Concentration of REE-Nb-Zr-Be in the Baerzhe Deposit, NE China: Insights from Textural and Chemical Features of Amphibole and Rare Metal Minerals

Multi-stage metasomatic Zr mineralization in the world-class Baerzhe rare earth element Nb-Zr-Be deposit, China

“…3). The presence of the altered agpaitic phase was only recently reported by Wu et al (2021). REE-Nb-Be mineralization occurs in both the altered miaskitic and agpaitic granites, whereas high-grade Zr mineralization (≥ 2.5 wt % of ZrO 2 ) is present only in the altered agpaitic granite (Wu et al, 2021).…”

“…In addition, ca. 2.8 Mt of ZrO 2 at an average grade of 2.73 wt % and 48,470 t of BeO at an average grade of 0.05 wt % are potential by-products from the extraction of REE and Nb (Qiu et al, 2019;Wu et al 2021). The Baerzhe deposit contains a large variety of rare-metal silicates, oxides, and carbonates, however, most REE and almost all Be are hosted in hingganite ((REE,Ca) 2 (□,Fe 2+ )Be 2 [SiO 4 ] 2 (OH) 2 ), a member of the gadolinite supergroup; zircon is the only ore mineral for Zr (Yang et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2021).…”

“…1C of Wu et al, 2021). The pluton evolved from an unaltered hypersolvus miaskitic granite porphyry, through a transsolvus miaskitic granite, to a transsolvus agpaitic granite (The definition of agpaitic vs. miaskitic is after Marks and Markl, 2017; at Baerzhe, primary elpidite is present in the agpaitic granite whereas the miaskitic granite contains zircon as the only primary Zr mineral) 5 (Wu et al, 2021). Both of the transsolvus phases have been variably hematized but only the agpaitic granite was affected by ubiquitous Na metasomatism (Fig.…”

“…Yet, little is known about how the chemistry of different generations of metasomatic zircon change through time during water-rock interaction in a given system. This study builds upon our current understanding of the granitic phases and mineralization in the large Baerzhe rare-earth element (REE)-Nb-Zr-Be deposit in Inner Mongolia, Northeast China, where different types of metasomatic zircon were identified in an agpaitic granite (Wu et al, 2021).…”

“…Metasomatic zircon is not abundant in common igneous rocks but is one of the most important ore minerals for Zr, and in some cases the rare-earth elements, in alkaline-peralkaline rare-metalenriched systems (e.g., Kovalenko et al, 1995;Feng and Samson, 2015;Kynicky et al, 2011;3 Marks and Markl, 2017;Möller and Williams-Jones, 2017;Wu et al, 2021). Previous studies (e.g., Hoskin, 2005;Pettke et al 2005;Bell et al, 2019) have shown that the textural and chemical characteristics of metasomatic zircon from different localities can vary considerably.…”