755 21,513 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Asia 

China............................. N.r. 48,000 48,000 

India.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,560 N.r. 2,560 

Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 N.r. 1 

Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,561 48,000 50,561 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Australasia 

Australia.......................... 2,797 2,918 5,715 

New Zealand...................... N.r. N.r. N.r. 

Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,797 2,918 5,715 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

North America 

Canada............................ N.r. 1,047 1,047 

Greenland......................... N.r. 270 270 

United States...................... 393 13,598 13,990 

Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 14,915 15,307 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

South America 

Argentina ........................ . 3 N.r. 

Brazil ............................ . 219 95 

Subtotal ..................... . 223 95 

3 

314 

318 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Total......................... 6,732 86,682 93,414 

Percent of world total .......................................... . 

Mineral 

(percent of RIE resource) 

Monazite 

N.r. 

100 

100 

100 

100 

100 

N.r. 

87 

6 

N.r. 

100 

100 

5 

69 

100 

69 

N.r. 

N.r. 

73 

67 

100 

70 

70 

20 

Bastnaesite 

and others 

100 

N.r. 

N.r. 

N.r. 

N.r. 

N.r. 

100 

13 

94 

100 

N.r. 

N.r. 

95 

31 

N.r. 

31 

100 

100 

27 

33 

N.r. 

30 

30 

80 

these figures are attributable to Namibia, which has a 

reported 20 million metric tons of REO. 

Upper middle-income economy countries are 

fourth in amount of REO RlE resources, which are 1.4 

million metric tons, of which about 63 percent is in 

placers and 83 percent is made up of monazite. 

The distribution of the world's REO ore RlE 

resources among the World Bank economic classes, 

listed by mining method, is shown on table 11. In this 

specific case, the ore resource is used because it is more 

directly allied with the mining method than either the 

mineral or REO alternative. Mining methods are dredging, open pit, and underground. In many cases, the 

choice between using dredge or open-pit methods for a 

mineral sands deposit depends upon the availability of 

sufficient water to float a dredge. Some sands properties 

are mined by a modified open pit, whereby the sands are 

collected and sluiced to form a slurry for a wet mill. For 

21 
China 

India 

South 

Africa 

EXPLANATION 

United f------, 

States 1---------' 

Economic class of country 1 

- Low-income 

I! •••·• ; I Lower middle-income 

Australia 

Canada 

10 20 

D Upper middle-income 

D Industrial market 

30 40 

Rare-earth oxide Rl E resources (million metric tons) 

50 

1 Based principa lly on GNP per capita and, in some 

instances, other distinguishing economic characteristics 

(World Bank, 1986). Two additional economic classes, 

eastern European nonmarket economies and high-income 

oil exporters, are not listed because those countries have 

no reported major REO R1E resources. 

FIGURE 5. Comparison of selected rare-earth oxide R1E 

resources, by economic class and country (World Bank, 

1986; see also table 10, this paper). 

those projects not yet working, the mining method was 

taken from associated studies, or assumed, based upon 

the disposition of the ore. 

Approximately 15.1 billion metric tons (73 percent) of the REO ores are scheduled for mining by 

dredging, mostly along the coasts of Australia and South 

Africa. Open-pit methods account for 4. 7 billion metric 

tons (23 percent), predominantly in China and the United 

States. About 0.7 billion metric tons (4 percent) are 

assigned to underground extraction, mainly in Australia 

and Canada. 

The industrial-market economy countries contain 

the majority of the ore resources: 12.3 billion metric 

tons, or 60 percent of the world total. Mining methods 

are apportioned at 80 percent dredging, 14 percent open 

pit, and 6 percent underground. Of these, Australia has 

the largest resource at 8.6 billion metric tons, consisting 

of 90 percent dredging, 5 percent open pit, and 5 percent 

underground. The United States is second largest at 3.3 

billion metric tons, consisting of 63 percent, 36 percent, 

and about 1 percent, respectively. 

Second to the industrial-market economy countries 

are the upper middle-income economy countries, with 

5.6 billion metric tons, or 27 percent of the total, 

consisting of 90 percent dredging and 10 percent open 

pit. South Africa has nearly all of the major tonnage, 5.2 

billion metric tons, of which 97 percent is extractable 

using dredging methods. 

22 

1983 1984 1985 1986 

Year 

1987 1988 1989 

FIGURE 6. Rare-earth oxide production, 1983-89, for major 

producing countries (see table 12). 

The low-income economy countries have 2.6 billion metric tons, which is equal to 13 percent of the 

global total and is mined 94 percent by open pit and 6 

percent by dredging. Most of these resources are in open 

pits in China and India. Lower middle-income countries 

have 44.5 million metric tons or 2 percent of the global 

total, all of which will be mined by open-pit methods. 

REO PRODUCTION 

Worldwide REO production and potential production are shown in table 12, by country and by year from 

1983 through 1989. During this period, global production has been variable (fig. 6), ranging from a low of 

34,214 metric tons in 1986 to a high of 66,990 metric 

tons in 1989. Prior to 1985, the United States was the 

leading producer and Australia was second. However, 

China rose to second place by 1985 and was ahead of the 

United States by 1988. REO production in both countries 

is primarily from bastnaesite. The emergence of China as 

a leading producer of REO has drastically affected global 

prices and the potential for new projects. 

Production of REO concentrates in Australia has 

been on a downtrend or at a lower level during the last 

few years, and some operations on the east coast have 

been closed due to environmental restrictions. However, 

improvement in sales prices has caused a rise in production more recently, and many new projects are starting or 

are under study. Brazilian production has shown little 

variation but is expected to rise as new projects begin to 

produce. Canada supplies a small amount of REO as a 

byproduct of uranium operations. REO output in India is 

steady and is consumed internally. 
TABLE 10.-Tonnages of rare-earth oxides in RJE resources, by World Bank economic class of 

country, deposit type, and mineral 

[N.r., not reported. Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding] 

Country 

Deposit type 

(thousand metric tons) 

Placers Hard rock Total 

Low-income economies 

Burundi........................... N.r. 2 2 

China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. 48,000 48,000 

India.............................. 2,560 N.r. 2,560 

Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. 13 13 

Malawi .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . N.r. 330 330 

Mozambique...................... 6 N.r. 6 

Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 N.r. 1 

Subtotal .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2,567 48,345 50,912 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Lower middle-income economies 

Egypt............................. 122 N.r. 122 

Mauritania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N.r. 4 4 

Namibia........................... N.r. 20,000 20,000 

Subtotal .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 122 20,004 20,126 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Upper middle-income economies 

Argentina .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 3 N.r. 3 

Brazil............................. 219 95 314 

South Africa....................... 630 405 1,035 

Subtotal .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 852 500 1,352 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Industrial market economies 

Australia ......................... . 

Canada ........................... . 

Greenland ........................ . 

New Zealand ..................... . 

United States ..................... . 

2,797 

N.r. 

N.r. 

N.r. 

393 

2,918 

1,047 

270 

N.r. 

13,598 

5,715 

1,047 

270 

N.r. 

13,991 

Subtotal...................... 3,190 17,833 21,023 

Percent of total ................................................ . 

Total......................... 6,732 86,682 93,414 

Percent of world total .......................................... . 

Mineral 

(percent of RlE resource) 

Monazite 

N.r. 

N.r. 

100 

100 

100 

100 

100 

4 

100 

100 

N.r. 

100 

70 

87 

83 

69 

N.r. 

N.r. 

100 

73 

67 

20 

Bastnaesite 

and others 

100 

100 

N.r. 

N.r. 

N.r. 

N.r. 

N.r. 

96 

N.r. 

N.r. 

100 

99 

N.r. 

30 

13 

17 

31 

100 

100 

N.r. 

27 

33 

80 

Actual 1989 production figures demonstrate a 

sharp rise in the output of REO for most countries. 

Compared to 1988, REO production climbed 47 percent 

from 45,683 metric tons to 66,990 metric tons. China 

continued to reign as premier producer; its 25,220 metric 

tons reflect a 35 percent increase. The United States 

remained second; the U.S. production of 21 , 87 5 metric 

tons was a 90 percent increase in 1 year. Australia was 

third; its 7, 700 metric tons amounted to an 18 percent 

rise. Production in India increased by 51 percent. 

Potential REO production for 1989 was 138,096 

metric tons if the presently operating mines had all 

produced REO instead of discarding or stockpiling it. 

The chief, but not only, potential REO producers are 

those placer operations where the objective is to recover 

titanium minerals and to discard the other minerals. 

Hard-rock operations may also fail to recover rare-earth 

oxides. The Olympic Dam underground mine in Australia, for example, could potentially produce about 5,000 

metric tons per year of REO as a byproduct of uranium 

recovery but has no plans to do so. In much the same 

manner, Canadian underground uranium mines have the 

potential for 610 metric tons per year of REO but 

actually produce about 150 metric tons per year (Vijayan 

23 
TABLE 11. -Tonnages of rare-earth oxide ore-grade material in Rl E resources, by World Bank 

economic class of country and by actual or proposed mining method 

[N.r., not reported. Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding] 

Country 

Dredge 

Mining method, actual or proposed 

(million metric tons) 

Open pit Underground Total 

Low-income economies 

Burundi ....................... N.r. N.r. 0.1 0.1 

China ......................... N.r. 1,781.9 N.r. 1,781.9 

India .......................... N.r. 647.3 N.r. 647.3 

Kenya ......................... N.r. .4 N.r. .4 

Malawi ........................ N.r. 11.0 N.r. 11.0 

Mozambique ................... 166.8 N.r. N.r. 166.8 

Sri Lanka ...................... 1.6 N.r. N.r. 1.6 

Subtotal ................... 168.4 2,440.6 0.1 2,609.0 

Lower middle-income economies 

Egypt ......................... N.r. 44.4 N.r. 44.4 

Mauritania ..................... N.r. .1 N.r. .1 - Subtotal ................... N.r. 44.5 N.r. 44.5 

Upper middle-income economies 

Argentina ...................... N.r. 31.7 N.r. 31.7 

Brazil ......................... 75.6 343.1 N.r. 418.7 

South Africa ................... 4,980.0 173.8 N.r. 5,153.8 

Subtotal ................... 5,055.6 548.6 N.r. 5,604.2 

Industrial market economies 

Australia ....................... 7,739.9 

Canada ........................ N.r. 

Greenland ..................... N.r. 

New Zealand ................... 73.3 

United States ................... 2,091.3 

Subtotal ................... 9,904.5 

Total ...................... 15,128.5 

and others, 1989). South Africa has a fluorspar mine and 

adjacent copper-apatite mines (Phalaborwa) that together 

could make about 41,000 metric tons per year of REO. 

Finally, in the United States the operating open-pit 

phosphate mines would recover about 7,000 metric 

tons per year of REO, if the companies deemed it 

economical. 

The country having the greatest potential for REO 

production is South Africa, which could produce 41,280 

metric tons per year as compared to an actual production 

of about 700 metric tons per year; this would be an 

increase of approximately 59 times the present production. The United States has the capacity to produce about 

32,764 metric tons per year, which is a 50 percent rise 

over the 1989 actual production of 21,875 metric tons 

per year. China could undoubtedly produce more REO 

than is reported, especially if Bayan Obo steel slag could 

422.6 448.5 8,611.0 

52.6 223.8 276.3 

30.0 N.r. 30.0 

N.r. N.r. 73.3 

1,187.2 53.4 3,331.9 

1,692.4 725.7 12,322.5 

4,726.1 725.7 20,580.3 

be successfully treated. Australia could produce 11,462 

metric tons per year, about half again the present rate, if 

Olympic Dam and some of the placer operations introduced REO mineral recovery plants. REO output in 

Brazil could be raised by a factor of five with little 

trouble. 

The production figures in table 12 are shown by 

World Bank economic class of countries in table 13 and 

figure 7. From 1983 to 1989, the industrial-market 

economy countries began as the premier producers of 

REO. However, REO production from this class 

dropped from 69 percent of the world total in 1983, to 

just 44 percent in 1989, despite a big jump in output that 

year. On the contrary, the low-income economy countries, principally China, steadily increased their REO 

production until, by 1988, they temporarily surpassed 

the output of the industrial-market economy countries. 

24 
TABLE 12.-Annual global rare-earth oxide production, by country, 1983-89 

[MEC's, market economy countries. CPE's, centrally planned economies. N.r., not reported. Figures may not add to totals shown due to 

rounding. See also figure 6. Source: U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1985-90] 

Annual production 

(metric tons of REO) 

Country 

1989 

1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 potential1 

Australia ....................... 7,975 9,189 8,250 5,820 6,600 6,530 7,700 11,462 

Brazil ......................... 1,100 1,100 3,300 3,300 1,100 1,100 2,280 11,028 

Canada ........................ N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. 50 100 1

150 610 

China ......................... 6,000 8,000 10,000 6,750 15,100 18,660 25,220 30,000 

India .......................... 2,200 2,200 2,200 2,200 2,200 2,060 3,114 4,989 

Malaysia2 ••••••••..•.•.•.•.••.• 187 2,563 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,300 

South Africa ................... N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. 1688 41,280 

Sri Lanka ...................... N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. N.r. 1

363 363 

Thailand2 ...•••.•••••.•••••.... 77 172 140 140 820 800 1800 800 

United States ................... 17,083 25,311 13,428 11,094 16,710 11,533 1

21,875 32,764 

Other MEC' s .................. 165 170 110 110 110 100 N.r. N.r. 

Other CPE' s ................... 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1 1,500 1,500 

Total. ..................... 36,287 50,205 42,228 34,214 47,490 45,683 166,990 138,096 

1 Estimated. 

2 Not in the ISMI rare-earth oxide inventory. 

TABLE 13.-Rare-earth oxide production, by year and World Bank economic class of country 

[Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding. See also figure 7. Source: U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1985-90; World Bank, 1986] 

Annual production 

Economic class 1 (metric tons of REO) 

1989 

1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 2

1989 potential 

Low-income ................... 8,200 10,200 12,200 8,950 17,300 20,720 28,697 35,352 

Lower middle-income ........... 77 172 140 140 820 800 800 800 

Upper middle-income ........... 1,452 3,833 6,710 6,710 4,510 4,500 6,268 55,608 

Industrial market ............... 25,058 34,500 21,678 16,914 23,360 18,163 29,725 44,836 

Eastern European nonmarket .... 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 

Total. ..................... 36,287 50,205 42,228 34,214 47,490 45,683 66,990 138,096 

1 Based principally on gross national product per capita and, in some instances, other distinguishing economic characteristics. An additional economic class, 

high-income oil exporters, is not listed because those countries have no reported REO production. 2 Estimated. 

The upper and lower middle-income economy classes 

are not heavy contributors to world REO production. 

Data from the eastern European countries are inconclusive, and the production shown is an estimate. 

Potential production from operating mines is largest in the upper middle-income economy countries, from 

which 55,608 metric tons per year would be possible if 

the proper recovery plants were installed. Industrialmarket economy countries would be second at 44,836 

metric tons per year. The low-income economy countries 

are producing close to their potential of 35,352 metric 

tons per year. Lower middle-income economy countries 

are producing at their potential of 800 metric tons per 

year. 

25 

Table 14 shows 1989 REO production by type of 

deposit and by mining method, both actual and potential, 

for those countries where operating data are available. 

Figure 8 emphasizes the potential production capability 

of selected countries. Of the actual 1989 worldwide REO 

production, 41 percent comes from placer sands and 59 

percent from hard-rock deposit types. If other operating 

mines that have potential REO production were 

included, these values would shift to 27 percent of 

production from placer sands and 73 percent from 

hard-rock deposits. Actual REO production from placer 

deposits could be raised by 42 percent, and production 

from hard-rock deposits could be increased by 168 

percent. 
-=- .. 35 

l:-30 

~ 

.. 

Q. 

.. S25 

u 

'E 

ibo 

"0 

c 

.. 

~ 15 

E. 

c 

0 

·-a 10 :::J 

"0 

e 

g 5 

::li! 

1983 1984 1985 1986 

Year 

1987 1988 1989 

FIGURE 7. Rare-earth oxide production, 1983-89, for World 

Bank (1986) economic class of country (see table 13). 

V) 

c 

B 

'-' 

·s 

C) 

E 

"0 

60 

50 

~ 40 V) 

:::J 

0 

:§. 

c 

0 

. .., 

c. 

E 

:::J 

V) 

g 30 '-' 

C) 

"0 

·;;: 

0 

E 

:::J 

34 

41.3 ~ South 

Africa 

United 

States 

China 

Australia 

Brazil 

India 

Canada 

Sri Lanka 0.4 

10 20 

EXPLANATION 

Production 

-Actual 

.. Potential 

30 40 

Rare-earth oxide production for 1989 (thousand metric tons) 

50 

FIGURE 8. Actual and potential 1989 rare-earth oxide 

production, by country. 

Mining methods for actual production are approximately 6 percent for dredging, 94 percent for open pit, 

and almost nil for underground. Inclusion of potential 

production estimates slightly changes mining method 

percentages. Potential production from open pits is 115 

percent more than actual, and underground mines could 

supply about 36 times as much as they presently do. 

Mining, either actual or potential, of placer sands 

is not always by dredging methods. In some low-wage 

placer-working countries, beach sands are recovered 

manually with baskets or sluices. In high-wage countries, placers are mined by open pits when dredging is 

impractical due to insufficient water or to shallow or thin 

ore layers. 

26 

-g 20 

..c "' 

t 

"' C) 

e 

c: "' 

10 

0 

1990 2000 1990 2000 

World United States 

FIGURE 9. Forecast world and U.S. consumption of rare-earth 

and yttrium oxides for 1990 and 2000. 

Published forecasts for REO production range 

from glowing to pessimistic (Hedrick, 1988; Vijayan and 

others, 1989; Business Opportunity Report, 1989). In 

general, the market is expected to continue rising gradually, as demand grows. The U.S. Bureau of Mines 

predicts (fig. 9) that world consumption of REO and 

yttrium oxide will be 45,000 metric tons in 1990 and will 

rise by 2.6 percent per year to 58,000 metric tons in 

2000. For the United States, consumption will be 25,000 

metric tons in 1990 and 34,000 metric tons in 2000, 

which is equal to a growth rate of 3.1 percent per year. 

There will be no difficulty in supplying REO at 

these predicted consumption rates. Some of the present 

working deposits have sufficient reserves for many 
TABLE 14. -Actual and potential rare-earth oxide production in 1989 for selected countries, by country, deposit type, and 

mining method 

[N .r. , not reported. Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding] 

Production, by deposit type 

(metric tons) 

Country Actual Potential 

Placer Hard rock Total Placer Hard rock Total 

Australia 1 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 7,700 N.r. 7,700 6,534 4,928 11,462 

Brazil .............................. 2,280 N.r. 2,280 10,428 600 11,028 

Canada ............................. N.r. 150 150 N.r. 610 610 

China .............................. 10,220 15,000 25,220 12,000 18,000 30,000 

India ............................... 3,114 N.r. 3,114 4,989 N.r. 4,989 

South Mrica ........................ 688 N.r. 688 688 40,592 41,280 

Sri Lanka ........................... 363 N.r. 363 363 N.r. 363 

United States ........................ 1,088 20,787 21,875 1,088 31,676 32,764 

Total ........................... 25,453 35,937 61,390 36,090 96,406 132,496 

Percent. ........................ 41 59 100 27 73 100 

Production, by mining method 

(metric tons) 

Country Actual Potential 

Dredge Open pit Underground Total Dredge Open pit Underground Total 

Australia 1 ..•••••••••.... 1,996 5,704 N.r. 7,700 1,694 4,840 4,928 11,462 

Brazil .................. N.r. 2,280 N.r. 2,280 N.r. 11,028 N.r. 11,028 

Canada ................. N.r. N.r. 150 150 N.r. N.r. 610 610 

China .................. N.r. 25,220 N.r. 25,220 N.r. 30,000 N.r. 30,000 

India ................... N.r. 3,114 N.r. 3,114 N.r. 4,989 N.r. 4,989 

South Africa ............ 688 N.r. N.r. 688 688 40,592 N.r. 41,280 

Sri Lanka ............... N.r. 363 N.r. 363 N.r. 363 N.r. 363 

United States ............ 1,088 20,787 N.r. 21,875 1,088 31,676 N.r. 32,764 

Total ............... 3,772 57,468 150 61,390 3,470 123,488 5,538 132,496 

Percent ............. 6 94 0 100 3 93 4 100 

1 The actual REO production numbers for Australia have been inflated by an unknown amount of monazite concentrates withdrawn from 

stockpiles established in earlier years; this inflation skews the placer and dredging and open-pit comparisons. 

years, and adjacent unproved R2 resources will extend 

the operating periods. Those projects that could recover 

REO, but do not, could easily install REO circuits in 

their existing beneficiation plants. A few properties, 

especially in Australia, that were closed for environmental reasons could be restarted if approval was given by 

the local authorities. Some new projects are scheduled to 

start soon, and others under study could commence 

within a few years. 

Australia.-Australia has many new placer and 

hard-rock projects pending. At WIM-150, a proposed 

inland dredging property, the operator is hoping to 

resolve a problem of fine-material recovery and could be 

producing 12,000 metric tons of monazite and 2,500 

metric tons of xenotime per year when production of 

titanium minerals commences at a later date (R.J. Pantel, 

USBM, unpub. data, 1990). Cataby, a placer deposit, 

27 

has the potential for 4,000 metric tons per year of 

monazite. Brockman, now undergoing feasibility studies, will be a hard-rock open pit that might produce 87 

metric tons per year of REO. Mount Weld has a grade of 

26 percent REO and yttrium; production could start in 

late 1994 if the company decides to proceed with 

development (Pantel, unpub. data, 1990). Yangibana, at 

a grade of 1.7 percent REO, and Alice Springs, at 

0. 8 percent REO, also are candidates for development. Plants for converting both monazite and bastnaesite concentrates to rare-earth products are under 

consideration. 

Brazil.-There are a few new projects underway in 

Brazil. A dredging operation on the Sapucai River is 

scheduled for start-up in the first half of 1991 and will be 

producing 1 ,600 metric tons per year of monazite, which 

is equal to 912 metric tons per year of REO (O'Driscoll, 
1989). The phosphate mine at Tapira is undergoing 

modernization, including a REO recovery plant, so by 

late 1990 or early 1991 it can commence producing 

about 253 metric tons per year of REO. 

Canada. -Canada is unlikely to increase rareearth production; on the contrary, the operating mines 

are at the mercy of specific uranium contracts, which 

may or may not be renewed. A remote possibility exists 

that the Strange Lake deposit could be developed, 

primarily for its beryllium content, and would account 

for about 4, 700 metric tons per year of REO as a 

byproduct. 

China. -Output of REO from China is strictly a 

matter of how much the government wishes to participate in the world market, as with their alumina and 

tungsten operations. There are many placers and ionabsorption clays that could be worked. The independent 

REO operation at Bayan Obo could be expanded at any 

time, and extraction of REO from furnace slag awaits 

only research and development. 

Mozambique. -The Congolone beach placer in 

Mozambique was scheduled to start in 1992 and would 

produce 1 ,000 metric tons per year of monazite. Extensive, abutting deposits of undrilled reserves could be 

used to augment this rate. 

United States. -A rise in REO production by the 

United States will depend upon the status of the Pajarito 

project in New Mexico, which is currently undergoing 

more drilling and evaluation. The Mountain Pass mill 

was expanded recently, and another expansion is 

unlikely. The Max ville property in Florida may commence production in 1992, replacing some of the Green 

Cove Springs output. Figure 10 shows the operating and 

production status of the rna jor global REO deposits and 

actual and potential annual tonnages. 

SUPPLY AND CONSUMPTION 

Available statistics for 1989 (Hedrick, 1990) 

indicate a global trend (compared to 1988) of higher 

bastnaesite consumption and lesser dependence on monazite. Processors also are showing an increasing preference for the higher purity rare-earth compounds over the 

more common mixed compounds. Two companies, 

Molycorp and Rhone-Poulenc, and their affiliates, and 

China, dominate world production capacity. Production 

is from raw ore, concentrates, or partially refined compounds, either imported or domestic, supplied by the 

United States, Australia, Canada, and South Africa. 

Major net exporters of rare earths in the form of 

monazite concentrates are Australia and South Mrica; 

28 

China exports bastnaesite-based products. Net importers 

are Japan and the former West Germany. 

Several factors currently affect REO supply and 

consumption. REO production capacity, to date, exceeds 

consumption. Some of the placer-mining companies may 

stockpile, waste, or not recover the byproduct monazite. 

None of the phosphate-mining companies, for example, 

have monazite-recovery circuits. In addition, there are a 

number of prospects and developing rare-earth properties 

that may begin production within the next few years. 

Output of byproduct placer monazite is a function of 

primary ilmenite and rutile operations, and gyrations of 

the titanium industry strongly affect the availability of 

rare earths. While some individual rare-earth compounds 

find a ready market, other similar compounds, produced 

concurrently, have little or no market and are stockpiled 

until a market is developed. 

Consumption of rare-earth products is not great in 

terms of weight; measurement is commonly reported in 

pounds, rather than in tons. Some markets, such as steel 

and petroleum, actually are shrinking in size. Growth in 

demand for specific products, like television sets and 

catalytic converters, depends upon market expansion; for 

example, other countries besides the United States might 

enact environmental legislation requiring automobiles to 

have catalytic converters. For those rare earths that have 

a limited or no market, research is directed toward new 

uses, or perhaps substitution, for the more saleable rare 

earths. Finally, reductions in processing costs would 

allow a more diverse market to develop since products 

would be cheaper and more available for testing. 

World consumption of rare earths and their products in 1988 was 40 million pounds (Business Opportunity Report, 1989) (table 15 and fig. 11). For the major 

industries, consumption was 52.5 percent for chemicals 

(mostly catalysts), 42.5 percent for optics, and 5 percent 

for metallurgy and magnets. By 1995, world consumption is forecast to grow to 43 million pounds, distributed 

as 51.2 percent, 39.5 percent, and 7 percent in the 

respective industries above, and the remaining 2.3 percent spread between ceramics and electronics. 

U.S. consumption in 1988 was 15 million pounds, 

65 percent of which was used for chemicals, 27 percent 

for optics, 6.7 percent for metallurgy and magnets, 

0.9 percent for ceramics, and 0.1 percent for electronics. Predictions for 1995 are for 16 million pounds 

to be consumed: 61 percent, 27 percent, 11 percent, 

1.3 percent, and 0.14 percent, in those industries, 

respectively. 

Besides weight, another measure of consumption 

is value (table 15 and fig. 12). World consumption of 

rare-earth products in 1988 was valued at $343 million 
TABLE 15. -Actual1988 and forecast 1995 world and U.S. consumption of rare-earth products, by industry 

[Totals are rounded to compensate for other minor industries. Source: Business Opportunity Report, 1989, p. 185-189] 

1988 1995 

Industry Weight Value Weight Value 

(million pounds) (million U.S. dollars) (million pounds) (million U.S. dollars) 

World 

Chemicals ................... . 21.0 $ 58.0 22.0 $ 57.0 

Optics ....................... . 17.0 230.0 17.0 290.0 

Metallurgy and magnets ....... . 2.0 40.0 3.0 80.0 

Ceramics .................... . .25 12.0 .5 28.0 

Electronics ................... . .03 3.0 .5 4.0 

Total .................... . 40.28 343.0 43.0 459.0 

United States 

Chemicals ................... . 9.8 

Optics ....................... . 4.1 

Metallurgy and magnets ....... . 1.0 

Ceramics .................... . .13 

Electronics ................... . .015 

Total .................... . 15.045 

(Business Opportunity Report, 1989). The optical 

market was the largest at 67.1 percent, followed in 

decreasing order by chemicals, metallurgy and magnets, 

ceramics, and electronics. Projections for 1995 world 

consumption total $459 million; optics will still have the 

largest share, but metallurgy and magnets will overtake 

chemicals for second place. The proportion of REO 

consumption value for ceramics will increase by 74 

percent. 

The value of U.S. REO consumption in 1988 was 

$104 million: 44.2 percent for optical and lesser amounts 

for the other industries. The estimate for 1995 U.S. 

consumption is $158 million of which the corresponding 

values will be roughly in the same proportions. 

Growth rate, by weight, for the world will be 1.07 

percent versus 0.95 percent per year for the United 

States. However, based on value, the growth rate per 

year will be 4.56 percent worldwide versus 7.42 percent 

for the United States (Business Opportunity Report, 

1989). 

Table 16 shows a comparison of the consumption 

by weight and by value for specific rare-earth compounds throughout the world and in the United States 

(Business Opportunity Report, 1989). On a world basis, 

the 80-percent lanthanum oxide was the consumption 

leader at 13 million pounds, followed by 60-percent 

cerium oxide, 96-percent cerium oxide, and 96-percent 

praseodymium oxide. However, on a value basis, the 

praseodymium oxide was first at $107 million, followed 

29 

29.0 9.8 43.0 

46.0 4.4 72.0 

21.0 1.7 29.0 

6.5 .21 11.0 

1.5 .023 3.0 

104.0 16.133 158.0 

by 99.99-percent europium oxide, 99.99-percent yttrium 

oxide, and 96-percent cerium oxide. 

The consumption mix is different in the United 

States. The leader is again 80-percent lanthanum oxide at 

5 million pounds, followed by 96-percent cerium oxide, 

60-percent cerium oxide, and mischmetal. With respect 

to values, 96-percent cerium oxide and 99.99-percent 

europium oxide account for $22 million each, followed 

closely by 99. 99-percent yttrium oxide and by 

80-percent lanthanum oxide. 

PRODUCTION AND CAPITAL COSTS 

Production costs are those direct and indirect 

expenses incurred by the mining and beneficiation of 

ore. Direct costs include both operating and maintenance 

labor, salaried supervision, materials, payroll overhead, 

and utilities. Indirect costs are administration, site maintenance and supplies, research, and technical and clerical 

labor. Transportation and refining costs, which can be 

expensive, are not within the scope of this study. 

Anstett (1986) generated a substantive study on 

world rare-earth mine and mill operating costs. These 

costs, originally reported in January 1984 U.S. dollars 

per metric ton of ore, have been updated here to average 

1989 U.S. dollars, as shown in table 17. 

Average mine, mill, and total production costs per 

country show that Australia is the most economical of 

the producers at $1.26 per metric ton, followed by India 
160° 120° 40° oo ,lrP-1) . .._.._.'! (\ \r' . C::-J ti ... l -~ '? /", . ~-.. I ..-1 ..,. G.;;;~ ] 

G, ;J 'j ,C1--,_ \, 1 '0 ;\'"'! ~~;.~".J"U·:\.i\J..L,-/ ~..._.. ~ ~ 

/' ·_::~~~?.:;:_; :fi;__('-c:.l [::~":~~~i \,~-~\ ~~I / // (-\ .... {, ~~~1 .~"("""-··-.: ..... /-_V'~ .. :.:::.. ~~· ~\.~f!/ (c."" }t··,-'~.\r-, ~:-'.· ' ~ '"" ....,.-,....... -'J 

; , ~ ... . \,:: V;,l •. ~-~ ,i ·,, ~ ~~,...z, .. )_ ~.... ! I i....J \.l \ - :..- ~ -i' 'rJ ~ /"Jr., ;j .. :""V-~· . \ ~) p-.. . \:i ~-, ~- ~..,~ ,., ... -t.... \-' --,,_.... ... ( _______ '::.:> \.-..:- "" ~ i\ ';;;~'' {- ~ \ t,' 

/ ~ .... -.... .....-.;_)\ (" ,.---- ..... \ l ,.) '-~"~ ..... __ ~., t?~(\ '-A, 

!,, 

,..) :_--"---

! 

(':.-'flo• \i!P·-, __ <;;.::\''· v-.r·.b:-•.5 

~..,..~~.... 

./~~,-,, ~ z,~, /,; ;';_ • 

1 

S--i'<"";'f~-:\. ,.J ~ _,_\.. >'~ .d ~~~-s ~)' ; [ - " I" ...... ___ ......,. .. ).\ J· v \ l¥' ' 1'"\~r, . \ c._...r~~~ : ~-~;j -- . ~- '.1 .... ,-;i) cJ ('\,) ~ , r .r..;·/ <to "'""'-< , <Ji..r "'1~1( • \. \j K t.:.v · -, 

, !? rv~J c_v,_::_, s-~~ \0 ~~\--- l GREEN LAN~~_,. .. /' ' ;!'- S" C? ,~ , r-·"), ~ .... ~ f \ ~ llimaussaq 

{<l , , ·J' \.... "' I 

60° - •---: ~ )!,.oj..,-:-<,_J__~ ,. { :\ "\.. I 

[...-,._.f ·; ~\\ 1::-- lf':.> .J .\.~ 

V") ~ '·1t·· .. !1.4 '"1 \ ~..,. ) ~~' 

J-)!7V ,,.~ ~;/u~!TtE~o~n~~~~~oup ) ~ , i-~ ,_p .

21 ·~ Lemh1 Pass i ~ CANADIA {j '- . ~, '~\,> Diamond Creek ~e:. \ """ Thor Lake -l ~ L ~~ 71 Bald Mountam \,,$ rft Strange Lake ~ c'"

':':\. }Bear Lodge ~-_,. 1 Elliot Lake (Damson) f~! ~-- ---- -- · --- -···- 7"".:• ~ Ell1ot Lake (Rio Algom, except Stanle1gh~ UNITED STATES t :;:, ...... --4_ ~ Ell1ot Lake (Rio Algom, Stanleigh) '\ 

•Gold Fork ~ .~( ~~-'-~ .. : ' .. JA::' ;. • Pearsol Creek --===-:=.:-:--- no 1- ~ ~J(;~ 1 

•BearVa ley ' ~ U :?~' f ~-~- 40' - • Big Creek i ._, --1;~ , UNITED STATES J? /, 

UNITED STATES \~\ Y' •~i~nk~vg~~eumps \Jv _ _/ :_ a Idaho Phosphates UNITED STA '''~. _41r---North and South Carolina placers ,~ ~..,.,..- • Blackfoot Bndge . ._ Oak Grove (' '· .. • Caldwell Canyon +Mountam Pass ' . .. - Silica Mine ... • Champ • Music Valley • \:-.- \ .. Aiken County ) / • Gonda •Iron Hill · ·. Hilton Head Island · ••; L_(-' a Gay and South Forty- • Powderhorn. : ._'-~ Brunswick-Aitamaha 1

1, ,., ()Henry •WetMountams '·\ '- , Cumberland Island · ?-- • Husky • Gall mas Mountains . ' I ~~ Green Cove Springs ,,~ t . 

20° - ()Maybe Canyon -- • Pajarito ! \, ;·-; 'i:':. • Maxville MAURITANIA --~ ', ', 

oo --

20° 

40° -

aMountain Fuel '"-~ \...,..,.-:~T-f ~;:".'). d~ -=, •Sou Naga~ ~ \ ""

• North Henry "-......... /" ~-- ~ ,: r-...,.,J __ ..__ j .---r-

a smoky Canyon ~- , .. -1 • \. , • Trail Creek ...._.,!" I ..-r"y·' /:' \ '..- /-· \

• Wooley Valley ~~-.....-<--,._) /,-; '~-~L - '.,...~_,r-"1\ "--:J-~.... 1.. "' ··--.,~1', ,! ~-~. 

Operating status 

Not operating 

Operating but no REO production 

Operating with REO 

production 

Scheduled to produce 

REO within 3 years 

EXPLANATION 

Actual and Potential annual REO 

production (metric tons) 

< 500 500- 1,000- >1 0,000 Not 

1,000 10,000 reported 

. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 

() () a • n.a. 

~ <) ~ • 0 

~ [) n.a. n.a. 0 

~-

'(1 ·--.... ., l; "':r-· .... , --

) l c;--~ '., (~ "'-..v··-4.--... /'),,_ r· ,• . __ ,.<., ~--., GABON 

~ ~--- ~ -...,_,- v· ·-~-~-. e •Mabouni

\.,'' _, - ~~, BRAZIL \ ( ~ :·Northeast dunes (coastal place

\ '"-"'l .-''"": ..:/ "'-.Ocamaratuba '. 1 1

/ Sao Gon9ala de Sapucaf 

\.,, ~ -~ .. , ~.,t..--:::::::_;~g~aca \\ ... -i ~~~~;uz NAMIBIA 

) \ { .... ~:_ l_, ~Anchieta •Etaneno

! ·" '·., -~ / Guarapari 

ARGENTINA .1 i i .. /.> ' Buena / j Tapirs 

\ ( ----. · , • Cord1sland1a (Mmas Gerias) • R1o Tercero-.;:..{_ ~~~ Po9os de Calda~ 

I

f_) 1 •Careacu (Minas Ger;as) 

~~ •Sao Sebastio da Bela Vista 

/ / ) URUGUAY (Minas Gerias) 1 1 :- _... Atlant1da rr o.J 

au ~ 

)h ) -( > \{,_ ~ 

FIGURE 10. Operating and production status of the world's major rare-earth 

30 
120_: ---,----:--------~16~o:_~----;----

.,.,_. 

ROJECTION MERCATOR 

~ 

p O' LATITUDE 

70 70' ' 

1000 1000 KILOMETERS 0 500 ; 

500 : I resSion of any oplmon 

not Imply the exp I of Germany ' ' I n thiS publicatiOn dof the Federal Aepub ~~f ItS frontiers ' f the matena 1 

Th~ deSignatiO~s em~~Y;fdt~;dB~hn~~~=~~~~~:t:~~r~~~;~~'~f~fsh~~;~o~~es. d Rohstoffe o h dehm1tat1on or concernmg t e whatsoever on rhe al status of any country concernmg the eg 

tual and potentia . I annual production. . districts and ac 31 oxide depostts and 
TABLE 16.-Consumption of rare-earth compounds in 1988, by weight and value 

[N.r., not reported. Source: Business Opportunity Report, 1989, p. 237-246] 

Consumption Consumption 

Compound (purity) (million pounds) (million U.S. dollars) 

World 

Lanthanum (N.r.) ................ 0.15 

Lanthanum oxide (99.995) ........ .045 

Lanthanum oxide (99.99) ......... .39 

Lanthanum oxide (80.00) ......... 13.00 

Cerium fluoride (N.r.) ............ .075 

Cerium oxide (96.00) ............ 8.00 

Cerium oxide (60.00) . ........... 9.50 

Praseodymium oxide (96.00) ..... . 6.30 

Neodymium (N.r.) ............... .30 

Neodymium oxide (99. 99) ..... ... .038 

Samarium oxide (96.00) .......... .10 

Europium oxide (99. 99) ... ....... .082 

Gadolinium (N.r.) ................ N.r. 

Gadolinium oxide (99.99) ........ .093 

Terbium (N.r.) ................... N.r. 

Terbium oxide (99.90) ........... .0023 

Thulium oxide (99.90) . . ... ...... .0015 

Yttrium (N.r.) .............. .... . .015 

Yttrium oxide (99.999) ........... .0007 

Yttrium oxide (99.99) .... ........ 1.00 

Mischmetal (N.r.) ... ............. 1.10 

50 

V'J EXPLANATION "0 

c 

.. Ceramics ::l 

0 

Cl. 

c 40 and 

,g 40 electronics 

E. .. Metallurgy V'J 

-(.J and ::l 

"0 magnets 0 

5. 30 c::::J Optics .... 

'Q; 

.c 

- c=J Chemicals "0 

c 

ctl 

V'J 

.c 

t 20 ctl 

Q) 

~ 15 

E 

..... 

0 

c 

.g 10 Cl. 

E 

::l 

V'J 

c 

0 

u 

o~----~~----~--~----~~--~ 

1988 1995 1988 1995 

World United States 

FIGURE 11. Amount of actual 1988 and forecast 1995 world 

and U.S. consumption of rare earths and their products 

(source: Business Opportunity Report, 1989, p. 185-189). 

32 

United States World United States 

0.095 $ 11.00 $ 6.60 

.018 .41 .16 

.15 3.50 1.40 

5.00 18.00 7.00 

.03 .23 .09 

4.80 36.00 22.00 

3.80 15.00 5.70 

.06 107.00 1.00 

.20 9.00 6.00 

.015 1.50 .59 

.067 8.00 5.40 

.028 66.00 22.00 

N.r. .012 .005 

.037 5.80 2.30 

N.r. .072 .027 

.0009 .92 .37 

.0006 2.30 .91 

.006 2.80 1.10 

.0003 .11 .03 

.37 50.00 19.00 

.40 5.50 2.00 

and Sri Lanka, the United States, and Brazil (table 17 

and fig. 13). The lowest cost mining is in India and Sri 

Lanka, whereas the cheapest milling is in Australia. 

The highest mining costs are for underground 

methods; open pits and dredging are progressively 

cheaper, and manual extraction is the most economical 

in low-wage countries. The highest milling costs are in 

old plants that have antiquated machinery, whereas the 

lowest costs are in new plants that have a high degree of 

mechanization. Wage rates and production throughput 

also have a large effect on these costs. 

Capital costs are a function of location, property 

payments, exploration, feasibility studies, construction, 

and development. As with production costs, producers 

are reluctant to share their capital costs with the public. 

However, some projects that will start up soon have 

published their capital costs. 

Australia.-Most new projects are in Australia, 

and the majority of these will be mining and processing 

titaniferous sands. Been up will spend A$110 million 

(exchange rate is US$1.00 = A$1.28) for a throughput 

of 500,000 metric tons per year of heavy-mineral concentrates (The Miner, 1990; Prospect, 1990). Cooljarloo 

will cost A$400 million for a complete project ranging 

from the mining of 12 million metric tons per year of 

sands to yield 500,000 metric tons per year of concen-
600 

500 

$459 

400 

c;; 

c:: $343 

~ .E 

~ 300 

"' 0 

"C 

en 

::::) 

200 

100 

0 

1988 1995 

World 

EXPLANATION 

-Electronics 

-Ceramics 

-Metallurgy 

and 

magnets 

CJOptics 

c::=JChemicals 

$104 

1988 1995 

United States 

FIGURE 12. Value of actual 1988 and forecast 1995 world and 

U.S. consumption of rare earths and their products (source: 

Business Opportunity Report, 1989, p . 185-189). 

TABLE 17. -Average mine and mill production costs in 1989 

Production costs 1 

(1989 U.S. dollars per metric ton of ore) 

Category 

Australia Brazil India and United 

Sri Lanka States2 

Mine ..... . .... $0.83 $2.00 $0.52 $0.81 

Mill ........ . .. .43 2.04 1.25 1.30 

Total ........ 1.26 4.04 1.77 2.11 

1 Costs applicable to placers cannot be extrapolated to final REO 

output since the primary minerals (for example, rutile, ilmenite, 

cassiterite, and collophane) incur most of the project expenses and earn 

most of the income. Derivation of the operating costs was based upon 

published material, company and other knowledgeable personnel, and 

proprietary unpublished studies. Costs were established for each 

producing and nonproducing property and averaged per country on the 

basis of actual or expected annual project tonnage. 2 Costs for the producers in the United States are based upon 

current estimates of a hard-rock open-pit mine at Mountain Pass, 

Calif., and on the placer-sands dredging operation at Green Cove 

Springs, Fla. These costs were averaged on the basis of annual ore 

throughput. 

33 

Australia 

Brazil 

India and 

Sri Lanka 

United 

States 

0 

$4.04 

1 2 3 4 5 

Production cost (U.S. dollars per metric ton) 

FIGURE 13. Average mine and mill production costs per metric 

ton of ore for selected countries. 

trates; the titanium minerals will feed synthetic rutile and 

pigment plants (Prospect, 1990). Cost to Eneabba West 

is estimated to be A$115 million for a new mine and a 

plant expansion to handle 20 million metric tons per year 

of sand and 292,000 metric tons per year of concentrates, including 2,500 metric tons per year of monazite 

concentrates (Mining Magazine, 1989a). Jangardup 

expects to treat 3. 7 million metric tons per year of sands 

and 270,000 metric tons per year of concentrates with a 

new mine and plant forecast at A$43 million (Prospect, 

1989-90). Newrybar was planning for the conversion of 

3.5 million metric tons per year of sands into 30,000 

metric tons per year of concentrates for an investment of 

A$11 million (Mining Magazine, 1990). 

Some capital costs are also available for three 

potential hard-rock mines in Australia. Brockman will 

cost A$115 million for a 200,000-metric-tons-per-year 

operation (Mining Journal, 1990b). Mount Weld expects 

the 20,000-metric-tons-per-year project to cost about 

A$20 million minimum; this cost could double if additional processing and refining lines are added (Prospect, 

1989-90). Yangibana is currently expending A$5.3 

million for a feasibility study (Mining Magazine, 

1989b). 

Two projects in Australia have been under consideration solely as processing and refinery plants for 

rare-earth products. The A$50-million project at Port 

Pirie (Hammond, 1990) will incorporate facilities to treat 

200,000 metric tons of uranium tails on site, to separate 

yttrium from imported material, and to recover rare 

earths from 4,000 metric tons of Australian monazite 

concentrates. The second project, at Pinjarra, now abandoned, would have treated 15 ,000 metric tons per year of 

monazite concentrates for a capital cost of A$150 million 

(Prospect, 1989-90). 

Brazil.-There are two developing projects in 

Brazil for which costs are available . The first is a 

dredging operation on the Sapucai River that is expected 

to produce 52,000 metric tons per year of heavy-mineral 
concentrates; a partial investment of $15 million was 

made in 1988 (O'Driscoll, 1989). Tapira, part of a 

phosphate project, has established a pilot plant, rated at 

3,000 metric tons per year of REO-bearing material, for 

a cost of $20 million (O'Driscoll, 1989). 

Mozambique and the United States.-There are 

two other projects that merit mention. Congolone, in 

Mozambique, is spending $100 million for a complete 

operation, including town and port, to handle 18.75 

million metric tons per year of sands (Mining Journal, 

1989). Molycorp is in the final stages of expending $20 

million for an expansion and upgrading of their rareearth processing and refining facilities within the United 

States (O'Driscoll, 1990). 

MINING AND BENEFICIATION 

Hard-rock deposits.- Mining of hard-rock deposits is by open-pit and underground methods. At Mountain Pass, Calif., and at Bayan Obo, China, for example, 

open-pit operations are standard drill, blast, load, and 

haul to the mill. Underground room-and-pillar mining is 

conducted at the Canadian uranium properties. 

The Mountain Pass beneficiation process is distinctive. The blasted bastnaesite rock is crushed, and the 

crushed product is built up in layers to average about 7 

percent REO in blending piles and then reclaimed and 

fed to the mill fine-ore bin. Ore withdrawn from the bin 

is conveyed to a ball mill, where particle size is reduced 

to 100 percent passing 150 mesh. Oversized material is 

recovered by a cyclone and returned to the ball mill. 

Ground ore is fed to a conditioning tank, where reagents 

and steam are added to raise the slurry temperature to 

boiling, before cooling. 

The conditioned slurry is pumped to the flotation 

circuits, where barium and strontium minerals are 

depressed and bastnaesite is floated . A fatty acid collector is added, and the pH is maintained at between 8 and 

9 with soda ash. Concentrate is thickened, filtered, and 

dried in a rotary kiln. 

The final dried concentrate at Mountain Pass 

contains 60 percent REO, equivalent to a 70 percent 

recovery. This basic concentrate can be upgraded to 

about 70 percent REO by leaching with hydrochloric 

acid to remove calcium and strontium carbonates. This 

latter concentrate can be enriched to 85 percent REO by 

calcination to remove the carbon dioxide. All three 

grades of concentrates are sold commercially and also 

used by Molycorp. A simplified flowsheet of the beneficiation process is shown on figure 14. 

At Bayan Obo, beneficiation of bastnaesite ore is 

conducted differently. The concentrate is heated to 

34 

FIGURE 14. Bastnaesite beneficiation. 

above 500 oc in a rotary kiln to drive off carbon dioxide 

and hydrofluoric acid as gases. Water is used to leach the 

calcine, and sodium chloride is added to precipitate a 

rare-earth sodium phosphate. This compound is then 

converted to rare-earth chlorides. 

A third process for treating bastnaesite ore 

involves decomposition with sulfuric acid to produce a 

rare-earth compound plus effluent carbon dioxide and 

fluoride gases. This compound is calcined and cooled. 

Water is added to dissolve the calcine, and the material 

is filtered to produce a water-soluble rare-earth sulfate. 

Placer deposits.- Placer sands that are under 

water or affected by a high water table are mined by 

dredges. Bucket-line and suction dredges are used for 

deeper material, whereas bucket-wheel units are operated on shallower sands. Where water is not available, 

variations of open-pit excavation methods, such as 

scrapers, front-end loaders, shovels, and draglines, are 

employed; drilling and blasting are not required, except 

for those small areas where the sand is cemented by 

ferruginous or calcareous precipitates. In countries 

where employment of large masses of people is critical, 

manual labor is used extensively to fill head-carried 

baskets or to work hand-operated sluices. 

The placer sands, once mined, are directed to a wet 

mill for preliminary concentration of the heavy minerals. 
In dredging operations, the wet mill is located on the 

dredge, on a special barge in the dredge pond, or on 

shore near the pond. At dry-land placers, the sands are 

usually fluidized with water then pumped a short distance to the wet mill; in some cases, the sands are 

transported dry by trucks or conveyors. 

Wet mill concentration consists of a series of 

gravity separations to remove the waste sands and to 

produce a heavy-mineral concentrate as feed for a dry 

mill. At the dry mill, multiple stages of magnetic, 

electrostatic, and gravity separation methods are 

employed to produce ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon, 

and monazite concentrates. These concentrates are then 

washed, dewatered, and kiln dried. The prepared material is fed to high-tension roll separators. The final 

monazite product contains 55 to 60 percent REO. Raw 

xenotime concentrates produced mainly in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand and containing about 24 

percent Y 20 3 can be enriched significantly before shipment to customers. 

METALLURGY AND REFINING 

Metallurgical processes are used to convert rareearth concentrates to individual or combined rare-earth 

powders (fig. 15). These powders are then subjected to a 

refining stage to form rare-earth metals. 

Bastnaesite processing. - Bastnaesite concentrate 

from Mountain Pass is calcined and leached with hydrochloric acid to produce a premium 90-percent cerium 

oxide powder and chloride solutions for the other rare 

earths. Solvent extraction treatment of these 

solutions precipitates high-purity lanthanum and 

praseodymium-neodymium carbonates. Europium, gadolinium, and samarium oxides, surpassing 96 percent 

purity after firing, are recovered from the remaining 

solution. A simplified flowsheet showing the separation 

stages for rare earths at Mountain Pass is shown on figure 

15. 

Monazite processing.-Recovery of rare earths 

from monazite is commonly accomplished by alkaline 

(caustic) or acidic methods (Vijayan and others, 1989). 

The caustic process is more popular because it produces 

rare-earth chlorides and a marketable trisodium phosphate byproduct from a relatively simple procedure that 

dissolves finely ground monazite in hot sodium hydroxide solution, followed by application of dilute hydrochloric acid. Rare-earth sulfates or oxalates are formed 

in the acid process by mixing the monazite with concentrated sulfuric acid, roasting, and treating with sodium 

sulfate or ·oxalic acid. A third process produces cerium as 

an oxide and the other rare earths as chlorides by 

35 

sintering a mixture of monazite, sodium carbonate, and 

sodium fluoride and then applying a dilute hydrochloric 

acid. 

The Elliot Lake uranium mines in Canada, upon 

demand, produce a 60- to 70-percent REO concentrate 

from uranium leachate. The process involves treatment 

with air and lime, filtration, addition of sulfuric acid, 

extraction by an organic agent in a solvent extraction 

circuit, stripping with nitric acid, and precipitation with 

lime and ammonia. 

Apatite processing. -Rare earths can be recovered 

from apatite during production of phosphoric acid and 

fertilizer (Vijayan and others, 1989). The procedure 

consists of nitric acid leaching of the ore, addition of 

sodium nitrate, filtration, and partial neutralization with 

ammonia to precipitate rare-earth phosphates, followed 

by application of nitric acid and oxalic acid to form a 

rare-earth oxalate. 

Pyrochlore processing.-Pyrochlore, an ore of 

niobium, may soon become a commercial source of 

REO. The ore is first digested with hot concentrated 

sulfuric acid. Niobium and rare earths are then selectively precipitated by gradual reduction of acid concentration and temperature (Vijayan and others, 1989). 

Euxenite processing. - Euxenite is a potential 

future source for REO. The ore is digested in a hot 

sodium hydroxide solution. Production of rare-earth 

oxalates is achieved by ore digestion in hot sodium 

hydroxide, followed by consecutive additions of dilute 

hydrochloric acid, soda ash, dilute sulfuric acid, and 

oxalic acid (Vijayan and others, 1989). 

Refining. -In general, the products derived from 

the metallurgical steps described above are rare-earth 

compounds composed of the elements lumped together 

as carbonates, chlorides, hydroxides, oxalates, oxides, 

and sulfates. Sometimes these compounds are useful end 

products and are employed as such. In most cases, 

though, these basic compounds are essential as a preliminary stage in the fabrication of high-purity singleelement rare-earth compounds and metals. 

Solvent extraction is the major process for separating the individual rare-earth elements. This method 

takes advantage of the relative affinities of the rare-earth 

elements for a liquid solvent and an aqueous feed 

solution. In practice, this solution, containing the rareearth elements as soluble chloride hexahydrate, is mixed 

with the solvent; modifiers are added to enhance the 

extraction rate. Actual degree of separation for individual rare-earth elements is relatively small per contact; 

since multiple contacts are required to achieve acceptable extraction rates, numerous mixer-settler reaction 

cells are needed for the entire process. Once extracted, 
Flotation concentrate 

(60 percent REO) 

Hearth roaster 

Mixing and leaching tanks 

Thickener, filter, drier 

Ceric hydrate 

FioURE 15. Separation process of individual rare earths. 

36 

NaOH, organic 
the rare earths are converted to a carbonate, chloride, 

fluoride, halide, nitrate, oxalate, or oxide stipulated by 

the consumer. Some other separation methods are now 

outmoded or used only in laboratory research. Commercial processes are usually proprietary, and specific 

details are unknown. 

Production of rare-earth metals is highly technical 

and costly. Reduction of the compounds to the metals is 

energy intensive, since most of the metals have high 

melting points. The reactions must be carried out in a 

vacuum or inert-gas atmosphere due to the reactivity of 

the metals in the molten state. Materials that are able to 

contain the hot metals in excess of 1 ,500 oc are limited 

and expensive. 

Mischmetal is an alloy of the light rare earths. 

Ratios of rare earths in the alloy approximate the ratios in 

the source material. The usual starting material for the 

production of mischmetal is the rare-earth chloride 

hexahydrate, which is dehydrated and leaves a porous 

anhydrous material containing up to 10 percent waterinsoluble basic chlorides. The next step is electrolysis in 

which the anhydrous material is fused with sodium, 

potassium, or calcium chloride, melted, and cast into 

ingots. The ingots are coated with plastic to prevent 

oxidation. Sometimes a small amount of magnesium is 

added to the mix to make the ingot more resistant to 

oxidation. 

Production of the lighter rare-earth metals, such as 

lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, and 

gadolinium, is most commonly accomplished by the 

reduction of anhydrous chlorides or anhydrous fluorides 

with calcium metal. Higher yields of gadolinium are 

obtained with the fluoride process. 

The chloride process is carried out in a refractorylined steel autoclave; calcium metal is the reductant, and 

iodine is a temperature booster. The molten rare-earth 

and calcium alloy is withdrawn for further treatment. 

The calcium is later removed from the alloy by vacuum 

distillation. 

The fluoride process commences with the hydrofluorination of rare-earth oxides with anhydrous hydrofluoric acid at an elevated temperature. The resultant 

anhydrous fluoride is mixed with calcium metal and 

heated to about 500 °C to initiate the reduction activity. 

The reaction raises the temperature to over 1 ,400 oc and 

results in molten metal and a calcium fluoride slag. The 

process can be conducted at lower temperatures if 

magnesium and calcium chloride are added to lower the 

respective melting points of the metal and the slag. 

Impurities are removed by vacuum remelting. 

Recovery of samarium, europium, and ytterbium 

is accomplished by reducing their oxides with lanthanum 

37 

metal or mischmetal. The oxide is mixed with metal 

shavings within a vacuum furnace, where the rareearth metal begins to sublime on the cooler parts of 

the crucible and crucible cover. The sublimed crystalline product is removed and remelted in an argon 

atmosphere. 

Samarium has also been produced commercially 

by the reduction of samarium oxide with barium metal. 

Several metal suppliers have been experimenting with 

the electrolysis of samarium fluoride and oxyfluoride to 

produce pure samarium metal. 

Yttrium metal can be obtained by the reduction of 

yttrium fluoride, but high losses are incurred due to the 

volatility of the metal. A more acceptable method 

employs reduction of anhydrous yttrium fluoride with 

calcium metal; zinc fluoride or magnesium fluoride is 

used as an alloying agent. The yttrium alloy produced 

contains about 15 percent zinc or magnesium, which is 

removed by vacuum distillation at 1, 100 °C. 

The remaining heavy rare earths are obtained by 

the reduction of their purified oxide with lanthanum 

metal. Demand for the heavy elements in metallic 

form has been minor, and processes to produce these 

metals in quantity have not been developed. Rare-earth 

ferrosilicon alloys are made in electric arc furnaces, by 

direct smelting of bastnaesite concentrates. 

There are about 66 rare-earth processing plants 

(refineries) around the world. The largest number is in 

China (24); Japan has 16, and the United States has 13. 

Figure 16 shows the location of these plants, and table 18 

lists the plants and owners. 

Although China has the most plants, many are 

small, and total production is not reported. Also, 

because most REO products are used within the country, 

China is not considered a major processor. The major 

rare-earth processors are Rhone-Poulenc S.A. (Rhone) 

of France, Molycorp, Inc., of the United States, and the 

country of Japan. A few other countries, such as Brazil, 

India, and Malaysia, have developed government-owned 

facilities. Australia, a major producer of monazite, has 

yet to establish a rare-earth processing industry. 

Rhone.-Rhone has two plants: La Rochelle on the 

French Atlantic coast and Freeport in Texas. All the 

company's raw materials, consisting of 99 percent monazite and 1 percent xenotime, are purchased. There are 

two separate solvent extraction purification lines at La 

Rochelle-chloride and nitrate. Products from these 

lines are phosphors, magnets, and catalysts. The Freeport plant was constructed in 1981; its capacity of 4,000 

metric tons per year has since been doubled. Freeport 

specializes in light rare-earth compounds derived from 

intermediate hydroxides. Although not currently a 
FIGURE 16. Location of the world's rare-earth processing plants. 

38 
40° 80° 

Plant names and owners are shown in table 18. 

120° 160° 

MERCATOR PROJECTION 

• O'SEFT? O'LATITUDE 

70' ~ 70' 

1000 500 0 500 1000 KILOMETERS 

The des1gnat10ns employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion 

whatsoever on the part of the Bundesanstalt fOr Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe of the Federal Republic of Germany 

concerning the legal status of any country or territory or of its authorities. or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. 

39 
TABLE 18. -Location and ownership of the world's rare-earth processing plants 

[Names in parentheses under "Plant name" are geographic subsections of country. See also figure 16. Source: Hedrick and Templeton, 1991] 

Country Plant name Owner Country Plant name Owner 

Austria ..... Treibacher Treibacher Chemische Japan- Miike Mitsui Mining & 

Werke AG. Cont. Smelting. 

Brazil ...... Embu Gua9o Metallurgica Corona Mikaichi Nippon Mining. 

(Sao Paulo). Ltda. Miki Do. 

Santo Andre Do. Mitaka (Tokyo) Nippon Yttrium. 

(Sao Paulo). Nara (Nara) Do. 

Sao Joao del Rei Cia Industrial Nara (Nara) Seimi Chemicals. 

(Minas Gerais). Fluminense. Shizuoka (Shizuoka) Shin Nippon Kinzoku 

Sao Paulo Metallurgica Colibri Kogyo. 

(Sao Paulo). Ltda. Sumoto (Tokushima) Nippon Rare Earths 

Canada ..... Elliot Lake Unocal Canada Ltd. KK. 

(Manitoba). Takefu (Fukui) Shin-Etsu Chemical 

China ...... Baotou #1 Government. Company. 

Tokyo (Tokyo) Shin Nippon Kinzoku 

Baotou #2 Do. Kagaku. Baotou #3 Do. Yamasaki Sumitomo Special Baotou Refinery Do. Metals. Bengbu Do. 

Changchunshi Do. Malaysia .... Bukit Merah Asian Rare Earths Ltd. 

Changlong Do. Ipoh Malaysian Rare Earth 

Changsu Do. Corp. 

Deqing Do. Norway ..... Kjeller NS Megon. 

Donfeng Do. United Rotherham (England) London & ScandinaGansu Do. Kingdom. vian Metallurgical Ganzhou Do. Co. Ltd. 

Harbin Flint Do. Widnes (England) Rare Earths Products 

Jiangnan Do. Ltd. 

Jining Do. 

United Anderson (Indiana) Delco Remy (General Jiujiang Non-Ferrous Do. 

Kiangsi Do. States. Motors). 

Longnan Do. Beverly (Ohio) Globe (Interlake). 

Longnanxian Do. Chattanooga Davison Chemical 

Nanchang Do. (Tennessee). Division (W .R. 

Nanjing Do. Grace & Co.). 

Qianshan Do. Freeport (Texas) Rhone-Poulenc Inc. 

Shanghai Yuelong Do. Louviers (Colorado) Molycorp, Inc. 

Taojiang Do. Mountain Pass Do. 

Zhujiang Do. (California). 

Newark (New Jersey) Ronson Metals Corp. France ...... La Rochelle Rhone-Poulenc SA. Penn Yan (New York) Transelco (Ferro). 

Germany ... Essen (Lower Saxony) Th. Goldschmidt AG. Phoenix (Arizona) Research Chemicals 

Japan ....... Hanaoka Dowa Rare Earth Inc. 

Company. West Palm Beach Cercoa Inc. 

Iwaki (Fukashima) Tokoku Metals and (Florida). 

Chemicals. West Pittsburgh Neomet. 

Kawaguchi (Tokyo) Nissan Rare Earth (Pennsylvania). 

Chemicals. West Pittsburgh Reactive Metals & 

Kito-Kyushu Mitsubishi Chemical. (Pennsylvania). Alloys Corp. 

Kobe (Hyogo) Santoku Metal York (Pennsylvania) Molycorp, Inc. 

Industry. 

40 
minerals producer, Rhone now owns the Mineville, 

N.Y., xenotime-bearing apatite property, which has 

potential for europium and yttrium production. In 1986, 

Rhone formed a joint venture, called Nippon Rare Earths 

KK, in Japan with Sumitomo Metal Mining Company to 

operate a small processing plant. Rhone also has been 

trying to establish a rare-earth and gallium plant at 

Pinjarra, Western Australia, to treat 15,000 metric tons 

per year of monazite. However, the government has not 

approved the company's plans for disposal of ammonium nitrate, thorium, and radium waste products 

(Industrial Minerals, 1990a). 

Molycorp. -Molycorp is a fully integrated producer of rare earths; it has a bastnaesite mine at Mountain Pass in California and plants at Louviers in Colorado 

and Washington and at York in Pennsylvania. Some feed 

material, such as yttrium concentrate from the uranium 

operation at Elliot Lake, Ontario, is imported. Emphasis 

is on the production of lighter rare-earth oxides, specialty neodymium alloys, and yttrium metal. A major 

expansion program, started in 1987 and due for completion in 1991 , is designed to improve their position in 

downstream refined materials. Molycorp is currently 

(1991) evaluating the Pajarito (Mescalero) eudialyte 

project in New Mexico as a domestic source of yttrium. 

Other U.S. refiners. -Of the other U.S. refiners, 

Ronson Metals Corp. , transforms imported mischmetal 

ingots into marketable end products. Reactive Metals & 

Alloys Corp., makes two grades of mischmetal, and 

silicides, for nodular-iron graphite control. Research 

Chemicals Inc. , is a custom fabricator of rare-earthbearing alloys and magnets, and Davison Chemical 

Division, a subsidiary of W.R. Grace & Co., converts 

monazite into chemicals, catalysts, ceramics, and polishing powders. 

Japan.- Despite the drawback of having to import 

all of its raw material, mostly from China, Japan is 

actively engaged in becoming a premier producer of 

rare-earth products. To guarantee supplies, Japanese 

companies have formed joint ventures in Australia, 

Canada, China, Malaysia, and the United States. In 

1987, Shin-Etsu Chemical Company opened a new plant 

at Takefu; using both the solvent extraction and the 

ion-exchange processes, Shin-Etsu produces a variety of 

rare-earth compounds and neodymium magnets. In the 

same year, Dow a Rare Earth Company built a new 

separation plant at Hanaoka; output rate began at 200 

metric tons per year and was scheduled for 300 metric 

tons per year in 1989. 

China. -In China, the rare-earth industry is 

advanced, technically competent, and growing. Based 

on bastnaesite concentrates from the Bayan Obo mine, 

41 

the large processing complex (four plants) at Baotou is 

undergoing an expansion program that is expected to be 

completed in 1990. Capacities will be increased by 450 

percent for rare-earth concentrates, by 230 percent for 

chlorides, and by 730 percent for monoxides. Neodymium oxide output has grown from 0. 5 metric tons to 20 

metric tons per year. The Kiangsi plant, run by Jiangxi 

Rare Earths Corp., is designed to produce 170 metric 

tons per year of REO concentrate, 40 metric tons per 

year of yttrium oxide, and 80 metric tons per year of 

fluorescent-grade yttrium oxide; a second plant was 

under construction in 1987. The Ganzhou plant in the 

Gannan district of Jiangxi Province receives a feed 

grading 92 percent REO from five mines. In 1988, 

capacity was 10 metric tons per year, mostly of 

phosphor-grade yttrium oxide. 

Brazil. -Brazilian mineral sands are mined primarily for their monazite, and zircon and ilmenite are 

byproducts. By government edict, all monazite is processed within the country to remove thorium. Almost all 

of the REO produced is converted to mischmetal by three 

companies and exported; output is about 1 ,000 metric 

tons per year. 

Canada.-Denison Mines Ltd., is in a joint venture with Unocal Canada Ltd., to produce REO from 

primary uranium leach solutions at Elliot Lake; past 

byproduct processing has been sporadic due to fluctuating market conditions. A possibility exists for development of the Thor Lake beryllium project, which could 

yield REO as a profitable byproduct. 

Malaysia.-The Malaysian Rare Earth Corp., a 

joint venture between Beh Minerals and Mitsubishi 

Chemical, recovers monazite and xenotime from tinmine tailings. Plant capacity is 135 metric tons per year 

of 60 percent yttrium oxide concentrate, which goes to 

Japan. Plans were underway in 1979 to add a rare-earth 

chloride line. 

Norway.-A/S Megon produces 30 metric tons per 

year of high-purity yttrium oxide from a plant at Kjeller, 

near Oslo. Capacity was scheduled to be doubled in 

1989. There is also small laboratory-scale production of 

lutetium oxide. 

United Kingdom.-The United Kingdom has two 

rare-earth processors. London & Scandinavian Metallurgical Co. Ltd., imports bastnaesite and produces ceriumbased polishing powders at its Rotherham plant. Rare 

Earth Products Ltd., manufactures rare-earth metals, 

alloys, and compounds. 

Germany and Austria.-Th. Goldschmidt AG specializes in the production of alloy powders and neodymium compounds. In Austria, Treibacher Chemische AG 

has a capacity of 1 ,000 metric tons per year of misch-
metal, 90 percent of which is exported for steel, casting, 

and zinc markets. 

WORLD TRADE IN REO 

REO products range from mineral concentrates of 

bastnaesite, monazite, and xenotime through assorted 

compounds to pure metals. REO minerals concentrates 

are traded much more extensively than high-purity compounds and metals. Countries vary from total exporters 

to total importers. Unlike the case for major metals such 

as copper and gold, REO production and trade figures 

are proprietary for most companies involved, which 

makes the tracking of export numbers difficult. 

Concentrates.-Australia, Canada, and Sri Lanka 

export all of their concentrates. Australia and Sri Lanka 

ship monazite concentrates to the world market, whereas 

Canada exports about 150 metric tons per year of yttrium 

in concentrate (Vijayan and others, 1989) to Japan and 

the United States. 

Some countries that produce monazite concentrates do not permit exportation because the governments 

involved wish to extract contained thorium for domestic 

use or for stockpiling for use in future nuclear materials. 

Brazil and India, for example, convert the material left 

after the thorium is removed into basic compounds, such 

as chlorides and mischmetal. Some of these products are 

used internally, but most are exported. In 1989, India 

produced 4,023 metric tons of rare-earth compounds, of 

which 3,705 metric tons were exported to Japan and 

Germany. 

China sells some monazite concentrates. However, 

the remaining monazite concentrates and all of the 

bastnaesite concentrates produced are transformed into 

rare-earth compounds, some of which are used internally 

by industries based on particular compounds. Most of 

China's rare-earth products are exported (8,300 metric 

tons in 1988), mainly to Japan. Problems with quality 

control and tardy deliveries have led to some customer 

dissatisfaction. 

The United States is self-sufficient in bastnaesite 

as a source for the light rare earths but must import about 

5·;000 metric tons per year of monazite concentrates and 

products to satisfy a deficiency in the heavier elements 

(Industrial Minerals, 1990a). As a result, the United 

States is a net importer of concentrates. Molycorp sells 

and uses four types of bastnaesite concentrate, plus the 

downstream derivatives of compounds and metals; it also 

converts imported monazite concentrates to heavy rareearth compounds. Green Cove Springs produces about 

1,000 metric tons per year of monazite concentrates 

(Industrial Minerals, 1990a), all of which is used by the 

owner. Several other private concerns produce com42 

pounds and metals based on materials supplied by 

Molycorp or by imported concentrates. 

Several countries have large REO industries based 

solely upon imports. Japan relies heavily on China and 

Australia and is developing partnerships within these 

countries to assure supplies at minimum prices. France, 

West Germany, the United Kingdom, and other European countries purchase REO materials on the world 

market. 

In the near future, Mozambique and New Zealand 

are expected to supply monazite concentrates for export. 

Australia could be starting some hard-rock mines to 

furnish even more REO in concentrates, and some of this 

production may be upgraded on site. 

Compounds and metals.-The United States 

engages in a detailed and vigorous international trade of 

rare-earth products. In 1989, it exported 1, 900 metric 

tons of this material to more than 35 countries and 

imported 10, 100 metric tons from about 27 countries 

(Hedrick and Templeton, 1991). Apparent trade consumption was 8,200 metric tons. 

Almost 50 percent of the rare-earth-product 

exports from the United States goes to Japan and South 

Korea, where rare-earth processing industries are rapidly 

expanding. Unusually high 1989 U.S. exports to Dominica give this small Caribbean island an atypical third 

place ranking. West Germany and the United Kingdom 

are fourth and fifth, respectively (table 19). Figure 17 

graphically emphasizes the dominance of Japan and 

Korea with respect to receipts from the United States. 

Approximately 72 percent of rare-earth products 

imported by the United States were from France (table 

20). Brazil was second, followed by India, Japan, West 

Germany, and China. Figure 18 demonstrates how 

overwhelming France is compared to the other countries 

in the supply of rare-earth products to the United States. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The unique properties of rare earths and their use 

in critical military and civilian industries, coupled with 

relative scarcity in industrialized countries and sales 

mainly as byproducts, qualify the rare-earth oxides as 

strategic mineral commodities. Only China is selfsufficient in all of the rare earths, although Australia and 

the United States could be with development of new 

projects. REO supplies, as byproducts of the titanium, 

tin, and uranium markets, would be unreliable if these 

major markets should fail. 

Present and potential industrial applications of rare 

earths are numerous and varied. In metallurgy, rare-earth 

alloys improve metal ductility and high-temperature 

corrosion resistance. Magnets containing samarium or 
TABLE 19.-U.S. exports of rare-earth products in 1989, by 

country, in order of export rank 

[See also figure 17. Source: Hedrick and Templeton, 1991, p. 51] 

Rare-earth products 

Rank Country 

TABLE 20.-U.S. imports of rare-earth products in 1989, by 

country, in order of import rank 

[Figures may not add to totals shown due to rounding. See also figure 

18. Source: Hedrick and Templeton, 1991, p. 49-50] 

Metric tons Percent Rank Country 

Rare-earth products 

1 Japan .......................... . 621.505 33.5 

2 South Korea .................... . 282.737 15.2 

3 Dominica 1 

••.••••••••.•...•.•.... 170.697 9.2 

4 West Germany .................. . ll7.059 6.3 

5 United Kingdom ................ . 102.956 5.5 

6 Dominican Republic ............ . 92.896 5.0 

7 Brazil .......................... . 67.103 3.6 

8 Canada ......................... . 63.282 3.4 

9 Hong Kong ..................... . 53.681 2.9 

10 Taiwan ......................... . 53.160 2.9 

11 France ......................... . 48.424 2.6 

12 Thailand ....................... . 47.140 2.5 

13 Australia ....................... . 36.376 2.0 

14 Spain .......................... . 14.609 .8 

15 Italy ........................... . 13.717 .7 

16 Mexico ........................ . 13.563 .7 

17 Norway ........................ . 11.442 .6 

18 Venezuela ...................... . 10.433 .6 

19 Trinidad and Tobago ............ . 8.628 .5 

20 Singapore ...................... . 5.828 .3 

21 Panama ........................ . 3.938 .2 

22 Colombia ...................... . 2.124 .1 

23 Greece ......................... . 1.926 .1 

Others ......................... . 14.285 .8 

Total ......................... 1,857.509 100.0 

1 Exports to Dominica in 1989 were unusually high. 

neodymium are exceptionally strong for their size. Rare 

earths increase the density and heat resistance of ceramics, leading to high thermal-insulation and superconductivity properties. Cerium improves the effectiveness of 

catalysts in the petroleum and automotive industries. 

Rare earths are used in optics to add color, to absorb 

ultraviolet light, and to expedite the melting and polishing of glass. Phosphors of rare earths contribute to the 

vivid colors of television and computer screens. Because 

of their ability to absorb neutrons, rare earths are utilized 

in nuclear power plant control rods. Lanthanides are 

used in the fabrication of hydrogen-based rechargeable 

batteries. 

Major ore minerals containing rare earths are 

bastnaesite, monazite, and xenotime. Each mineral has a 

specific suite of the 15 rare-earth elements, and no one 

mineral can meet all market requirements. In general, 

bastnaesite occurs in carbonatites, whereas monazite and 

xenotime are found in coastal or fluvial black-sand 

placers. 

43 

Metric tons Percent 

1 France ........................ . 7,259.776 72.0 

2 Brazil ......................... . 1,029.734 10.2 

3 India .......................... . 592.800 5.9 

4 Japan ......................... . 397.638 3.9 

5 West Germany ................. . 264.062 2.6 

6 China ........................ .. 240.468 2.4 

7 Canada ........................ . 108.309 1.1 

8 United Kingdom ............... . 91.993 .9 

9 Soviet Union .................. . 29.033 .3 

10 South Korea ................... . 18.890 .2 

11 Norway ....................... . 14.841 .1 

12 Switzerland .................... . 13.576 .1 

13 Austria ........................ . 8.705 .1 

Others ........................ . 14.523 .1 

Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,084.348 100.0 

Globally, economically . recoverable REO ore 

resources, based on 106 properties, amount to 20.6 

billion metric tons, of which 85 percent is in placers and 

15 percent is in hard-rock deposits. REO in the ore at 

103 deposits amounts to 93.4 million metric tons, of 

which 7 percent are located in placers and 93 percent are 

in hard-rock deposits and are composed of 20 percent 

monazite and 80 percent bastnaesite plus other minerals. 

China holds the majority of the REO resources, followed 

by Namibia, the United States, Australia, and India. 

Worldwide REO production is about 67,000 metric tons per year; the leading producer is China, followed 

by the United States and Australia. Mining methods are 

94 percent open-pit mining and 6 percent dredging. 

Potential production, which includes those operations 

that currently do not recover REO in ore, could have 

doubled the actual 1989 production level. This potential 

for additional tonnage, plus the prospect of scheduled 

and studied projects, assures the market that supplies of 

rare-earth concentrates are expected to exceed demand 

for the foreseeable future. Additional supplies, if 

required, could be obtained by installing REO recovery 

plants in existing placer sand, phosphate, and uranium 

operations. 

World consumption of rare earths and their products in 1988 was 40 million pounds (18,000 metric tons) 

valued at $343 million, of which the U.S. portion was 15 

million pounds (6,800 metric tons) worth $104 million. 

The major consumer by weight was in chemicals, 

whereas the major user by value was the optical industry. 
Japan 

South 

Korea 

Dominica1 

West 

Germany 

United 

Kingdom 

Dominican 

Republic 

Brazil 

Canada 

Hong 

Kong 

0 100 200 300 

622 

1 Exports to Dominica in 1989 were unusually high. 

2 Includes Taiwan, France, Thailand, Australia, Spain, 

Italy, Mexico, Norway, Venezuela, Trinidad and 

Tobago, Singapore, Panama, Colombia, Greece, and 

others. 

400 500 600 700 

Exports of rare-earth products (metric tons) 

FIGURE 17. U.S. exports of rare-earth products in 1989, by country (see table 19). 

Average nationwide production costs for rare-earth 

mine and mill projects range from $1.26 per metric ton 

of ore in Australia to $4.04 per metric ton in Brazil. 

Most of the new and proposed projects are in Australia, 

where investments vary from $8.6 million to as much as 

$312.5 million. Congolone, in Mozambique, will cost 

$100 million, which includes a complete infrastructure 

of town and port. 

Monazite sands are mined mostly by dredging or 

open-pit methods and are beneficiated by gravity separation in a wet mill, followed by magnetic, electrostatic, 

and gravity procedures in a dry mill. Bastnaesite ore is 

recovered in open pits and processed by flotation circuits 

as in the United States or by leach-precipitation methods 

as in China. Monazite concentrates usually contain 55 to 

60 percent REO. Bastnaesite concentrates in the United 

States are available in three grades: 60 percent, 70 

percent, and 85 percent REO. 

44 

Recovery of the individual rare-earth compounds 

and metals is a long, involved, and costly series of 

procedures. Both bastnaesite and monazite concentrates 

are treated to form a chloride solution, which undergoes 

solvent extraction routines to precipitate a mix of rareearth compounds. These compounds are redissolved and 

fed to a more detailed solvent extraction circuit to 

precipitate individual rare-earth compounds. Reduction 

of these compounds to rare-earth metals is energy 

intensive and must be carried out in an oxygen-free 

atmosphere. 

International trade in rare-earth concentrates, compounds, and metals is complicated and vigorous. Countries like Australia and Sri Lanka export their monazite 

concentrates without treatment. Other nations, such as 

Brazil and India, convert their monazite concentrates to 

specific compounds. Japan, South Korea, France, West 

Germany, and the United Kingdom import concentrates 
France 7,260 

Brazil 

India 

Japan 

West 

Germany 

China 

Canada 

Others 1 

1 Includes, in order of greatest imports, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, South Korea, Norway, Switzerland, 

Austria, and others. 

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Imports of rare-earth products (metric tons) 

FIGURE 18. U.S. imports of rare-earth products in 1989, by country (see table 20). 

and compounds for their electronic and ceramic industries. The United States imports about 5,000 metric tons 

of monazite concentrates and 10,100 metric tons per year 

of rare-earth compounds and metals (mainly from 

France) and exports about 2,000 metric tons per year of 

rare-earth products (mostly to Japan). 

PART II-SELECTED INVENTORY INFORMATION FOR 

REO DEPOSITS AND DISTRICTS 

Tables 21 and 22 contain information from the 

International Strategic Minerals Inventory record forms 

for REO deposits and districts. Only selected items of 

45 

information about the geology and location (table 21) 

and mineral production and resources (table 22) of the 

deposits are listed here. 

Summary descriptions and data are presented in the 

tables essentially as they were reported in the inventory 

record or other sources. For instance, significant digits 

for tonnages have been maintained as reported, and all 

tonnages are shown as metric tons. Some of the data in 

the table are more aggregated than in the inventory 

records, such as cumulative production totals instead of 

annual totals. Some of the abbreviations used in the 

inventory record forms have been used in the tables; they 

are explained in the headnotes. 
TABLE 21. -Selected geologic and location information from 

Abbreviations used throughout this table include 

-, not reported on the ISMI record form. 

Ma, million years. Fm, formation. 

Host rock includes all or some of the following items (separated by semicolons); main host rock type; formation name; and host rock age. 

Age abbreviations and preftxes: 

Cenozoic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . CEN 

Quaternary ............ QUAT 

Holocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . HOLO 

Pleistocene . . . . . . . . . . . . PLEIS 

Tertiary ............... TERT 

Pliocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PLIO 

Site name 

Cretaceous . . . . . . . . . . . . CRET 

Permian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PERM 

Ordovician . . . . . . . . . . . . ORD 

Cambrian ............. CAMB 

Precambrian . . . . . . . . . . . PREC 

Proterozoic ............ PROT 

Latitude Longitude 

Late ................. L 

Middle ............... M 

Early ................ E 

Deposit type Host rock 

ARGENTINA 

Rio Tercero (Cordoba) 32° 02' s. 64° 12' w. Placer, fluvial Sand; QUAT 

AUSTRALIA 

Agnes Waters (Rocky Point) (Queensland) 24° 14' s. 151° 56' E. Placer, marine Sand; TERT 

Alice Springs (Northern Territory) 23° 04' s. 134° 33' E. Magmatic Pegmatite 

Australind (Western Australia) 33° 14' s. 115° 45' E. Placer, marine Sand; QUAT 

Bowen (Abbot Point) (Queensland) 19° 53' s. 148° 05' E. ... do ..... Sand 

Brockman (Western Australia) 18° 19' s. 127° 47' E. Magmatic Tuff; PROT 

Busselton East (Western Australia) 33° 40's. 115° 23' E. Placer, marine Sand; HOLO 

Byfteld (Queensland) 22° 48's. 150° 46' E. . .. do ..... Sand; LTERT 

Capel South (Western Australia) 33° 37' s. 115° 27' E. ... do ..... Sand; QUAT 

Cataby (Western Australia) 30° 43's. 115° 31' E. ... do ..... Sand; PLEIS 

Cooljarloo/Jurien Bay (Western Australia) 30° 40's. 115° 20' E. . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Cooloola (Queensland) 26° 05' s. 153° 07' E. . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Eneabba (Western Australia) 29° 55' s. 115° 15' E. ... do ..... Sand; LTERT 

Fraser Island (Queensland) 25° 22's. 153° 07' E. . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Gingin South (Western Australia) 31° 24' s. 115° 56' E. . .. do ..... Sand; QUAT 

Hamel (Waroona) (Western Australia) 32° 53' s. 115° 54' E. ... do ..... Sand; HOLO 

Higgins (Western Australia) 33° 35' s. 115° 36' E. . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Jangardup (Western Australia) 34° 22's. 115° 37' E. . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Mary Kathleen (Queensland) 20° 44's. 140° 01' E. Magmatic 

Minninup, beach, dunes (Western Australia) 33° 28' s. 115° 34' E. Placer, marine Sand; QUAT 

Moreton Island (Queensland) 27° 11' s. 153° 24' E. . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

46 

Age of Tectonic 

mineralization setting 

QUAT Basin 

TERT Basin 

Shield 

QUAT Basin 

. .. do ..... 

PROT Mobile 

belt. 

HOLO Basin 

LTERT ... do ..... 

QUAT . .. do ..... 

PLEIS . .. do ..... 

... do ..... . .. do ..... 

... do ..... . .. do ..... 

LTERT . .. do ..... 

... do ..... . .. do ..... 

QUAT ... do ..... 

HOLO . .. do ..... 

... do ..... . .. do ..... 

... do ..... . .. do ..... 

Shield 

QUAT Basin 

... do ..... . .. do ..... 
ISM/ records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts 

Abbreviations for mineral names (after Longe and others, 1978, p. 63-66, with some additions): 

Allanite ............... ALNT Columbite . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLMB Kyanite ............... KYNT Rare-earth oxides. . . . . . . . REO 

Rutile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RUTL 

Sillimanite . . . . . . . . . . . . SLMN 

Scheelite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCL T 

Sphalerite . . . . . . . . . . . . . SPLR 

Staurolite . . . . . . . . . . . . . STRL 

Sulfides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SLPD 

Thorite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THRT 

Amphibole ............ AMPB Davidite .............. DVDT Leucoxene ....... , . . . . . LCXN 

Anatase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANTS 

Apatite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AP'IT 

Barite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRIT 

Bastnaesite . . . . . . . . . . . . BSNS 

Biotite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOTI 

Bornite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRNT 

Brannerite . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRNR 

Cassiterite . . . . . . . . . . . . . CSTR 

Chalcocite. . . . . . . . . . . . . CLCC 

Chalcopyrite . . . . . . . . . . . CLCP 

Eudialyte ............. EDLT Limonite .............. LMON 

Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FLDP 

Fluocerite . . . . . . . . . . . . . FLCR 

Magnetite ............. MGNT 

Martite ............... MRTI 

Fluorite ............... FLRT Monazite .............. MNZT 

Gadolinite ............. GDLN Perovskite ............. PRVK 

Garnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GRNT 

Goethite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GTHT 

Plagioclase . . . . . . . . . . . . PLGC 

Pyrite ................ PYRT Tourmaline ............ TRML 

Gold ................. GOLD Pyrochlore . . . . . . . . . . . . PCLR Uraninite .............. URNN 

Heavy minerals . . . . . . . . . HM Pyroxene .............. PRXN Vanadinite ............ VNDN 

Clay ................. CLAY 

Hematite .............. HMTI 

Hornblende . . . . . . . . . . . . HBLD 

Ilmenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . ILMN 

Quartz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QRTZ 

Rare-earth elements . . . . . . REE 

Xenotime ............. XNTM 

Zircon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ZRCN 

Collophane . . . . . . . . . . . . CLPN 

Local 

environment Principal mineral assemblages Average grades and comments 

ARGENTINA-Continued 

Flood plain MNZT 0.0173 percent monazite containing 60 

percent REO and 3. 8 percent Th02 • 

AUSTRALIA -Continued 

Dune, beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 1.36 percent ilmenite, 0.18 percent rutile 

ALNT 4.0 percent allanite containing 20 percent 

REO. 

Dune ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; 15 percent HM, 0.03 percent monazite 

QRTZ, GRNT. 

Dune, beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

Sheared zone CLMB, PCLR, BSNS, XNTM, CSTR, 0.09 percent REO, 0.124 percent Y20 3 

SPLR. 

Coastal plain ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; Elevated strandline 

QRTZ. 

Dune, beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 1.14 percent HM, 0.05 percent monazite 

... do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; 0.06 percent monazite 

QRTZ. 

Beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT, QRTZ 7.7 percent HM, 0.1 percent monazite 

Dune, beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; 3.2 percent HM, 0.2 percent monazite 

QRTZ. 

... do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 0.00846 percent monazite 

... do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, KYNT, MNZT; 0.05 percent monazite 

QRTZ. 

References 

USBM, unpub. data (1983}. 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

O'Driscoll (1988). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

O'Driscoll (1988). 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990) . 

Do. 

USBM, unpub. data (1982); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990) . 

Do. 

... do .... . ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT, QRTZ 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, KYNT, LCXN; 

QRTZ. 

1. 75 percent HM, 0.005 percent monazite Do . 

... do .... . 

Coastal plain ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, KYNT, STRL, 

MNZT; QRTZ . 

.. . do..... ILMN, ZRCN 

. . . do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, KYNT, 

Dune, beach 

... do ..... 

MNZT, XNTM, QRTZ, GRNT. 

ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, MNZT, XNTM; 

QRTZ. 

ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN; QRTZ 

10.02 percent HM USBM, unpub. data (1982); 

Now owned by Japanese interests 

... do ..... 

6.8 percent HM, 0.0476 percent 

monazite, 0.0204 percent xenotime. 

Former uranium mine 

8.0 percent HM. Now owned by 

Japanese interests. 

Shut down by the government 

47 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Do . 

Do. 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990). 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

W. Germany BGR, unpub. data 

(1990); Pantel, R.J., unpub. data 

(1990). 
TABLE 21. -Selected geologic and location information from ISM! 

Site name Latitude Longitude Deposit type Host rock Age of Tectonic 

mineralization setting 

AUSTRALIA -Continued 

Mount Weld (Western Australia) 28° 52' s. 122° 32' E. Magmatic Carbonatite; PROT PROT Shield 

Munmorah (New South Wales) 33° 12' s. 151° 35' E. Placer, marine Sand; LTERT LTERT Basin 

Nabiac, Southeast (New South Wales) 32° 00' S. 152° 30' E. ...do ..... Sand; PLEIS PLEIS ... do ..... 

Newrybar (New South Wales) 28° 46's. 153° 34' E. ... do ..... Sand; QUAT QUAT ... do ..... 

North Capel (Western Australia) 33° 31' s. 115° 35' E. ... do ..... ...do ..... ...do ..... ...do ..... 

North Stradbroke Island (Queensland) 27° 35' s. 153° 27' E. ...do ..... Sand; LTERT LTERT ... do ..... 

Olympic Dam (South Australia) 30° 27' s. 136° 53' E. Magmatic Granite; MPROT MPROT Shield 

Port Pirie (South Australia) 33° 12' s. 138° 00' E. ...do ..... Uranium tails ... do ..... 

Stockton Bight (New South Wales) 32° 46' s. 152° 08' E. Placer, marine Sand; HOLO HOLO Basin 

Tomago (New South Wales) 32° 48' s. 151°47'E. ...do ..... Sand; PLEIS PLEIS ... do ..... 

Viney Creek (New South Wales) 32° 37' s. 152° 07' E. ... do ..... Sand; QUAT QUAT ... do ..... 

Waroona, North and South (Western 32° 50' s. 115° 55' E. ...do ..... Sand; LTERT LTERT ... do ..... 

Australia). 

WIM-150 (Victoria) 36° 48' s. 142° 22' E. Placer, fluvial Sand; EPLIO EPLIO ... do ..... 

Wonnerup Beach (Western Australia) 33° 37' s. 115° 25' E. Placer, marine Sand; HOLO HOLO ... do ..... 

Yangibana (Western Australia) 23° 50' s. 116° 10' E. Magmatic Carbonatite; LPROT LPROT Shield 

Yoganup Extended (Western Australia) 33° 36' s. 115° 40' E. Placer, marine Sand; LTERT LTERT Basin 

BRAZIL 

Alcobaca (Southern Bahia) 17° 30' s. 39° 20' w. Placer, marine Sand; LTERT LTERT Basin 

Anchieta (Espirito Santo) 20° 48's. 40° 33' w. ...do ..... ... do ..... ...do ..... ...do ..... 

Aracruz (Espirito Santo) 19° 59' s. 40° 02' w. ...do ..... ...do ..... ... do ..... ...do ..... 

Buena (Rio de Janeiro) 21° 31' s. 41° 05' w. ...do ..... ... do ..... ...do ..... ...do ..... 

Camaratuba (Rio Grande do Norte) 06° 54's. 35° 00' w. ...do ..... Sand ... do ..... 

Careacu (Minas Gerais) 

Cordislandia (Minas Gerais) 

Guarapari (Espirito Santo) 20° 48's. 40° 33' w. 

Northeast dunes Placer, marine Sand Basin 

Po~os de Caldas (Minas Gerais) 21° 48' s. 46° 33' w. Magmatic Carbonatite Shield 

Prado (Bahia) 17° 24's. 39° 12' w. 

Sao Gan~alo do Sapucai 03° 13' s. 56° 35' w. Placer, fluvial Sand Basin 

(Minas Gerais). 

Sao Sebastio da Bela Vista 

(Minas Gerais). 

Serra (Espirito Santo) 20° 10' s. 39° 20' w. Placer, marine Sand; LTERT LTERT Basin 

Tapira (Minas Gerais) 19° 52' s. 46° 50' w. Magmatic Carbonatite; CRET CRET Shield 

48 
records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Local 

environment 

Supergene 

enrichment. 

Dune, beach 

Beach 

Dune, beach 

... do ..... 

... do ..... 

Granite 

breccia. 

U20 3 tails 

Dune, beach 

Principal mineral assemblages 

APIT, PCLR, MGNT, ILMN, MNZT; 

QRTZ. 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; 

QRTZ, GRNT. 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT, TRML; 

QRTZ, GRNT. 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; 

QRTZ. 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

CLCC,BRNT,CLCP,URNN,BRNR, 

HMTT, BSNS, FLCR. 

URNN,DVDT 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

. . . do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ, 

GRNT. 

Beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

Dune, beach ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

Strandplain ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, ANTS, MNZT, 

XNTM; QRTZ. 

Dune, beach ILMN, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ, GRNT 

Carbonatite MNZT 

dikes. 

Dune, beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; 

QRTZ. 

Dune, beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

... do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

. . . do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

... do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

Dune ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, TRML, MNZT, 

XNTM; QRTZ, GRNT. 

Average grades and comments 

AUSTRALIA-Continued 

17 percent REO and yttrium 

0.81 percent HM, 0.006 percent 

monazite. 

0. 0091 percent monazite 

1.1 percent HM, 0.0418 percent 

monazite . 

0.080 percent monazite 

1.5 percent HM, 0.0015 percent 

monazite. 

0.3285 percent REO associated with 

U30 8 in a major Cu/Au/Ag!U mine. 

Tails from Radium Hill 

Feeds Hawks Nest plant 

Dune and beach deposits 

Feeds Hawks Nest plant 

15 percent HM 

5.221 percent HM, 0.076 percent REO 

Now owned by Japanese interests 

3.09 percent monazite, 1.7 percent REO 

13.5 percent HM, 0.056 percent 

monazite. 

BRAZIL-Continued 

0.47 percent monazite 

0. 71 percent monazite 

1.05 percent monazite 

0.83 percent monazite 

Elevated dunes at the base of an ancient 

sea cliff. 

Dune ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 0.033 percent monazite 

River 

Dune, beach 

Rolling hills 

3.33 percent REO in bastnaesite 

ILMN, ZRCN, GOLD, MNZT; GRNT 0.066 percent monazite 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

ANTS, APIT, PRVK; LMON, MGNT, 

GRNT. 

0. 80 percent monazite 

0. 03 percent REO in anatase overburden 

at a phosphate mine. 

49 

References 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

Engineering and Mining Journal (1990). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982); Australian 

BMR, unpub. data (1990); Pantel, R.J., 

unpub. data (1990). 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Do. 

W. Germany BGR, unpub. data 

(1990); Pantel, R.J., unpub. data 

(1990). 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

W. Germany BGR, unpub. data (1990). 

Mining Journal (1989); 

Hammond (1988). 

W. Germany BGR, unpub. data 

(1990); Pantel, R.J., unpub. data 

(1990) . 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Do. 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Do. 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

Mining Magazine (1989b). 

Australian BMR, unpub. data (1990); 

Pantel, R.J., unpub. data (1990). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983); Anuario 

Mineral Brasileiro (1988) . 

Do . 

Do. 

Do. 

USBM, unpub. data (1981). 

Anmlrio Mineral Brasileiro (1988). 

Do. 

Do. 

Mining Journal (1990a). 

USBM, unpub. data (1990). 

Anmlrio Mineral Brasileiro (1988). 

Mining Journal (1990b). 

Anuario Mineral Brasileiro (1988). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

USBM, unpub. data (1988). 
TABLE 21. -Selected geologic and location information from ISM/ 

Site name Latitude Longitude Deposit type Host rock Age of Tectonic 

mineralization setting 

BURUNDI 

Karonge 03° 25's. 29° 25' E. Magmatic Stockwork; PREC PREC Shield 

Kasagwe 03° 25's. 29° 25' E. . .. do ..... 

CANADA 

Elliot Lake (Denison) (Ontario) 46° 29' N. 82° 32' w. Magmatic Conglomerate; EPROT Shield 

EPROT. 

Elliot Lake (Rio Algom, except Stanleigh) 46° 30' N. 82° 38' w. ... do ..... ... do .... : ... do ..... . .. do ..... 

(Ontario). 

Elliot Lake (Rio Algom, Stanleigh) 46° 24' N. 82° 38' w. ... do ..... ... do ..... . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

(Ontario). 

Strange Lake (Newfoundland/Quebec) 56° 19' N. 64° 07' w. ... do ..... Granite; MPROT MPROT Intracratonic. 

Thor Lake (Northwest Territories) 62° 06' N. 112° 35' w. ... do ..... Syenite; EPROT EPROT ... do ..... 

CIDNA 

Bayan Obo (Inner Mongolia) 41° 45' N. 109° 58' E. Magmatic Dolomite; MPROT MPROT Rifting 

Beihai (Guangxi) 21° 29' N. 109° 06' E. Placer, fluvial Sand; CEN CEN Basin 

Guangdong (Guangdong) 21° 30' N. 111° 01' E. ... do ..... Sand . .. do ..... 

Xun Jiang (Guangxi) 23° 30' N. 110° 50' E. ... do ..... Sand; CEN CEN . .. do ..... 

EGYPT 

Nile Delta-Rosetta 31° 00' N. 31° 00' E. Placer, marine Sand; LPLIO LPLIO Basin 

GABON 

Mabounie 00° 42's. 11° 42' E. Magmatic Carbonatite Shield 

GREENLAND 

llimaussaq 63° 00' N. 51° 12' w. Magmatic Carbonatite Shield 

INDIA 

Chavara (IREL) (Kerala) 08° 57' N. 76° 30' E. Placer, marine Sand; QUAT QUAT Basin 

Chavara (KMML) (Kerala) 09° 00' N. 76° 30' E. ... do ..... ... do ..... . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Manavalakurichi (Tamil Nadu) 08° 20' N. 77° 00' E. ... do ..... ... do ..... . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Orissa-Chatrapur (Orissa) 19° 18' N. 84° 57' E. ... do ..... . .. do ..... ... do ..... . .. do ..... 

Ranchi and Purulia (Bihar) 23° 25' N. 86° 00' E. Placer, fluvial Sand . .. do ..... 

KENYA 

Rangwa/Ruri/Homa 00° 30's. 34° 15' E. Magmatic Carbonatite; TERT TERT Shield 

MALAWI 

Kangankunde 15° 08' s. 34° 55' E. Magmatic Carbonatite; LCRET Volcanic 

LCRET dome. 

MAURITANIA 

Bou Naga 20° 48' N. 13° 42' w. Magmatic Shield 

MOZAMBIQUE 

Congo lone 16° 00' s. 40° 00' w. Placer, marine Sand Basin 

50 
records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Local 

environment Principal mineral assemblages Average grades and comments 

BURUNDI -Continued 

References 

Mountainous FLCR, CSTR, MNZT; BRIT, GTHT, 

QRTZ. 

3.0 percent bastnaesite, 1.59 percent REO USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

... do ..... 

CANADA-Continued 

Rolling hills URNN, BRNR, MNZT, ZRCN; PYRT, 0.0072 percent REO and yttrium in 

QRTZ. a uranium mine . 

... do..... URNN, BRNR, MNZT, ZRCN; PYRT, 0.0064 percent REO and yttrium in 

QRTZ. a uranium mine . 

... do..... URNN, BRNR, MNZT, ZRCN; PYRT, 0.0071 percent REO and yttrium in 

QRTZ. a uranium mine. 

Low plains ZRCN, MNZT, ALNT, GDLN; PCLR, 1.3 percent REE and 0.66 percent Y20 3 

FLRT. in a primary beryllium property. 

XNTM, GDLN, ALNT, CLMB; AMPB, REB and yttrium occur in a primary 

FLRT. beryllium property. 

CmNA -Continued 

USBM, unpub. data (1990) . 

Pincock, Allen and Holt (1988); 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

Do. 

Do. 

Mineral Policy Sector, unpub. data 

(1988). 

Pincock, Allen and Holt (1988); 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

Hills, ridges HMTI, MONT, MNZT, RUTL, MRTI 6 percent REO at a major hematite mine Drew, L.J., USGS, unpub. data 

(1990); Argall (1980). 

Coastal plain ll..MN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 1.5 percent HM USBM, unpub. data (1982) . 

... do..... ll..MN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 2.3 percent HM Do. 

River pljlin ILMN, RUTI.., ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 6.0 percent HM Do. 

Delta 

Beach 

... do ..... 

... do ..... 

Dune 

Valley 

alluvium. 

Volcanoes 

EGYPT -Continued 

ll..MN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; MONT, 0.5 percent monazite 

GRNT. 

PCLR, EDLT 

ll..MN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, SLMN, 

MNZT; QRTZ, GRNT. 

ll..MN,RUTL,ZRCN,LCXN,SLMN, 

MNZT, QRTZ, GRNT . 

ll..MN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, MNZT, 

GRNT, QRTZ. 

ll..MN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, MNZT; 

GRNT, QRTZ. 

ll..MN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT, APTI, 

CLMB; MONT, QRTZ. 

MNZT,BRIT,FLRT 

GABON -Continued 

A carbonatite with florencite; 2.52 

percent REO in the ore. 

GREENLAND-Continued 

0.9 percent Y20 3 in a carbonatite 

INDIA-Continued 

18 percent HM, 0.135 percent monazite 

. .. do ..... 

2.5 percent monazite 

0.585 percent monazite 

1.64 percent HM, 0.31 percent 

monazite, 0.03 percent apatite. 

KENYA -Continued 

5.6 percent monazite 

MALA WI -Continued 

Volcanic plug STRL, MNZT 5.0 percent monazite 

MAURITANIA-Continued 

Quarry MNZT 4.4 percent REO in massive monazite 

MOZAMBIQUE-Continued 

Dune, beach ll..MN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 2.8 percent HM, 0.007 percent monazite 

51 

Hedrick (1988). 

USBM, unpub. data (1990). 

Engineering and Mining Journal 

(1990). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

Do. 

Do. 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

Do. 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

USBM, unpub. data (1990). 

Engineering and Mining Journal 

(1990); Mining Journal (1989). 
TABLE 21.-Selected geologic and location information from ISM/ 

Site name Latitude Longitude Deposit type Host rock Age of Tectonic 

mineralization setting 

NAMIBIA 

Etaneno 20° 42's. 16° 12' E. Magmatic Carbonatite Shield 

NEW ZEALAND 

Barrytown (South Island) 42° 14' s. 171° 19' E. Placer, marine Sand Basin 

Westport (South Island) 41° 06' s. 171° 24' E. . .. do ..... . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

SOUTH AFRICA 

Buffalo Fluorspar (Transvaal) 24° 30' s. 28° 30' E. Magmatic Granite MPROT Shield 

Phalaborwa (Transvaal) 23° 59's. 31° 07' E. ... do ..... Carbonatite ... do ..... ... do ..... 

Richards Bay (Natal) 28° 41's. 32° 11' E. Placer, marine Sand; PLEIS PLEIS Basin 

SRI LANKA 

Pulmoddai 08° 55' N. 81° 00' E. Placer, marine Sand Basin 

UNITED STATES 

Aiken County (South Carolina) 33° 26' N. 81° 51' w. Placer, fluvial Sand; CEN CEN Basin 

Bald Mountain (Wyoming) 44° 48' N. 107° 48' w. Magmatic Conglomerate; ... do ..... 

Deadwood Fm. 

Bear Lodge (Wyoming) 44° 24' N. 104° 24' w. ... do ..... Trachyte; MTERT MTERT Shield 

Bear Valley (Idaho) 44° 21' N. 115° 24' w. Placer, fluvial Sand Basin 

Big Creek (Idaho) 44° 28' N. 115° 59' w . ... do ..... ... do ..... . .. do ..... 

Blackfoot Bridge (Idaho) 42° 07' N. 111° 31' w. Magmatic Mudstone; PERM PERM ... do ..... 

Brunswick-Altamaha (Georgia) 31° 14' N. 81° 30' w. Placer, marine Sand; PLEIS PLEIS ... do ..... 

Caldwell Canyon (Idaho) 42° 44' N. 111° 22' w. Magmatic Mudstone; PERM PERM . .. do ..... 

Champ (Idaho) 42° 40' N. 111° 16' w. ... do ..... . .. do ..... . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Conda (Idaho) 42° 44' N. 111° 32' w . ... do ..... ... do ..... . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Cumberland Island (Georgia) 30° 54' N. 81° 27' w. Placer, marine Sand; PLEIS PLEIS . .. do ..... 

Diamond Creek (Idaho) 45° 15' N. 113° 54' w. Magmatic Quartzite; PREC PREC ... do ..... 

Gallinas Mountains (New Mexico) 34° 12' N. 105° 44' w. ... do ..... Sandstone; PERM PERM . .. do ..... 

Gay and South Forty (Idaho) 43° 03' N. 112° 07' w. ... do ..... Mudstone; PERM ... do ..... . .. do ..... 

Gold Fork-Little Valley (Idaho) 44° 41' N. 115° 58' w. Placer, fluvial Sand; PLEIS PLEIS ... do ..... 

Green Cove Springs (Florida) 29° 52' N. 81° 43' w. Placer, marine ... do ..... ... do ..... . .. do ..... 

Hall Mountain Group (Idaho) 48° 59' N. 116° 26' w. Magmatic Quartzite . .. do ..... 

Henry (Idaho) 42° 53' N. 111° 28' w. ... do ..... Mudstone; PERM PERM . .. do ..... 

Hicks Dome (Illinois) 37° 36' N. 88° 24' W. . .. do ..... Limestone; ORD ORD . .. do ..... 

Hilton Head Island (South Carolina) 32° 12' N. 80° 44' W. Placer, marine Sand ... do ..... 

52 
records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Local 

environment Principal mineral assemblages Average grades and comments 

NAMIBIA -Continued 

Requires an effective separation process 

NEW ZEALAND-Continued 

Coastal plain ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MGNT, CSTR, 0.001 percent monazite 

GOW, MNZT, SCLT. 

... do..... ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MGNT, CSTR, Undergoing feasibility study 

GOLD, MNZT, SCLT. 

SOUTH AFRICA-Continued 

References 

Murray (1989). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982); 

USBM, unpub. data (1990). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982) . 

Rugged hills FLRT, MNZT, AP'IT 1.0 percent monazite USBM, unpub. data (1989); 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

Hill above 

a plain. 

BRNT,CLCP,AP'IT;PRXN,HBLD, 

PLGC. 

Major copper producer USBM, unpub. data (1980). 

Dune, beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MGNT, LCXN, 

MNZT; QRTZ, GRNT. 

6.5 percent HM, 0.023 percent monazite USBM, unpub. data (1988); 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

SRI LANKA -Continued 

Beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, MNZT; 70 percent HM, 0.15 percent monazite 

GRNT, QRTZ. 

UNITED STATES-Continued 

Flood plain ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ, 0.031 percent monazite 

CLAY. 

Industrial Minerals (1990a); 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

Rounded ILMN, ZRCN, MNZT; MGNT, HMTT, 0.2 percent monazite, 0.011 percent Th02 Do. 

mountains. QRTZ. 

Mountainous MNZT, XNTM; HMTT, FLDP, QRTZ 1.306 percent REO, 0.034 percent Th02 Staatz and others (1979). 

Meadowland ILMN, MGNT, MNZT; GRNT, QRTZ 0.0052 percent monazite USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

Mountain and ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, MNZT, GRNT 0.04 percent monazite Do. 

basin. 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REB; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Terrace ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, MNZT; QRTZ 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REB; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Steep canyons CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REB; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REB; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Barrier Island ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; 

QRTZ. 

0.1 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

0.0285 percent monazite 

0.1 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

... do ..... 

... do ..... 

Production unlikely 

Mountainous MNZT, XNTM; FLRT, HMTT, FLDP, 1.22 percent REO, 0.21 percent Th02 

QRTZ. 

... do ..... FLRT,REE;PYRT,QRTZ,CLAY 

Broad valleys CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REB; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Mountain and ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, GOLD, MNZT; 

basin. QRTZ. 

2. 95 percent REO 

0.1 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

0.009 percent monazite 

Forest and 

wetlands. 

ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, STRL, MNZT 0.0077 percent monazite 

USBM, unpub. data (1984). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

USBM, unpub. data (1984). 

Do . 

Do . 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

Staatz and others ( 1979). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

USBM, unpub. data (1984). 

USBM, unpub. data (1981). 

USBM, unpub. data (1988). 

Mountainous GOW, ZRCN, AP'IT, MNZT; HMTI, 0.026 percent Y20 3 , 0.668 percent Th02 USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

QRTZ. 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REB; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

0.12 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

Explosion THRT, XNTM, REB, FLRT, BRIT, 0.42 percent REO, 0.15 percent Th02 

breccia. AP'IT; SLPD, HMTT. 

Dune, beach ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, STRL, MGNT, 0.018 percent monazite in high grade 

MNZT; QRTZ, CLAY GRNT. 

53 

USBM, unpub. data (1985). 

Staatz and others (1979). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 
TABLE 21.-Selected geologic and location information/rom ISM! 

Site name Latitude Longitude Deposit type Host rock Age of Tectonic 

mineralization setting 

UNITED STATES-Continued 

Husky (Idaho) 42° 42' N. 111° 15' w. Magmatic Mudstone; PERM PERM Basin 

Iron Hill (Colorado) 38° 16' N. 10r 03' w . ... do ..... Carbonatite; PREC PREC Shield 

Lemhi Pass (Idaho) 44° 57' N. 113° 37' w . ... do ..... Quartzite; PREC ... do ..... Basin 

Maxville (Florida) 29° 55' N. 81° 45' w. Placer, marine Sand ... do ..... 

Maybe Canyon (Idaho) 42° 45' N. 111°18'W. Magmatic Mudstone; PERM PERM ... do ..... 

Mineville dumps (New York) 44° 04' N. 73° 29' w. ... do ..... Gneiss; PREC PREC Shield 

Mountain Fuel (Idaho) 42° 39' N. 111° 17' w . ... do ..... Mudstone; PERM PERM Basin 

Mountain Pass (California) 35° 29' N. 115° 32' w . ... do ..... Carbonatite; PREC PREC Shield 

Music Valley (California) 34° 01' N. 115° 57' w . ... do ..... Gneiss; PREC ... do ..... . .. do ..... 

North Henry (Idaho) 42° 54' N. 111° 30' w . ... do ..... Mudstone; PERM PERM Basin 

North and South Carolina placers 34° N. 79°W. Placer, fluvial Sand ... do ..... 

(North and South Carolina). 

Oak Grove (Tennessee) 36° 23' N. 88° 08' w. . .. do ..... Sand; CRET CRET . .. do ..... 

Pajarito (New Mexico) 33° 14' N. 105° 26' w. Magmatic Syenite; PREC PREC Shield 

Pearsol Creek (Idaho) 44° 31' N. 116° 05' w. Placer, fluvial Sand Basin 

Powderhorn (Colorado) 38° 16' N. 107° 01' w. Magmatic Carbonatite Shield 

Silica mine (Tennessee) 36° 02' N. 88° 11' w. Placer, fluvial Sand; CRET CRET Basin 

Smoky Canyon (Idaho) 42° 43' N. 111° 08' w. Magmatic Mudstone; PERM PERM ... do ..... 

Trail Creek (Idaho) 42° 44' N. 111° 25' w . ... do ..... ... do ..... . .. do ..... . .. do ..... 

Wet Mountains (Colorado) 38° 12' N. 105° 24' w . ... do ..... Carbonatite; CAMB CAMB Shield 

Wooley Valley (Idaho) 42° 50' N. 111° 24' w . ... do ..... Mudstone; PERM PERM Basin 

URUGUAY 

Atlantida 35° 12' s. 55° 48' w. Placer, fluvial Sand Basin 

54 
records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Local 

environment Principal mineral assemblages Average grades and comments 

UNITED STATES-Continued 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REE; PYRT, 0.1 percent rare earths at phosphate 

CLAY. property. 

Hill and plain ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, PCLR, APTT, Mining goal would be Nb20 5 

MNZT, FLRT; PYRT. 

Mountainous MNZT, THRT, RUTL; QRTZ, HMTT, Mining goal would be Th02 

PYRT. 

Wetland ILMN, ZRCN, STRL, MNZT; QRTZ 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REE; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Glaciated MGNT, MRTT, APTT; QRTZ, FLDP 

highland. 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REE; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Rolling upland ALNT, MNZT, BRIT; QRTZ 

High-desert 

basin. 

XNTM,MNZT,GOLD;BOTT,QRTZ 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REE; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Floodplain ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, STRL, 

MNZT; GRNT, KYNT. 

Alluvial terrace ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, STRL, 

MNZT; QRTZ, KYNT, TRML. 

Indian EDLT, ZRCN 

reservation. 

Mountain and ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, MNZT, GRNT. 

basin. QRTZ. 

Hills 

Dissected 

upland. 

PRVK,PCLR,APTT;BOTT,FLDP 

ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, MNZT; 

QRTZ. 

Steep canyons CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REE; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REE; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Plateau THRT, XNTM, BRIT; HMTT, QRTZ 

Parallel ridges CLPN, VNDN, URNN, REE; PYRT, 

CLAY. 

Beach MNZT 

Extension of Green Cove Springs being 

developed. 

0.1 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

1.04 percent REO, 0.0136 percent Th02 

in iron-mine dumps. 

0. 1 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

12 percent bastnaesite, 7.68 percent 

REO in major rare-earth producer. 

REO value ranges from 3 to 14 percent 

0. 1 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

Series of separate placers 

0.09 percent REO 

0.18 percent Y 20 3 in major potential 

source of yttrium in United States. 

0.0185 percent monazite 

0.36 percent REO in 12 percent Ti02 

material. 

0.0105 percent monazite in sand, 0.07 

percent monazite in HM dump. 

Phosphate mine 

0. 1 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

Th02 :REO ratio of 2.2:1.0 

0.11 percent rare earths at phosphate 

property. 

URUGUAY -Continued 

3.2 percent monazite 

55 

References 

USBM, unpub. data (1984). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

Industrial Minerals (1990b). 

USBM, unpub. data (1985). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

USBM, unpub. data (1984). 

USBM, unpub. data (1990). 

USBM, unpub. data (1983). 

USBM, unpub. data (1985). 

Staatz and others (1979). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

Mining Engineering (1989); 

USBM, unpub. data (1986). 

USBM, unpub. data (1982). 

Do. 

Do. 

USBM, unpub. data (1984). 

Do. 

Staatz and others ( 1979). 

USBM, unpub. data (1984). 

USBM, unpub. data (1990). 
Abbreviations used throughout this table include 

-, no information available. 

t, metric tons. 

cone, concentrate. 

TABLE 22.-Selected production and mineral-resource information from 

Abbreviations for mining method areS, surface; P, open pit; D, dredge; U, underground; N, not producing. 

Annual production includes some or all of the following items (separated by semicolons): annual production in thousand metric tons; year of 

production (or range of years used to estimate average annual production); and degree of accuracy (accurate (Ace) or estimate (Est)). 

Cumulative production includes some or all of the following items (separated by semicolons): cumulative production in thousand metric tons; 

years of reported cumulative production; and degree of accuracy (accurate (Ace) or estimate (Est)). 

Resources includes some or all of the following items (separated by semicolons): resource in thousand metric tons of RIB resources (see fig. 1) 

unless otherwise stated; and year of estimate. 

Site name Year of Mining Year of ftrst Commodities Annual production 

discovery method production (in 1,000 t) 

ARGENTINA 

Rio Tercero (Cordoba) 1957 N None MNZT None 

AUSTRALIA 

Agnes Waters (Rocky Point) 1956 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN None 

(Queensland) 

Alice Springs (Northern 1987 N None ALNT None 

Territory). 

Australind (Western Unknown N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, None 

Australia). MNZT. 

Bowen (Abbot Point) Unknown N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

(Queensland). 

Brockman (Western 1973 N None CLMB, PCLR, CERN, BSNS, None 

Australia). XNTM, CSTR. 

Busselton East (Western Unknown N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, Proprietary 

Australia). MNZT. 

Byfield (Queensland) 1956 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Capel South (Western 1954 D 1956 ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, MNZT, MNZT cone: 0.5;1984; Ace. 

Australia). XNTM. 

Cataby (Western Australia) 1976 N None ~.RUTL,ZRCN,MNZT None 

Cooljarloo/Jurien Bay 1971 D 1975 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, Ore: 12,000; MNZT cone: 2.5; 1988; 

(Western Australia). MNZT. Ace. 

Cooloola (Queensland) 1948 N 1956 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Ore: 23,760; ILMN: 170; RUTL: 42; 

ZRCN: 32; MNZT: 0.7; 1975; Ace. 

Eneabba (Western Australia) 1968 D,P 1974 ~.RUTL,ZRCN,MNZT MNZT cone: 8.9; 1987; Est. 

Fraser Island (Queensland) 1948 D 1971 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Ore: 14,400; ILMN: 223; RUTL: 35; 

ZRCN: 40; MNZT: 1; 1976; Est. 

Gingin South (Western Unknown N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, None 

Australia). MNZT. 

Hamel (Waroona) (Western Unknown p 1989 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN Proprietary 

Australia). 

Higgins (Western Unknown N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN Proprietary 

Australia). 

Jangardup (Western 1986 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, HM cone: 271; 1990; Ace. 

Australia). MNZT, XNTM. 

Mary Kathleen (Queensland) Unknown u Unknown URNN,REO None 

Minninup, beach, dunes 1973 N 1986 ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, MNZT, Included in W aroona figures 

(Western Australia). XNTM. 

56 
ISM! records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts 

Abbreviations for mineral names (after Longe and others, 1978, p. 63-66, with some additions): 

Allanite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALNT 

Anatase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANTS 

Apatite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . APTT 

Barite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRIT 

Bastnaesite . . . . . . . . . . . . BSNS 

Bornite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRNT 

Brannerite . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRNR 

Cassiterite . . . . . . . . . . . . . CSTR 

Cerianite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CERN 

Chalcocite. . . . . . . . . . . . . CLCC 

Chalcopyrite . . . . . . . . . . . CLCP 

Collophane . . . . . . . . . . . . CLPN 

Columbite . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLMB 

Davidite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DVDT 

Eudialyte ............. EDLT 

Fluocerite . . . . . . . . . . . . . FLDR 

Fluorite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FLRT 

Gadolinite . . . . . . . . . . . . . GDLN 

Galena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GLEN 

Garnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GRNT 

Gold ................. GOLD 

Heavy minerals . . . . . . . . . HM 

Hematite .............. HMTT 

llmenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ILMN 

Leucoxene . . . . . . . . . . . . LCXN 

Magnetite ............. MGNT 

Malachite . . . . . . . . . . . . . MLCf 

Martite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MRTT 

Monazite .............. MNZf 

Perovskite . . . . . . . . . . . . . PRVK 

Pyrochlore . . . . . . . . . . . . PCLR 

Cumulative production 

(in 1,000 t) 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

MNZT cone; 16.5; 

1956-74; Ace. 

None 

Unknown 

Unknown 

MNZT cone: 35.4; 

1984-87; Est. 

Unknown 

None 

Unknown 

None 

None 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Resources 

(in 1,000 t) 

ARGENTINA -Continued 

Ore: 31,700; MNZT: 5.48; 1983 

AUSTRALIA -Continued 

Ore: 217,800; 1982 

Ore: 1,000; ALNT: 40; 1988 

Ore: 6,000; HM: 901; ILMN: 662; RUTL: 3.6; ZRCN: 61; LCXN: 50; 

MNZT: 1.8; 1982. 

Proprietary 

Ore: 9,290; REO: 20; 1990 

Proprietary 

Ore: 2,400,000; HM: 27,360; MNZT: 14; 1990 

Ore: 25,333; MNZT: 15.2; 1989 

Ore: 8,974; HM: 700; ILMN: 490; RUTL: 49; ZRCN: 84; MNZT: 10.5; 1982 

Ore: 589,980; MNZT: 55.3; 1990 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Ore: 29,210; HM: 2,931; ILMN: 1,434; RUTL: 156; ZRCN: 147; 

LCXN: 210; 1982. 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Ore: 30,000; HM: 2,040; ILMN: 1,679; RUTL: 51; ZRCN: 171; LCXN: 61; 

MNZT: 14; 1990. 

Ore: 6,800; REO: 272; 1990 

Proprietary 

57 

Rare-earth oxides. . . . . . . . REO 

Rutile ................ RUTL 

Sillimanite . . . . . . . . . . . . SLMN 

Staurolite . . . . . . . . . . . . . STRL 

Sulfides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SLPD 

Thorite ............... THRT 

Uraninite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . URNN 

Vermiculite ............ VMCL 

Xenotime ............. XNTM 

Zircon ................ ZRCN 

Comments 

No current production plans. 

Estimate of resources is 

proprietary. 

Remote location may preclude 

development. 

Mining to be by surface sluice. 

This is a prospect. 

Undergoing feasibility study. 

Scheduled to start in 1990. 

Awaiting feasibility study. 

1990 production and resources 

estimates are confidential. 

Mining would be by open pit. 

Cooljarloo is operating; Jurien 

Bay is on standby. 

Mining ceased in 1975; area is 

now a national park. 

Mining ceased in 1976; area is 

now a national park. 

Monazite content is not 

reported. 

Monazite content is low and is 

not recovered. 

Future open pit will replace 

Hamel. 

Scheduled to start in 1992. 

Underground uranium mine 

closed in 1963; rare earths 

could be recovered from tails. 

Production and plant will shift 

to Busselton East. 
TABLE 22. -Selected production and mineral-resource information from 

Site name Year of Mining Year of first Commodities Annual production 

discovery method production (in 1,000 t) 

AUSTRALIA-Continued 

Moreton Island (Queensland) 1950's N 1957 ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN None 

Mount Weld 1948 N None APIT,PCLR None 

(Western Australia). 

Munmorah (New South 1950 N 1969 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Wales). 

Nabiac, Southeast (New Unknown N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

South Wales). 

Newrybar (New South 1935 D 1990 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN Ore: 3,500; RUTL: 12; ZRCN: 10; 1990; 

Wales). Ace. 

North Capel (Western Unknown N Unknown ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, MNZT, None 

Australia). XNTM. 

North Stradbroke Island 1947 D 1949 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Ore: 46,093; 1989; Est. MNZT cone: 

(Queensland). 400; 1988; Est. 

Olympic Dam (South 1975 u 1988 CLCC,BRNT,CLCP, URNN, Ore: 1,500; Cu: 45; U30 8: 1.5; 1988; 

Australia). BSNS, FLRT. Ace. 

Port Pirie (South Australia) Not N None DVDT None 

applicable. 

Stockton Bight (New South Unknown D 1985 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Proprietary 

Wales). 

Tomago (New South Wales) 1965 D 1972 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Proprietary 

Viney Creek (New South Unknown D 1986 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN Proprietary 

Wales). 

Waroona, North and South 1970 p 1984 ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, MNZT, Ore: 590; MNZT: 0.235; 1988; Ace. 

(Western Australia). XNTM. 

WIM-150 (Victoria) 1987 N None ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, MNZT, None 

XNTM. 

Wonnerup Beach (Western Unknown p 1959 ILMN, ZRCN, MNZT Proprietary 

Australia). 

Y angibana (Western Unknown N None MNZT None 

Australia). 

Yoganup (Extended) 1954 N 1972 ILMN, LCXN, ZRCN, MNZT MNZT: 1.7; 1986; 1.75; 1987; 1.8; 1988; 

(Western Australia) Ace. 

BRAZIL 

Alcobaca (Southern Bahia) 1970's N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Anchieta (Espirito Santo) 1900's N Unknown ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Aracruz (Espirito Santo) 1972 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Buena (Rio de Janeiro) 1960's p Unknown ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT MNZT: 3.8; 1987; Ace. 

Camaratuba (Rio Grande 1970's p Unknown ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Ore: 3,160; 1981; Est. 

do Norte). 

Careacu (Minas Gerais) Unknown N None MNZT None 

Cordislandia (Minas Gerais) Unknown N None MNZT None 

Guarapari (Espirito Santo) Unknown N None MNZT None 

Northeast Dunes Unknown N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Po~os de Caldas (Minas Unknown N None BSNS None 

Gerais). 

58 
ISM/ records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Cumulative production 

(in 1,000 t) 

Unknown 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

Resources 

(in 1,000 t) 

Proprietary 

Ore: 6,300; REO: 1,085; 1990 

AUSTRALIA -Continued 

Ore: 71,250; MNZT: 4.3; R2E; 1990 

Ore: 2,000; HM: 27; RUTL: 8; ZRCN: 13; MNZT: 0.1; 1990. 

Ore: 22,000; HM: 242; 1990 

Proprietary 

Ore: 195,750; 1966-81. Proprietary 

MNZT cone: 2.3; 

1975-87. 

Unknown 

None 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

None 

Unknown 

None 

Unknown, proprietary 

Ore: 450,000; Cu: 11 ,250; U30 8 : 360; REO: 1 ,478; 1988 

Ore: 200; 1989 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Ore: 2,474,707; HM: 129,204; MNZT: 3,407; 1990 

Proprietary 

Ore: 3,500; MNZT: 108; 1989 

BRAZIL-Continued 

None MNZT: 3.44; 1987 

Ore: 271; MNZT: 2.3; Ore: 57; MNZT: 0.407; 1987 

1982-87; Est. 

None Ore: 282; MNZT: 2.964; 1987 

Unknown MNZT: 0.3; 1987 

Unknown Ore: 44,724; MNZT: 246; 1989 

Ore: 490,000; R2E; 1981 

MNZT: 2.5; 1987 

MNZT: 8.2; 1987 

MNZT: 0.95; 1987 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

Ore: 145,000; ILMN: 1,700; RUTL: 59; ZRCN: 398; MNZT: 48; 1990 

BSNS: 1,500; REO: 50; 1990 

59 

Comments 

Closed by the government. 

Could commence at 

20,000-50,000 tlyr of ore. 

Closed by the government in 

1977. 

Property closed in 1987, 

resumed operation in 1990. 

Consolidated Rutile, Ltd., 

purchased Associated 

Minerals Consolidated leases in 

1985. 

REO in the uranium is not 

recovered. 

Plan to reprocess uranium tails. 

HM concentrate goes to Hawk's 

Nest plant. 

HM concentrate goes to Hawk's 

Nest plant. 

South operation. replaced north 

one in 1988. 

Studies and tests are underway 

but scaled down in 1992. 

Beach resources depleted; 

mining dunes. 

Feasibility study concluding. 

HM concentrate goes to North 

Capel plant 

Data from Brazil is incomplete. 

Probably mined out by 1991. 

No production planned yet. 

Probably mined out by 1991. 

Average REO content of 3.33 

percent in BSNS. 
TABLE 22.-Selected production and mineral-resource information from 

Site name Year of Mining Year offll'St Commodities Annual production 

discovery method production (in 1,000 t) 

BRAZIL-Continued 

Prado (Bahia) Unknown N None MNZT None 

Sao Gan~alo do Sapucaf Unknown N None ILMN, ZRCN, GRNT, GOLD, None 

(Minas Gerais). MNZT. 

Sao Sebastio da Bela Vista Unknown N None MNZT None 

(Minas Gerais). 

Serra (Espirito Santo) 1960 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Tapira (Minas Gerais) 1966 p 1983 ANTS, APTT, PRVK, CLMB Ore: 2,000; ANTS cone: 200; REO: 1.0; 

1988; Est. 

BURUNDI 

Karonge 1940's N 1948 BSNS None 

Kasagwe Unknown N None BSNS None 

CANADA 

Elliot Lake (Denison) 1953 u 1957 URNN, BRNR, MNZT Ore: 4,766; 1983; Est. 

(Ontario). 

Elliot Lake (Rio Algom, 1953 u 1956 URNN, BRNR, MNZT Ore: 3,273; 1983; Ace. 

except Stanleigh) (Ontario). 

Elliot Lake (Rio Algom, Unknown u Unknown URNN, BRNR, MNZT Ore: 1,559; 1983; Est. 

Stanleigh) (Ontario). 

Strange Lake (Newfoundland/ 1980 N None PCLR,ZRCN,FLRT,GDLN, None 

Quebec). ALNT, MNZT. 

Thor Lake (Northwest 1979 N None CLMB, ZRCN, ALNT, GDLN, None 

Territories). XNTM, MNZT. 

CHINA 

Bayan Obo (Inner Mongolia) 1951 p 1957 HMTT, MGNT, MRTT, BSNS, F~03 Ore: 7 ,000; REO: 15; 1990; Ace. 

MNZT. 

Beihai (Guangxi) Unknown p 1966 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Ore: 3,385: HM: 33; ILMN: 30; ZRCN: 

0.4; MNZT: 0.07; 1982; Ace. 

Guangdong (Guangdong) 1950's p 1960's ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Ore: 6,085; ILMN: 15; ZRCN: 0.6; 

MNZT: 0.075; 1982; Ace. 

Xun Jiang (Guangxi) 1975 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

EGYPT 

Nile Delta-Rosetta 1920's p 1965 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MGNT, None 

MNZT. 

GABON 

Mabounie Unknown N None FLCR None 

GREENLAND 

llimaussaq Unknown N None PCLR, EDLT None 

INDIA 

Chavara (IREL) (Kerala) 1920's p 1932 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, Ore: 219; ILMN: 135; RUTL: 6; ZRCN: 

MNZT. 3; SLMN: 5; MNZT: 0.8; 1982; Ace. 

Chavara (KMML) (Kerala) 1920's p 1932 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, Ore: 1,152; ILMN: 100; RUTL: 10; 

LCXN, MNZT. ZRCN: 6; LCXN: 1.4; MNZT: 0.5; 

1989; Est. 

Manavalakurichi (Tamil 1900's p 1911 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, Ore: 285; MNZT cone: 3.8; 1982; Est. 

Nadu). GRNT, MNZT. 

60 
ISM/ records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Cumulative production 

(in 1,000 t) 

None 

None 

None 

None 

Unknown 

Ore: 141; BSNS cone: 

2.8; 1967-87; Ace. 

None 

Ore: 37 ,212; U30 8: 

44; 1957-81; REO: 

101; 1974-76; Ace. 

Ore: 24,793; 1967-81; 

Ace. 

Unknown 

None 

None 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

None 

Resources 

(in 1,000 t) 

MNZT: 4.6; 1987 

BRAZIL-Continued 

Ore: 75,600; ILMN: 630; ZRCN: 115; GRNT: 33; GOLD: 1.4; MNZT: 50; 

1990. 

MNZT: 4.1; 1987 

Ore: 436; MNZT: 3.5; 1982 

Ore: 150,000; Ti02: 33,000; REO: 45; 1988 

BURUNDI-Continued 

Ore: 2.2; BSNS: 1.9; REO: 1.2; 1983 

Ore: 3.2; R2E; 1983 

Ore: 67; BSNS: 2; REO: 1; 1990 

Ore: 105,681; REO: 10.8; 1989 

Ore: 223,800; R2E; 1983 

Ore: 68,197; REO: 5; 1989 

Ore: 149,200; R2E; 1983 

Ore: 49,877; REO: 4.3; 1989 

Ore: 59, 700; R2E; 1983 

Ore: 52,000; RlS; 1981; Est. 

CANADA-Continued 

Ore: 510; REO: 2.3; RIM; 1987; Est. 

CHINA -Continued 

Fe20 3 Ore: 1,500,000; REO ore: 800,000; REO: 48,000; Nb: 1,000; 1990 

Ore: 529,920; 1989 

Ore: 385,320; 1989 

Ore: 66,700; 1982 

EGYPT -Continued 

ILMN: 29; MONT: 10; Ore: 44,393; MNZT: 222; 1989 

ZRCN: 2; 1965-68; 

Ace. 

GABON -Continued 

None Unknown 

GREENLAND-Continued 

None 

INDIA-Continued 

Ore: 1,245; ILMN: Ore: 118,029; MNZT: 189; REO: 101; 1989 

813; RUTL: 31; 

1968-80; Ace. 

Ore: 567; ILMN: 232; Ore: 114,752; MNZT: 184; REO: 101; 1989 

RUTL: 22; ZRCN: 6; 

1966-80; Ace. 

Ore: 1,933; 1966-81; Ore: 103,656; MNZT: 2,591; REO: 1,425; 1989 

Ace. 

61 

Comments 

Scheduled to begin in early 

1991. 

Potential open pit. 

REO occurs in overburden of 

operating phosphate mine. 

Minable ore is 60,000 tat 3 

percent BSNS. 

Scheduled to close March 

1992. REO was produced 

sporadically. 

Closed in 1990. 

Potential for 152 tiyr REO. 

Could be started as a beryllium 

project. 

Essentially a Nb20 5-Taz05 

project. 

The largest known REO deposit. 

HM recovered fro.m sands 

manually. 

Covers five separate mines and 

plants. 

No local market yet. 

Also worked in 1929. 

2.52 percent REO in ore. 

One of three reported properties. 

Sands mined manually. 

Do. 

Do. 
TABLE 22. -Selected production and mineral-resource information from 

Site name Year of Mining Year of first Commodities Annual production 

discovery method production (in 1,000 t) 

INDIA ~continued 

Orissa-Chatrapur (Orissa) 1958 p 1983 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, Ore: 2,880; 19i9; Est. 

MNZT. 

Ranchi and Purulia (Bihar) 1956 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, SLMN, None 

MGNT, MNZT. 

KENYA 

Rangwa/Ruri/Homa 1940's N None BSNS,MNZT,BRIT,FLRT None 

MALAWI 

Kangankunde 1907 N None MNZT, STRL None 

MAURITANIA 

Bou Naga Unknown p 1968 MNZT None 

MOZAMBIQUE 

Congolone Unknown p 1992 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Ore: 17 ,558; ILMN: 422; RUTL: 8; 

ZRCN: 38; MNZT: 1; 1990; Est. 

NAMIBIA 

Etaneno Unknown N None MNZT None 

NEW ZEALAND 

Barrytown (South Island) 1960's N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, CSTR, None 

MGNT, GOLD, MNZT. 

Westport (South Island) Unknown N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, GOLD, None 

MNZT. 

SOUTH AFRICA 

Buffalo Fluorspar (Transvaal) 1943 p 1948 FLRT, APTT, MNZT Ore: 1,800; FLRT: 177; 1989; Ace. 

Phalaborwa (Transvaal) 1912 p 1932 BRNT, CLCP, MGNT, VMCL, Ore: 29,231; Cu cone: 294; U30 8 ; 87; 

APTT, ZRCN, URNN. ZRCN: 13; 1988; Ace. 

Richards Bay (Natal) 1967 D 1977 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, Ore: 20,000; ILMN: 1,750; ZRCN: 200; 

MGNT, MNZT. MNZT: >1; 1988; Est. 

SRI LANKA 

Pulmoddai 1920's p 1961 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Ore: 220; ILMN: 150; RUTL: 13; 

ZRCN: 13; MNZT: 0. 7; 1990; Est. 

UNITED STATES 

Aiken County (South 1950's p 1955 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Carolina). 

Bald Mountain (Wyoming) 1951 N None ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Bear Lodge (Wyoming) Unknown N None MNZT, XNTM, THRT None 

Bear Valley (Idaho) 1950 D 1955 ILMN, MGNT, GRNT, MNZT, None 

XNTM. 

Big Creek (Idaho) 1940's D 1950 ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, GRNT, None 

MNZT. 

Blackfoot Bridge (Idaho) Unknown N None CLPN, MNZT None 

Brunswick-Altamaha 1959 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT Nope 

(Georgia). 

62 
ISM/ records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Cumulative production 

(in 1,000 t) 

Unknown 

None 

None 

None 

Ore: 1.4; 1968-70; 

Ace. 

None 

Resources 

(in 1,000 t) 

INDIA -Continued 

Ore: 224,397: MNZT: 1,418; REO: 780; 1989 

Ore: 350,000; R2E; 1982 

Ore: 86,480; ILMN: 330; RUTL: 64; ZRCN: 146; SLMN: 379; MGNT: 147; 

MNZT: 272; 1989 

KENYA -Continued 

Ore: 375; MNZT: 24; REO: 13; 1989 

Ore: 3,750; R2E; 1989 

MALA WI -Continued 

Ore: 11,000; MNZT: 550; STRL: 1,430; 1983 

Ore: 22,000; R2E; 1983 

MAURITANIA -Continued 

Ore: 100; MNZT: 8; REO: 4.4; 1970 

MOZAMBIQUE-Continued 

Ore: 166,800; ILMN: 4,190; RUTL: 90; ZRCN: 373; MNZT: 11; 1990 

NAMIBIA -Continued 

None REO: 20,000; 1989 

NEW ZEALAND-Continued 

None Ore: 73,300; MNZT: 0.7; REO: 0.4; 1989 

None Ore: 850,200; R2E; 1989; Est. 

SOUTH AFRICA-Continued 

Ore: 12,120; 1972-80; Ore: 50,000; CaF2: 6,500; MNZT: 500; 1989 

Ace. 

Ore: 528,382; 1964-88; Ore: 123,840; APTT: 1,858; REO: 130; 1989 

Ace. 

Unknown 

Ore: 1 ,963; ILMN: 

1,141; RUTL: 87; 

ZRCN: 24; MNZT: 

0.7; 1966-82; Ace. 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

Ore: 4,980,000; MNZT: 1,145; REO: 630; 1989 

SRI LANKA -Continued 

Ore: 1,593; MNZT: 2.4; REO: 1.3; 1989 

Ore R2E: 55,967; HM: 7,141; 1982 

UNITED STATES-Continued 

Ore: 19,000; MNZT: 7.8; REO: 4.9; 1983 

Ore: 18,144; MNZT: 23; REO: 14; 1983 

Ore: 726,000; REO: 9,480; 1978 

Ore: 109,900; MNZT: 17; REO: 11; 1982 

Ore R2E: 1,232,150; MNZT: 64; REO: 40; 1982 

Ore: 116,100; ILMN: 341; MGNT: 5; ZRCN: 16; GRNT: 39; MNZT: 47; 

1982. 

Ore: 5,900; P20 5 : 1,534; MNZT: 9.4; 1984 

Ore: 65,850; ILMN: 1,087; RUTL: 75; ZRCN: 213; MNZT: 19; 1982. 

63 

Comments 

Inland alluvium. 

Potential open pit. 

MNZT is low-thorium. 

Operations limited to 6 months 

per year. 

Scheduled for early 1992 start. 

Much crucial data missing. 

Pilot-plant study stage. 

Undergoing feasibility study. 

MNZT is not reclaimed. 

REO is not reclaimed. 

Mines having three dredges and 

wet plants. 

HM replenished by annual 

monsoons. 

Closed in 1958. 

Potential open pit. 

Potential open pit; high thorium. 

Mining ceased in 1959. 

Date of shutdown unknown. 

Mining to start in 2023 at close 

of Caldwell Canyon. 

Mining would be by dredge. 
TABLE 22.-Selected production and mineral-resource information from 

Site name Year of Mining Year of first Commodities Annual production 

discovery method production (in 1,000 t) 

UNITED STATES -Continued 

Caldwell Canyon (Idaho) Unknown N None CLPN, MNZT None 

Champ (Idaho) Unknown p 1982 CLPN, MNZT None 

Conda (Idaho) 1906 p 1920 CLPN, MNZT None 

Cumberland Island (Georgia) 1940's N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, None 

MNZT. 

Diamond Creek (Idaho) Unknown N None MNZT, XNTM, THRT None 

Gallinas Mountains (New About P, U 1943 FLRT,GLEN,MLCT,BSNS None 

Mexico). 1885 

Gay and South Forty (Idaho) Unknown p 1946 CLPN, MNZT Ore: 1 ,800; 1984; Est. 

Gold Fork-Little Valley 1880's D 1880's ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, GRNT, None 

(Idaho). GOLD, MNZT. 

Green Cove Springs (Florida) 1950's D 1972 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, Ore: 9,405; ILMN: 135; RUTL: ;48; 

MNZT. ZRCN: 57; LCXN: 8; MNZT: 1; 1989; 

Est. 

Hall Mountain Group (Idaho) 1930's P, U 1930's THRT,MGNT,GOLD,ZRCN, None 

APTT, ALNT, MNZT. 

Henry (Idaho) Unknown p 1969 CLPN, MNZT None 

Hicks Dome (Illinois) 1954 N None THRT,FLRT,SLPD,APTT, None 

XNTM, BSNS. 

Hilton Head Island (South 1954 N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Carolina). 

Husky (Idaho) Unknown p 1993 CLPN, MNZT None 

Iron Hill (Colorado) 1880's N None PCLR, RUTL, ZRCN, FLRT, None 

APTT, MNZT. 

Lemhi Pass (Idaho) 1949 N None THRT, RUTL, MNZT None 

Maxville (Florida) Unknown D 1992 lLMN, ZRCN, STRL None 

Maybe Canyon (Idaho) Unknown p 1966 CLPN, MNZT Ore: 910; 1985; Est. 

Mineville dumps (New York) 1700's p 1824 MGNT, MRTT, APTT None 

Mountain Fuel (Idaho) Unknown p 1986 CLPN, MNZT Ore: 1 ,358; 1989; Est. 

Mountain Pass (California) 1949 p 1965 BRIT,BSNS,MNZT,ALNT Ore: 308; REO: 24.7; 1989; Ace. 

Music Valley (California) 1949 N None XNTM, MNZT, GOLD None 

North Henry (Idaho) Unknown p 1991 CLPN, MNZT None 

North and South Carolina 1880's N 1887 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

placers (North and 

South Carolina). 

Oak Grove (Tennessee) 1960's N None ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, MNZT None 

Pajarito (New Mexico) 1984 N None EDLT None 

64 
ISM/ records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Cumulative production 

(in 1,000 t) 

Resources 

(in 1,000 t) 

UNITED STATES-Continued 

None Ore: 11,000; P20 5: 2,574; MNZT: 17; 1984 

Ore: 2,716; 1982-86; 

Est. 

Unknown 

Ore: 17,583; 1922-82; Unknown 

Ace. 

None 

None 

BSNS cone: 0.06; 

1954-55; Est. 

Ore: 241,000; MNZT: 43; REO: 27; 1982 

Ore: 235; MNZT: 4.6; REO: 2.9; 1978 

Ore: 46; CaF2: 28; REO: 1.4; 1983 

Ore: 18; R2E; 1983 

Ore: 39,959; 1946-82; Ore: 18,000; P20 5 : 4,590; MNZT: 18; 1989 

Ace. 

None Ore: 296,317; MNZT: 46; REO: 29; 1981 

Ore: 19,842; 198~8; Ore: 110,079; MNZT: 8; REO: 5; 1989 

Est. 

None Ore: 71; 1983 

Ore: 68; R2E; 1983 

Ore: 13,322; 1969-85; Ore: 847; P20 5 : 231; MNZT: 1.6; 1989 

Ace. 

None Ore: 14,700; REO: 62; 1978 

Ore: 658,000; R2E; 1978 

None Ore: 759,300; ILMN: 2,020; RUTL: 911; ZRCN: 524; MNZT: 61; 1983 

None Ore: 23,000; P20 5 : 5, 750; MNZT: 37; 1989 

None Ore: 655,622; REO: 2,603; 1989 

None Ore: 39,009; MNZT: 316; REO: 199; 1989 

Ore: 491; R2E; 1989 

None Unknown 

Ore: 21,148; 196~4; Ore: 6,350; P20 5 : 1,562; MNZT: 10; 1989 

Ace. 

Unknown 

Ore: 4,074; 1986-89; 

Est. 

REO: 293; 1972-89; 

Ace. 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

Ore: 15,672; REO: 163; 1983 

Ore: 5,432; P20 5 : 1,358; MNZT: 9; 1989 

Ore: 28,123; BSNS: 3,375; REO: 2,503; 1989 

Ore: 156,877; R2E; 1989 

Ore: 50; REO: 4.3; 1983 

Ore: 3,200; P20 5 : 867; REO: 3.8; 1985 

MNZT: 90; REO: 57; 1978 

Ore: 174,600; MNZT: 271; REO: 157; 1982 

Ore: 2,400; ZRCN: 29; REO: 4; 1989 

65 

Comments 

Mining to start in 2035 at close 

of Trail Creek. 

Mining ceased in 1986. 

Mining ceased in 1984. 

Partially in a national park. 

Would be an underground mine. 

Fluorite mine closed in 1956. 

Mining will continue to 1995. 

Originally a gold placer. 

The only placer REO producer 

in the United States. 

Mining ceased in the 1940's. 

Mining halts in 1990. 

No production plans. 

Mining unlikely; active resort 

community. 

Starts in 1993 at 1,358,000 

t/yr. 

Mainly a Nb20 5 property. 

Would be mined underground 

for Th02 • 

Extension of Green Cove 

Springs. 

Scheduled through 1996. 

Dumps from former iron-ore 

mine. 

Scheduled through 1993. 

The major REO producer in the 

United States. 

Ore is highly radioactive. 

Will operate through 1994. 

No plans for production. 

Do. 

Good potential for Y 20 3 

production. 
TABLE 22. -Selected production and mineral-resource information from 

Site name Year of Mining Year of ~rst Commodities Annual production 

discovery method productton (in 1,000 t) 

UNITED STATES-Continued 

Pearsol Creek (Idaho) 1940's D 1950 ILMN, MGNT, ZRCN, GRNT, None 

MNZT. 

Powderhorn (Colorado) 1980's N None PRVK,PCLR,APTT None 

Silica mine (Tennessee) 1930's s 1942 ILMN, RUTL, ZRCN, LCXN, Ore: 1,000; 1982; Est. 

MNZT. 

Smoky Canyon (Idaho) Unknown p 1984 CLPN, MNZT Ore: 1,861; 1984; Est. 

Trail Creek (Idaho) Unknown N None CLPN, MNZT None 

Wet Mountains (Colorado) 1960's N None BRIT, 11URT,XNTM None 

Wooley Valley (Idaho) Unknown p 1955 CLPN, MNZT None 

URUGUAY 

Atlantida Unknown N None MNZT 

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66 

None 

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Mining Magazine, 1989a, Eneabba sands go-ahead: Mining 

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ISM/ records for rare-earth oxide deposits and districts-Continued 

Comments Cumulative production Resources 

(in I ,000 t) (in 1 ,000 t) 

UNITED STATES-Continued 

None Ore: 172,471; ILMN: 376; MNZT: 32; 1982 

None Ore: 246,000; REO: 886; 1982 

Ore: 223,000; R2E; 1982 

Ore: 3,923; 1972-82; Ore: 26,700; MNZT: 3.6; REO: 2.1; 1989 

Ace. 

Ore: 9,895; 1984-89; Ore: 35,455; P20 5: 9,573; MNZT: 56; 1989 

Est. 

None Ore: 27,000; P20 5 ; 6,750; MNZT: 43; 1984 

None Ore: 13,957; REO: 141; 1989 

Ore: 11,453; 1955-87; Unknown 

Est. 

Unknown shutdown date. 

Potential open pit. 

Only sand produced; HM 

stockpiled. 

Production will continue through 

2007. 

Production will start in 2005. 

No plans for production. 

Mining ceased in 1987. 

URUGUAY -Continued 

None Ore: contains 3.2 percent MNZT 

Rare earth element geochemistry, developments in geochemistry: Armsterdam, Netherlands, Elsevier Scientific 

Publishing Co., p. 423-466. 

O'Driscoll, Mike, 1988, Rare earths-Enter the dragon: 

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against all odds: Industrial Minerals, November, no. 266, 

p. 23-69. 

---1990, Minerals in the U.S. southwest-Breaking rocks 

in the hot sun: Industrial Minerals, May, no. 272, p. 

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Pincock, Allen and Holt, 1988, A worldwide study on rare 

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Prospect, 1989-90, Major resource development projects committed: Prospect, summer, p. 35, 39. 

---1990, Major resource development projects committed: 

Prospect, autumn, p. 81, 85. 

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Forum, v. 4., no. 3, p. 307-313. 

Skillings Mining Review, 1990, Rio Algom to close uranium 

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August, v. 79, no. 32, p. 17. 

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L.V., and Clingan, B.V., 1979, Principal thorium resources in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 

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international classification of mineral resources-Report 

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67 

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Vijayan, S., Melnyk, A.J., Singh, R.D., and Nuttal, K., 1989, 

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Anstett, T.F., Hedrick, J.B., and Jackson, W.D., 1988, 

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Precious and Rare Metals, Albuquerque, 1988: Socorro, 

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Bautista, R.G., 1988, The growing interest in rare earth 

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Cassidy, P., 1989, Good times for mineral sands miners likely 

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Couch, Julian, 1982, Rare earths from China-Set to make an 

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68 

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*U.S. G.P.0.:1993-301-077:80037 


INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MINERALS INVENTORY 

PARTICIPATING AGENCIES 

Australia 

Bureau of Resource Sciences 

Canada 

Natural Resources Canada 

Mining Sector 

Geological Survey of Canada 

Federal Republic of Germany 

Bundesanstalt ftir Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe 

Republic of South Africa 

Minerals Bureau 

Geological Survey 

United Kingdom 

British Geological Survey 

United States 

Bureau of Mines 

Geological Survey 

SUMMARY REPORTS 

This circular is one of several reports on selected mineral commodities to be published in the U.S. Geological Survey 930 

series. The circulars published to date are listed below; year of publication is shown in parentheses. Copies are available free 

on application to U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution, Box 25286, MS 306, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 

U.S.A. 

930-A. 

930-B. 

930-C. 

930-D. 

930-E. 

930-F. 

930-G. 

930-H. 

Manganese (1984) 

Chromium (1984) 

Phosphate (1984) 

Nickel (1985) 

Platinum-Group Metals (1986) 

Cobalt (1987) 

Titanium (1988) 

Graphite (1988) 

930-1. Lithium (1990) 

930-J. Tin (1990) 

930-K. Vanadium (1992) 

930-L. Zirconium (1992) 

930-M. Niobium (Columbium) 

and Tantalum (1993) 

930-N. Rare-Earth Oxides (1993) 

Additional reports on selected mineral commodities in different regions of the world are being published by the U.S. Bureau 

of Mines in the Mineral Perspectives series. The report published to date is listed below; year of publication is shown in 

parentheses. Copies are available by writing to the Division of International Minerals, U.S. Bureau of Mines, MS 5205,810 

Seventh Street, N. W., Washington, DC 20241. 

Subequatorial Africa (1991) 

Requests for copies of International Strategic Minerals Inventory summary reports and for further information may also be 

addressed to: 

Gordon C. Battey, Director 

Mineral Resources Branch 

Bureau of Resource Sciences 

John Curtin House 

22 Brisbane Avenue 

Barton, ACT 2600 

AUSTRALIA 

Mining Sector 

Natural Resources Canada 

460 O'Connor Street -Room 980 

Ottawa, Ontario, KIA OE4 

CANADA 

Distribution Branch 

B undesanstalt flir Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe 

Postfach 51 01 53 

D-3000 Hannover 51 

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY 

Chief Director, Minerals Bureau 

Private Bag X4 

Braamfontein 2017 

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA 

Gregory R. Chapman 

British Geological Survey 

Keyworth 

Nottingham NG12 5GG 

UNITED KINGDOM