Rare earth
elements and
rare metals
by Jennifer S. Getsinger, PhD, PGeo.
The simple life of the Stone Age required only stone tools made of
broken rocks. With the Iron Age came the complexity of knives, war,
and forging. Mining really got going with the Bronze Age (tin, copper).
Almost all of the known mining areas of Europe were discovered by
the Romans. Refined steel, petroleum, and aluminum have defined
the modern industrial age.
Through all human history, the love of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum) has
woven a thread of art, beauty, culture,
and greed. The first metals mined were the
easiest to extract from the Earth: magnetic
iron, gold nuggets from streams, soft copper from veins. The industrial and military
advances of the past two centuries have
progressed with improvements in mining
technology. Scientists have found new uses
for each element discovered. Without the
discovery of radioactive elements like uranium, there would be no nuclear warheads, no
X-rays, no medical isotopes, no radiometric dating with its story of the immense time involved
in Earth history, no sorrowful wastelands like
Hiroshima and Nagasaki or Chernobyl, no
living with constant dread of the bomb, no
hope of curing cancer.
With each new technological tool and mineral extraction technique come new prospects
for the mining business, new definitions of ore
(earth materials that can be mined for a profit),
new facets of progress, new dangers. If not for
europium from the rare earth element mined
in the Mountain Pass carbonatite intrusion in
California, colour television would never have
been affordable. The computer on which this
article was composed contains commodities the
Romans never even imagined, in addition to
the age-old useful metals they did know about
(iron, copper, gold). Without the refinement of
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lithium, there would be less treatment for bipolar disorder and less possibility for electric and
hybrid automobiles and certainly less twittering on cell phones (see May 2009 RW for article
on lithium).
The rare earth elements (REE) are usually
defined as the special section of the periodic
table known as the lanthanide metals or lanthanides, from lanthanum (#57) to lutetium
(#71), and also yttrium (#39), totaling 15
chemically similar elements that occur in many
common rocks in small amounts. Promethium
(Pm, #61), is generally not included due to
lack of stable isotopes and zero natural occurrence. The light rare earth elements (LREE)
are commonly defined as La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm,
with the first four the most abundant. The
heavy rare earth elements (HREE) are considered more valuable as they are rarer, and
are defined by the U.S. Geological Survey
as Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu; and
commonly also included with this group are
Eu and Y, due to their similar properties and
occurrence. The lanthanides are all reactive,
silvery grey, soft metals ranging in specific
gravity from 4.4 to 9.8 g/cm3, and vary in
crustal abundance from cerium, at 60 ppm as
common as copper, to thulium and lutetium,
at 0.5 ppm the least abundant rare earths,
yet more abundant than silver. Uses for each
depend on their unique chemical properties.
Study of the rare earth elements (REE) is
August 2009
Exploring for Metals of the Future
essential to an understanding of the petrology of igneous rocks, and contributes to
various processes of radiometric dating
and research into the origins of the universe. But mere curiosity is not enough to
spark mining. This is where colour monitors and emerging electronic devices and
their expanding markets instigated development of affordably mining these unusual
elements.
The United States used to produce all of
its rare earth elements from mines such as
Mountain Pass in California near the Nevada
border (conveniently located between its
customers, the television producers of Los
Angeles and the neon and rare element
phosphored fluorescent lights of Las Vegas),
but environmental concerns about radioactive components such as monazite and
competition from less costly mining methods and deposits in China shut it down. Vast
resources of “ion-adsorption” ore in tropically weathered granitic rocks of southern
China, where in-place concentration of rare
earth metal cations in kaolinite provides
low grade, but bulk mineable deposits of
yttrium and the middle REEs, as well as
bastnasite production as a by-product of
the Bayan Obo iron mine of inner Mongolia,
have supplanted most other world suppliers
of lanthanides. However, reborn as a private
company, Molycorp Minerals is now working on reviving mining at Mountain Pass as
well as manufacturing magnets. Molycorp
is expecting renewed local support due to
strategic concerns regarding rare metals.
World market for rare metals and lanthanides can only increase with the present
trend toward the proliferation of personal
music and electronic devices and green technology transportation – all requiring smaller
and more powerful rechargeable batteries as
well as small permanent magnets. Below is a
selection of companies involved in rare metals and rare earths.
Adex Mining Inc. [ADE-TSXV] is
“reaching new heights at Mount Pleasant,
North America’s largest tin deposit and
the world’s largest (known) reserve of
indium,” located in New Brunswick. Adex
plans to reactivate former producer, the
Mount Pleasant tungsten-molybdenum
mine, as well as to develop the related tinindium-zinc deposit of the North Zone. In
April 2009, Adex announced a NI 43-101
compliant indicated mineral resource estimate of 10.88 million tonnes of Sn-In-(Zn)
ore (0.43% Sn, 67.8 grams indium/tonne,
0.67% zinc, and lesser tungsten, moly, arsenic, copper and bismuth) at a cut-off grade
of 0.25% tin-equivalent (calculated using
tin and indium but not zinc values), and a
price of indium of US $500/kg. Indium is
used in thin-film coatings for solar panels
and in LCD monitors such as those on computers and flat-screen televisions.
Argentex Mining Corp. [ATX-TSXV] is
a Vancouver junior mining company with
a cast of local star geologists including
Kenneth Hicks (president), Colin Godwin,
Jenna Hardy, and others. Its flagship
Pinguino property in southern Argentina is
a “unique indium-bearing silver polymetallic” (silver-indium-zinc-lead-gold) deposit
(copper and tin are also present). Holding
mineral rights to 35 properties in the
60-kilometre northwest-striking Tranquilo
Trend, Argentex is in a good position to
help meet the growing demand for indium
from the green-energy sector and Japanese
display technology applications.
Avalon Rare Metals Inc. [AVL-TSXV]
recently announced additional promising
TOP: Project Geologist Angie Martin downloads data on rainfall, sun, snow, wind speed and
direction from the weather station into her computer at the Avalon Ventures Thor Lake Project
Northwest Territories. Photo by Chris Pederson.
BOTTOM: Danny Gorham and Doug McDonagh of Dahrouge Geological prepare for field work on
Commerce Resources Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project in eastern British Columbia, Canada.
Photo courtesy Commerce resource Corp.
REFER TO TABLE OF ELEMENTS PAGE 55.
August 2009
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assays from its Thor Lake (NWT) REE project, including highlight drill hole L09-152
with its high-grade Basal Zone intercept
of 2.96% total rare earth oxides (TREO),
37.6% of that consisting of heavy rare
earth oxides (HREO: Eu to Lu, and Y), over
11.6 metres; and within that intercept, 2.3
metres grading 4.41% TREO with 28.7%
HREO. Various phases of Precambrian
granitoid rocks and pegmatites on the
property contain several mineralized zones,
featuring other rare metals such as zirconium, niobium, tantalum, gallium, and
beryllium, concentrated in hydrothermal
mineral assemblages of LREE-bearing bastnasite, monazite, allanite, and synchisite,
and HREE-bearing monazite and zircon, as
well as the yttrium niobium–tantalum solid
solution mineral fergusonite-formanite;
and beryllium-enriched silicate phenacite,
among others.
Previously considered by several mining companies for mining individual
compounds, and then dropped for economic
and/or complicated extraction reasons, the
chemically complex Thor Lake Project is
being re-evaluated by Avalon in terms of
its metallic diversity in the light of increasing demand for a variety of these elements,
especially neodymium and dysprosium for
the extra-strong magnets needed in multiple electronic devices. Avalon has other
properties on hold, such as the Separation
Rapids lithium-tantalum project, and the
Lilypad Lake pegmatite, enriched in tantalum, cesium, rubidium, and lithium, both
in Ontario. Avalon’s East Kemptville, NS,
project hosts an old tin mine prospective for
indium (element #49, periodic table column
IIIA below gallium), used in semiconductors,
transparent conductive coatings on glass, in
LEDs, and various medical and other industrial applications. See Avalon’s presentation
on its website (www.avalonventures.com)
for a page on metal prices.
Canadian International Minerals Inc.
[CIN-TSXV] holds an option to earn a 75%
interest from Commerce Resources Corp.
in the road-accessible rare earth element
(REE) property 80 kilometres northeast of
Prince George, central British Columbia.
Commerce conducted an exploration program in 2006 that included soil sampling,
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scintillometer and magnetometer surveys,
and sampling. Thirty-six samples contained
anomalously REE concentrations. A summer
exploration program is underway consisting
of geological mapping, soil and rock geochemical sampling, and trenching.
Commerce Resources Corp. [CCE-TSXV;
D7H-FSE] focuses on tantalum, niobium,
and other rare metals in carbonatites,
especially at the Upper Fir deposit at their
Blue River Project in British Columbia,
and their new Eldor prospect in Québec,
which is enriched in phosphorus, uranium, and rare earth elements in addition
to tantalum and niobium. The discovery of
purple fluorite “points to the multi-commodity potential of the Eldor Property,”
according to their website, which quotes
David Hodge, President of Commerce. He
predicts the Upper Fir Project could have a
mine life of more than 15 years with annual
production of tantalum reaching 1 million
pounds (about 450 tonnes).
Resource estimates for Upper Fir deposit
in a 2007 NI 43-101 report show it to be the
largest deposit of tantalum mineralization in
the area. Using a cut-off grade of 100 grams
Ta2O5/tonne, indicated resources are estimated at 23.1 million tonnes of 177 grams
Ta2O5/tonne and 1145 grams Nb2O5/tonne,
and inferred resource estimate at 13.3 million tonnes of 178 grams Ta2O5/tonne and
1149 grams Nb2O5/tonne, consistent with
previous estimates from the property area.
Tantalum and niobium are hosted mainly in
the reddish mineral pyrochlore; high phosphorus is assumed to come from apatite in
the report, but given anomalous thorium
(Th), some monazite might also be present,
which could also host the elevated REE values. In preliminary exploration, the Carbo
property north of Prince George, BC, also
exhibits anomalous tantalum, niobium, and
rare earth elements.
Gold Canyon Resources Inc. [GCUTSXV] features three gold properties in the
Red Lake, Ontario, district: the Springbole,
Horseshoe, and Favourable Lake projects.
Their other two projects are the Kratz
Spring iron-oxide/copper-gold +/- REE
deposit joint venture with JOGMEC in
Missouri, and the Cordero Gallium Project
in northwestern Nevada. It’s the largest
primarily gallium project in North America
(see March 2008 RW for details). Gallium is
a soft metal up to its melting point at 30°C,
but it doesn’t boil until it reaches 2403°C.
It’s used widely in the electronics industry,
and is increasing in demand.
Great Western Minerals Group [GWGTSXV] is “forging the link in the rare earth
element mine-to-market chain” – intending,
like Molycorp Minerals, to bring both mining and production in this business back to
North America. Although Great Western
and Molycorp decided on June 15, 2009
not to go ahead with the amalgamation they
were negotiating, their goals remain the
same, to become vertically integrated rare
earth metal miners to producers.
The flagship property of Great Western
Minerals Group is at Hoidas Lake,
Saskatchewan, in a former uranium mining
area, where 10 kilometres of fault structures through Precambrian granitic rocks
are rife with veins containing mineralized
apatite and allanite, a phosphate and an
epidote mineral, respectively, that can host
both lanthanides and radioactive elements,
with more than 30 known REE showings.
Drill results reported many intersections
with greater than 3% TREO (including Y),
including local zones up to more than 6%
TREO (including Y). At the prefeasibility
stage, resources at Hoidas Lake, according to a Wardrop Engineering NI 43-101
report, using a 1.5 wt.% total rare earth
oxide (TREO) cutoff grade, are: measured –
123,000 tonnes of 2.956 wt.% TREO (+Y);
indicated – 430,000 tonnes of 2.762 wt.%
TREO (+Y); inferred – 812,000 tonnes of
2.445 wt.% TREO (+Y).
Great Western has also begun work on
two other REE properties in Canada, at the
Douglas River property in the Athabasca
Basin (also in a Saskatchewan uranium
exploration area) where xenotime mineralization promises to yield yttrium,
and the HREEs dysprosium, and erbium;
and at the Benjamin River Project, New
Brunswick. These projects are prospective
for the critical, heavy rare earth element
components of high temperature, permanent magnets used particularly in hybrid
vehicles. GWG also holds a 25% interest
in the Deep Sands Glacial Lake Bonneville
August 2009
Beach deposit in Utah, which is being explored for its
concentration of rare earth elements in the heavy magnetite layers.
Houston Lake Mining Corp. [HLM-TSXV] focuses on
valuable metals in northwest Ontario with its near-production West Cedartree Gold Project, its platinum group
property at Tib Lake, and its rare metals Pakeagama Lake
Project, near Red Lake. Located near the Manitoba Tanco
Mine area, the Pakeagama alkaline intrusive complex
pegmatite hosts rare metals tantalum, rubidium, lithium
(in petalite), and cesium, with lesser niobium, tin, thallium, and gallium.
Hudson Resources Inc. [HUD-TSXV] has completed
first phase explorations of its 100%-owned Sarfartoq
carbonatite project in Greenland, which host REEs plus
niobium and tantalum.
IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. [IB-TSXV], based in
Vancouver, is another company set on mine-to-market
integration, with a focus on beryllium and non-ferrous
alloys, and also owns successful manufacturing subsidiaries in the U.S. IBC has dominant share positions
as well in beryllium deposits in Uganda, the U.S. and
Brazil, including the former producing Boomer Mine
of Colorado. At IBC’s currently producing Spor Mine,
adjacent to the Brush Wellman mines and beryllium
production plant in Delta, Utah, beryllium occurs in
pegmatite minerals such as bertrandite, an alteration
of beryl. Beryllium, a light metal with a high melting
temperature, is used in cooling systems and shields in
nuclear reactors, as well as other industrial and military applications.
Mainstream Minerals Corp. [MJO-TSXV] and partner King’s Bay Gold Corp. [KBG-TSXV] operate a few
exploration properties in northwestern Ontario near
Red Lake, including the Bobjo Project, targeting gold,
rare metals, and rare earth elements. Multi-element
analyses posted on their website show typical crustal
abundances of most elements, with some elevated gold
values.
Matamec Explorations Inc. [MAT-TSXV] is keen
to complete a resource report soon on their Zeus REEY-Zr property in the Temiskaming area of Québec.
The Kipawa Alkaline Complex hosts several rare
metal-bearing minerals such as eudialyte and britholite. Matamec, led by REE expert Antony Mariano, is
building on exploration work started by Unocal in the
1980s.
Mexivada Mining Corp. [MNV-TSXV] has prospects in Mexico, Nevada, and the Republic of Congo
(Brazzaville) seeking gold, silver, diamond, tellurium,
molybdenum, uranium, and joint venture partners.
Projects targeting the tellurium include the Moly Dome
August 2009
Diamond drilling at Rare Element’s Bear Lodge Rare Earths Project in Wyoming, USA,
where hole RES 08-3 returned 170 feet of 4.12% Rare Earth Oxides in 2008. Photo
courtesy Rare Element Resources Ltd.
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and Jefferson projects in Nevada, and the
AuroTellurio Project near Moctezuma,
Sonora, Mexico, all of which are precious
metal prospects with gold-silver-tellurium
mineralization. Element #52, Te is the rarest stable solid element in the Earth’s crust
at a crustal abundance of 1 to 5 ppb (lower
than platinum). It is increasingly used in
cadmium telluride solar panel technologies. According to Mexivada, the price
of tellurium has increased from US $10 to
more than US $300/kilogram.
Niocan Inc. [NIO-TSX] is revitalizing the
idea of mining niobium (aka columbium) at
the old St. Lawrence Columbium (SLC) Mine
(1960-1976) in Oka, Québec, hosted by the
Oka complex carbonatite. Once it gets going,
annual production is expected to be 4,500
tonnes of ferroniobium from 892,000 tonnes
of ore grading 0.63% Ni2O5.
Quest Uranium Corp. [QUC-TSXV] has
added rare earth elements to its uraniumdominated portfolio at the old Iron Ore
Company’s Strange Lake deposit at the border of Québec and Labrador. With known
resources of 52 megatonnes of 3.25% ZrO2,
0.64% Y2O3, 0.56% Nb2O5, 1.3% TREO,
and 0.12% BeO, Quest has discovered
additional HREE and uranium showings
that warrant further exploration.
“Targeting gold and rare earth elements,”
Rare Element Resources Ltd. [RES-TSXV]
was recently upgraded to a Tier One company on the Venture Exchange. It recently
reported the Sundance Gold Joint Venture
between its subsidiary, Paso Rico (USA)
Inc., and Newmont North America
Exploration Ltd. in the Bear Lodge area of
Wyoming was permitted to go ahead with
expanded drilling. This also allows for
further exploration and evaluation of rare
earth element targets in the Bull Hill area.
According to a previous report by the
U.S. Geological Survey quoted by Donald
Ranta, President/CEO of Rare Element
Resources, the Bear Lodge property
“encompasses one of the largest disseminated rare-earth occurrences in North
America.” The main ore mineral is bastnasite with primarily LREE, especially
lanthanum and cerium. Earlier exploration
by other companies estimated resources
around 4 million tonnes of about 3.8%
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TREO, which the company expects to confirm in the coming field seasons.
Rare Element reported encouraging REE
metallurgical test results on oxide samples
from the 100%-owned Bear Lodge property. Tests on near-surface oxide material
from three 2008 holes gave a range of
recoveries and concentrate grades, from
70% recovery with a grade 14.25% rare
earth oxide to 90% recovery with a concentrate grade of 9.2% REO.
Sarissa Resources Inc. [SRSR-TSXV] is
rejuvenating the Nemegosenda niobium
property in Ontario under the leadership
of Scott Keevil and Alan Hawke (see May
2009 issue of RW). Phase II exploration is
underway, consisting of further diamond
drilling of the D Zone.
Ucore Uranium Inc. [UCU-TSXV] has
taken over an area around the former
uranium producing Ross Adams Mine
in the Alaska Panhandle on the south tip
of Prince of Wales Island (southwest of
Ketchikan, northwest of Prince Rupert)
and is developing plans for a new uranium
and rare metals mine at its flagship Bokan
Mountain property, with “near term
production potential.” Containing approximately 5,000 tonnes of uranium and
additional niobium, tantalum, zirconium,
beryllium, and REEs, the Bokan Mountain
property hosts one of the largest combined light and heavy rare earth element
deposits, according to the U.S. Geological
Survey. The Bokan intrusive complex is a
Jurassic peralkaline ring dyke with radial
veins hosting uranium and rare metal mineralization. n
August 2009