A new type of rare earth elements deposit in weathering crust of Permian basalt in western Guizhou, NW China

A new type of rare earth elements （REEs） deposit was discovered from the gaolinite mudstone in the weathering crust of Permian basalt, Bijie region, western Guizhou, China. It contained ∑RE2O3 0.065%-1.086%. This type of REEs deposit was widely distributed with steady horizon and thickness of 3-4 m. The ore-bearing weathering crust （kaolinite） of the three discovered REEs deposits belonged to the third episode of the Emeishan basalt eruption. The new type of REEs deposit was suggested that basalt （tuff） weathering could lead to the enrichment of the rare earth elements. Therefore, it is of important economic significance to explore REEs deposits in the weathering crust of basalt （tuffs） in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan Provinces.

Mineralogical and Petrological Studies on Carbonatite Dykes in Bayan Ebo，Nei Mongol，China and Their Implication to Rare Earth Mineralization

Two carbonatite dykes separetely located on Dulahala Mountain and within Erdaowa Group strata in Bayan Ebo mineral deposit have been studied.For Dulahala carbonatite the content of RE2O3 is 23.9 wt%,higher than that in the rare earth ores of both Main Ore-body and Eastern Ore-body,the distribution patterns of rare earth elements and rare earth mineral assemblage are consistent with those in both Ore-bodies.The evidence indicates a material source for RE in Bayan Ebo deposit.Fenite occurring at the edge of the carbonatite in Erdaowa Group yields an isochron age of 343.26±7.33 Ma by Rb-Sr method.It implies the geological time of mineralization.

Zircon deposit and rare earth element enriched metasomatic alkaline rocks at Kyemyeongsan Formation, Chungju, Korea: Paleozoic magmatism and Zr-REE-Nb mineralization

The zircon ore deposit in metasediments and peralkaline granite of the Kyemyeongsan Formation is located in southwest of Chungju city, Korea. The deposit, closely associated with REE and Nb,is composed of metasomatic alkaline rocks and rare metal alkali granite, and was formed in late Carboniferous (340～343Ma). Zircon occurs in different paragenetic sequence: (1) earlier rare metal alkali granite, (2) later metasomatic zircon ore. The metasomatic zone contains abundant microcline, albite and quartz with minor biotite, magnetite, hornblende, allanite and zircon. The alkali granites have high silica (72.13～74.52wt.% as SiO 2), and total iron content (5.95～6.89%), and are characterized by low Al 2O 3 content (7.12～9.74%). They also show variable K 2O content (3.60～6.98%), and high ratios of K 2O/Na 2O. The REE patterns of rare metal alkali granite are similar to those of felsic volcanics from rifts, or back arc basins in, or near continental crust. Zircon ores are characterized by high iron content and low Al 2O 3, SiO 2, and K 2O content and have unusually high total REE content (0.18～2.33%). REE patterns show relatively flat to somewhat heavy REE (HREE) depleted characteristics (Ce/Yb=0.39～5.17) with large Eu negative anomaly (Eu/Eu *=0.16～0.29). Laser ablation microprobe inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LAM ICP MS) analyses has been carried on zircon. The REE patterns of mineral zircons are almost the same to those of zircon ores and rare metal alkali granites, which may reflect the inability of zircons to effectively fractionated REE at formation of origin. The Sm Nd isochron age of the zircon ore and rare metal alkali granite are 330Ma, and 331Ma, respectively with ε Nd(t) being range from -2.00 to -1.84. This data suggest that the ore forming material came from the mantle. Alkali granite has suffered extensive post magmatic metasomatism of a high temperature to produce zircon ores. Geochemical characteristics show that metasomatism of alkaline fluid was probably the dominant ore forming process in Chungju district.

Adsorption ability of rare earth elements on clay minerals and its practical performance

The adsorption behaviors of rare earth elements on clay minerals would have great influence on the mineralization process and the leaching process of the ion-adsorption type rare earths ore.In this work,the adsorption thermodynamics of REEs on kaolin were investigated thoroughly and systematically.The experimental results showed that the adsorption characteristics of La,Nd,Y on kaolin did fit well with the Langmuir isotherm model and their saturated adsorption capacities were 1.731,1.587 and 0.971 mg/g,respectively.The free energy change（ΔG）values were –16.91 kJ/mol（La）,–16.05 kJ/mol（Nd）and –15.58 kJ/mol（Y）,respectively.The negative values of ΔG demonstrated that the adsorption of rare earth on kaolin was a spontaneously physisorption process.The deposit characteristic of the volcanic ion-adsorption type rare earths ore and the behavior of the rare earth in the column leaching process were also developed here.With the increase of the ore body depth,the distribution of the LREEs decreased and the HREEs increased.And the slight differences in the adsorption ability of REEs on clay minerals led to the fractionation effect in the column leaching process.These developed more evidences and better understanding of metallogenic regularity,and provided a theoretical basis and scientific approach to separation of the HREEs and LREEs in the leaching process.

Lanthanum incorporated in MCM-41 and its application as a support for a stable Ni-based methanation catalyst

Herein, lanthanum was incorporated via hydrothermal synthesis into a MCM-41 framework structure with La/Si molar ratios from 0.01 to 0.1. Samples of NiO supported on LaMCM-41 were prepared using the impregnation method. The catalyst performance was evaluated using a fixed bed CO methanation reactor. A Ni/LaMCM-41 catalyst with La/Si = 0.1 shows the best catalytic performance with a CO conversion of almost 100% and a CH4 selectivity of 89.5% at 250 ℃ under a pressure of 1.5 MPa and at an airspeed of 36,000 mL/（g·h）. Compared with Ni-La/MCM-41（La/Si = 0.1） and Ni/MCM-41 prepared via the impregnation method, Ni/LaMCM-41（La/Si = 0.1） shows a higher CO conversion and CH4 selectivity.In a 100 h stability test, the Ni/LaMCM-41（La/Si = 0.1） catalyst shows excellent stability; furthermore, the CO conversion is always greater than 98.0%, which is significantly better than the results for Ni/MCM-41.We experimentally demonstrate that elemental La enters the framework of MCM-41. The Ni/LaMCM-41 catalyst performs well because the La reduces the average particle size of the NiO particles and enhances the interaction between NiO and MCM-41; moreover, the introduction of La significantly inhibits the sintering of the catalyst and the formation of carbon deposits.