A new discovery in South Africa could potentially end China’s monopoly on the world market for rare earth elements. These elements, such as Terbium, Neodymium, Ytterbium, and Dysprosium, are essential in medicine and numerous high-tech products. While rare earth elements are found all over the world, economically viable deposits are mostly located in China, giving them a dominant position in the global trade. However, researchers from the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have found a new source of rare earth elements in rock samples from the Vergenoeg Fluorite Mine in South Africa.
The mine, located in the northeast of Pretoria, is situated on very old granitic volcanic rock that contains 40 different iron-bearing minerals and a high amount of fluorite. The scientists examined Fayalite minerals, which occur in the depths of the Vergenoeg Formation, using imaging techniques with atomic resolution and plasma mass spectrometry. Fayalite, a globally occurring iron silicate, is mainly used as a gemstone but also in industry for sandblasting. The analysis of the reddish-brown to black minerals showed that Fayalite can also contain large amounts of heavy rare earth elements, which it absorbed during volcanic melting processes.
Measurements showed that the Fayalite minerals from the Vergenoeg Fluorite Mine exceed the reference value known as Chondrite normalization by a factor of 6,000. Chondrite normalization is based on the rare earth content in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, which are considered very primitive. While Fayalite is not a common mineral, it is found all over the world, with around 300 known locations in Europe, the U.S., and Asia. The discovery that Fayalite can contain significant amounts of rare earth elements offers new opportunities for mining these resources outside of China.
This breakthrough could potentially end China’s monopoly on the world market for rare earth elements, which has given them a dominant position in the global trade. The discovery of a new source of rare earth elements in South Africa offers new opportunities for mining these resources outside of China. This could have significant implications for the global economy and the production of high-tech products that rely on these essential elements.
