Regolith-Hosted Rare Earth Element Mineralization in the Esperance Region, Western Australia: Major Characteristics and Potential Controls
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Geological Setting
3.1.1. Regional Geology
- Archean (c. 2800–2660 Ma) tonalitic to monzogranitic Munglinup Gneiss of the Northern Foreland. The granulite facies Munglinup Gneiss is a higher metamorphic grade component of the Northern Foreland exhumed from deeper crust levels [7]. The Munglinup Gneiss comprises amphibolite to granulite grade orthogneisses, interlayered with lenses of metamorphosed mafic rocks, with minor banded chert, amphibolitic schist, and metamorphosed ultramafic rocks, which are interpreted as remnants of Archean greenstone sequences [7]. The most abundant phase in the Munglinup Gneiss is a leucocratic, mostly homogeneous, banded tonalitic to monzogranitic gneiss (Figure 2a) of the weakly peraluminous composition.
- Paleoproterozoic (c. 1690–1660 Ma) metagranitic Dalyup and Coramup Gneisses of the Biranup Zone. The Dalyup Gneiss is the main component of the Biranup Zone; it is composed of heterogeneous, usually intensely deformed and metamorphosed up to granulite facies granitic rocks and less abundant mafic rocks. Rock types include granodioritic, monzogranitic, and syenogranitic gneisses, orthopyroxene-bearing granitic gneiss, quartz–magnetite gneiss, mafic gneiss, and amphibolite [28,29,30]. Unlike the Dalyup Gneiss, the Coramup Gneiss contains both orthogneisses and paragneisses. Rock types include granitic to granodioritic gneiss, tonalitic gneiss, lenses and boudins of metamorphosed mafic rocks, quartz-rich psammite, and minor migmatitic metapelite [31,32]. At Newmont (Salazar project), especially in the western part, REE mineralization also develops over elongated para-amphibolite bodies of plagioclase–hornblende–biotite composition, although REEs seem to have originated from contact zones with surrounding granitic gneisses [18].
- Mesoproterozoic (c. 1330–1280 Ma) metamorphosed monzogranites and granodiorites of the Recherche Supersuite dominate the Nornalup Zone, masking much of the original Paleoproterozoic (c. 1800–1650 Ma) basement. The granitoids comprise foliated metagranites or gneisses with syenogranitic, monzogranitic, and granodioritic compositions. Most of the Gora Hill suite granitoids are related to the A-type granites (Figure 2b). Weakly peraluminous granites of the Southern Hills suite are assigned to the I-, S- or M-type granites. Most of these rocks appear to be mingled with a mafic component, generally present as enclaves of various sizes.
- Mesoproterozoic (c. 1140 Ma) granites, monzogranites, and syenogranites of the Esperance Supersuite. These granitoids represent the late-stage magmatism of the Albany–Fraser Orogeny, at c. 1140 Ma [7,29,33]. Rocks of the Esperance Supersuite are relatively undeformed and of low metamorphic grade [34]. The A-type, weakly peraluminous to metaluminous monzogranites of the Booanya Suite assigned by chemical composition (Figure 2) within the Esperance Supersuite occur within a 90 km wide, northeasterly trending, generally magnetic belt in the eastern Nornalup Zone [26]. Weakly peraluminous granites of the Truslove suite are assigned to the I-, S-, or M-type granites.
3.1.2. Geomorphology and Regolith
3.2. Regolith REE Mineralization
3.3. Rare Earth Element Speciation
4. Discussion
4.1. Factors Controlling Regolith-Hosted REE Mineralization
4.2. Potential Mineralization Controls in the Esperance Region
4.3. Climate Evolution and Hydrogeochemistry
- Glacial erosion during the Early Permian followed by Palaeozoic and Mesozoic weathering that eroded many of the pre-existing geomorphologic features;
- Humid and sub-tropical conditions in the Late Cretaceous that promoted intense chemical weathering;
- Sea-level changes in the Late Cretaceous–Mid-Eocene resulting in erosion and active sedimentary processes that reshaped the landscape;
- Intense weathering under humid tropical-sub tropical conditions during the Paleocene and Eocene;
- Climate conditions changed to semi-arid and arid in the Neogene and Quaternary.
4.4. REE Mobility in Acid Groundwaters
4.5. An Integrated Genetic Model and Practical Implications
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Deposit | Resource (Mt Ore) | TREO (ppm) | TREO (Kt) | Date | Mining Company | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cowalinya | 159 | 870 | 138.33 | 3/10/2023 | Heavy Rare Earths Ltd. | [8] |
Salazar | 190 | 1172 | 222.68 | 9/08/2023 | West Cobar Metals | [9] |
Splinter Rock | 344 | 1308 | 449.952 | 18/07/2023 | OD6 Metals | [10] |
Circle Valley | 98 | 890 | 87.22 | 14/06/2023 | Meeka Metals | [11] |
Extraction Step | Procedure |
---|---|
1. Water soluble and ion exchangeable | To 5 g of sample, add 20 mL of 1.0 M Mg(NO3)2. Shake for 2 h. Centrifuge 15 min at 3000 rpm. Decant supernatant solution and rinse residue with 5 mL H2O twice. Add rinses to supernatant and analyze. |
2. Adsorbed and carbonate-bound | To a 1 g derivative from the previous step, add 20 mL of 1.0 M CH3COONa (adjusted to pH 5 using CH3COOH). Shake for 6 h. Centrifuge for 15 min at 3000 rpm. Decant supernatant solution and rinse residue with 5 mL H2O twice. Add rinses to supernatant and analyze. |
3. Amorphous Fe oxyhydroxide bound | To the residue from the previous step, add 20 mL of 0.25 M NH2OH·HCl in 0.25 M HCl. Vortex for 5–10 s. Place in a water bath at 60 °C for 2 h. Centrifuge for 15 min at 3000 rpm. Decant supernatant solution and rinse residue with 5 mL H2O twice. Add rinses to supernatant and analyze. |
4. Crystalline Fe oxyhydroxide bound | To the residue from the previous step, add 30 mL of 0.25 M NH2OH·HCl in 25% CH3COOH. Cap and vortex for 5–10 s. Place in a water bath at 90 °C for 3 h. Centrifuge for 15 min and decant the supernatant liquid into a labelled test tube. Rinse the residue with 10 mL 25% CH3COOH twice. Add the supernatant rinses to the test tube and analyze solution. |
5. Residue—resistive minerals | Rinse residue with MilliQ water and oven dry at 60 °C. Grind to ≤200 μm. Fuse with 12:22 Norrish flux (lithium metaborate/lithium tetraborate). Heat in muffle furnace for 1050 °C for 30 min. Dissolve fusion beads in 100 mL 10% HCl and analyze. |
Tectonic Zone | Geological Unit | Suite | Age (Ma) | Sample Number | TREO (ppm) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minimum | Maximum | Average | |||||
Biranup Zone | Archean granite | 2634–2684 | 5 | 115 | 229 | 155 | |
Proterozoic granite | 1660–1800 | 10 | 104 | 330 | 230 | ||
Northern Foreland | Munglinup Gneiss | 2630–2660 | 8 | 29 | 584 | 246 | |
Nornalup Zone | Recherche Supersuite | Gora Hill | 1316–1322 | 18 | 166 | 527 | 323 |
Southern Hills | 1300–1320 | 6 | 183 | 258 | 226 | ||
Esperance Supersuite | Booanya | 1172 | 9 | 725 | 1090 | 880 | |
Truslove | 1162–1196 | 4 | 117 | 383 | 251 |
Project | Deposit/Prospect | HCl (g/L) | Temperature (°C) | Duration (h) | Recovery (%) | REE Suite | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cowalinya | Cowalinya South | 100 | 20 | 24 | 27 | TREE | [14] |
Cowalinya | Cowalinya South | 25 | 30 | 24 | 71 | TREE | [14] |
Mount Ridley | * | 25 | 20 | 24 | 57 | TREE | [16] |
Splinter Rock | Centre | 25 | 20 | 6 | 49 | PMREE ** | [17] |
Splinter Rock | Prop | 25 | 20 | 6 | 68 | PMREE | [17] |
Salazar | Newmont | 25 | 20 | 8 | 68 | PMREE | [18] |
Salazar | Newmont | 100 | 20 | 8 | 78 | PMREE | [18] |
Drill Hole | Depth Range (m) | TREE (ppm) | Relative TREE Proportion by Fraction (%) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Water Soluble and Ion-Adsorbed | Adsorbed and Carbonate Bound | Amorphous Fe Oxyhydroxide Bound | Crystalline Fe Oxyhydroxide Bound | Residual Mineral Forms | |||
SAC021 | 8–10 | 713 | 0.00 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.75 | 99.14 |
10–14 | 1134 | 0.08 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 1.11 | 98.74 | |
14–17 | 1683 | 0.64 | 0.17 | 0.01 | 4.55 | 94.63 | |
17–20 | 2474 | 0.50 | 0.37 | 0.03 | 7.09 | 92.01 | |
20–24 | 2398 | 0.33 | 0.28 | 0.03 | 3.92 | 95.44 | |
24–26 | 2717 | 4.79 | 0.36 | 0.13 | 1.55 | 93.17 | |
SAC059 | 12–15 | 271 | 0.29 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.17 | 99.52 |
15–17 | 401 | 0.12 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.88 | 98.96 | |
17–21 | 400 | 0.15 | 0.04 | 0.00 | 1.43 | 98.38 | |
21–26 | 1704 | 0.12 | 0.03 | 0.00 | 1.92 | 97.92 | |
26–33 | 2181 | 0.39 | 0.08 | 0.01 | 3.36 | 96.16 | |
33–37 | 708 | 1.51 | 0.09 | 0.02 | 1.85 | 96.53 |
Depth (m) | pH | REE (ppm) | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
La | Ce | Pr | Nd | Sm | Eu | Dy | Ho | Er | Y | TREE | ||
3 | 6.1 | 5 | bdl | 4 | 5 | bdl | 2 | bdl | bdl | bdl | 5 | 21 |
15 | 3.1 | 15 | 50 | 12 | 75 | 25 | 6 | 25 | 6 | 15 | 165 | 394 |
30 | 2.8 | 10 | 25 | 6 | 35 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 70 | 177 |
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Sergeev, N.; Collins, T. Regolith-Hosted Rare Earth Element Mineralization in the Esperance Region, Western Australia: Major Characteristics and Potential Controls. Minerals 2024, 14, 847. https://doi.org/10.3390/min14080847
Sergeev N, Collins T. Regolith-Hosted Rare Earth Element Mineralization in the Esperance Region, Western Australia: Major Characteristics and Potential Controls. Minerals. 2024; 14(8):847. https://doi.org/10.3390/min14080847
Chicago/Turabian StyleSergeev, Nikita, and Tiffany Collins. 2024. "Regolith-Hosted Rare Earth Element Mineralization in the Esperance Region, Western Australia: Major Characteristics and Potential Controls" Minerals 14, no. 8: 847. https://doi.org/10.3390/min14080847