SOURCES OF ABNORMALLY HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF TANTALUM, BERYLLIUM, AND YTTRIUM-EARTH RARE METALS: COMMERCIAL VALUE AND SEARCH PROBLEMATICS

Abstract

The results of mineralogical and geochemical studies and evaluations of the efficiency of small but rich in tantalum, beryllium and yttrium-earth metals pegmatite depositsin granite intrusions of various specializations are reported. Major commercially valuable minerals in one of them are represented by tantalite, columbite-tantalite and beryl(East Kazakhstan), and in the other by Pb-microlite, pyrochlore, yttrofluorite and other concentrators of rare-earth metals of the medium-heavy group (Kola region). The rare-metal pegmatites of the first deposit were extracted by a mining and processing plant with high profitability, while the rare-earth and rare-metal pegmatoids of the second deposit remained underexplored and understudied. These deposits can serve as showcases of prospecting, exploration and accelerated mining without major construction in the context of the revival and development of the domestic rare-metal industry.

Keywords

• редкометалльные пегматиты
• высокая концентрация
• тантал
• бериллий
• иттриевоземельные металлы
• промышленная ценность
• поиски