American Mineralogist, Volume 105, pages 1–2, 2020

Highlights and Breakthroughs

Regolith-hosted rare-earth elements: The phyllosilicate connection

W. Crawford Elliott1,*
1
Department of Geosciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3965, U.S.A.

The analyses of all or some of the rare-earth elements (Sc, other industrial uses and materials. Considerable amounts of
Y, and the lanthanide series) have been used to understand the HREE are being mined from the extraction of HREE ion-
petrologic processes at many scales ranging from planetary sorbed regolith in southeast (SE) China. The ease of extraction
studies to studies of the Earth’s crust (e.g., McLennan and makes these deposits highly attractive as sources of the HREE.
Taylor 2012). Though thought to be insoluble or immobile at The ion-sorbed HREE accounts for approximately 70% and
increased temperatures and pressures, the geochemical behavior more of the current supplies of the HREE. A growing body of
of the rare earth elements (REE) have varied relative to each work is documenting the solubility and the adsorption of these
other in many subtle ways. Specific rare earth elements (Ce, seemingly insoluble REE in sedimentary rocks, regolith, and
Eu) have had distinct redox behaviors within crustal rocks. low-temperature regimes. Further study of their solubility will
Their geochemical and mineralogic attributes have made them lead to the increased development of these non-traditional or
highly useful for many petrologic studies of the Earth’s crust. novel deposits of the REE in sedimentary/regolith/soil systems.
An entirely different picture of the REE’s geochemical and Given the foregoing ideas regarding the increased solubility
mineralogic behavior has been evident in weathering and diage- of the REE and their formation as ion-sorbed REE or formation
netic systems. This general idea of the increased solubility of the as secondary REE-minerals in sedimentary and regolith settings,
REE due to weathering or diagenetic temperatures can be traced the paper by Martin Yan Hei Li and Mei-Fu Zhou (2020, this
at least to the 1960s (Burkov and Podporina 1967). The release issue) is a most welcomed contribution for many reasons. Li
of REE from bedrock sources (granite and sedimentary rocks) and Zhou took on the formidable task of trying to understand
and their precipitation as secondary REE-phases and/or REE as the role of clay minerals in adsorbing REE in the regolith-
ion-sorbed has been described recently in the Piedmont regolith hosted REE deposits in SE China. Briefly, Li and Zhou found
and in mined kaolin beds in the Georgia Coastal Plain (e.g., Bern the halloysite-rich lower regolith adsorbed the REE and heavy
et al. 2017; Cheshire et al. 2018). This increased solubility of rare-earth elements (HREE) weathered from the parent granite.
the REE might be a paradigm shift relative to the conventional These REE were later desorbed as the halloysite phases were
thinking about the occurrences of the REE observed from the transformed to kaolinite in the upper regolith. These released
petrologic and geochemical studies of crustal rocks. REE migrated or translocated to the deeper regolith containing
The REE have been regarded recently as critical metals for halloysite. These combined mineralogical, geochemical, and
important technologies and products (e.g., batteries, magnets, the pedogenic processes forming this regolith were thought to
wind turbines, LED, phosphor for screens; Lucas et al. 2015). have created the large concentrations of REE whose total REE
The strategic nature of the REE has stimulated further think- on average is 2500 ppm.
ing to understand both traditional occurrences of the REE as The sorption of metal ions at the interlayer sites of phyllosili-
well as to explore for new and non-traditional occurrences for cate minerals having high layer charge is known well. However,
the REE. The REE have been mined from well-known depos- the sorption of REE by halloysite stressed the importance of
its (e.g., Bayan Obo, China; Fan et al. 2016; Mountain Pass, edge/surface sorption processes and high specific surface area
California). Examples of recently studied nontraditional and of the individual grains. These new results on regolith-hosted
sizeable occurrences of the REE included: the occurrences REE REE should stimulate further thinking and investigations regard-
as diagenetically formed REE-phosphate phases in kaolin; the ing the about metal-phyllosilicate mineral sorption processes
presence of REE in kaolin mine waste; and the sizeable amounts at the atom scale. Li and Zhou further noted that compounds
of the REE in coal, coal fly ash, heavy mineral sand deposits, forming stable complexes with halloysite would point to more
alluvial sediments, and in deep sea sediments (e.g., Seredin and environmentally friendly extraction processes to recover the
Dai 2012; Bern et al. 2016; Hower et al. 2016; Cheshire et al. REE from these clays.
2018; Elliott et al. 2018; Shah et al. 2018; Takaya et al. 2018; Finally, this paper was also a welcomed contribution in that
Van Gosen and Ellefsen 2018; Liu et al. 2019). the authors provided a useful review of the site description to
The REE-enriched fractions of these heavy mineral sand these regolith-hosted REE deposits. They noted the occurrences
deposits in southern Georgia and the resumption of REE mining of ion-sorbed REE elsewhere in south China and other tropical
at Mountain Pass are currently the only domestic sources of the settings (SE Asia, Madagascar, Malawi, and Brazil). More in-
REE being mined in the U.S. Consequently, the U.S. is highly teresting and germane to the American Mineralogist readership,
dependent on international sources for the REE, particularly the authors stressed the phyllosilicate mineralogy connection
the HREE (Gd, Lu) used in many technologies, materials, and for understanding the ion-sorption of these seemingly insoluble
REE. Li and Zhou’s results should stimulate further thought on
* E-mail: wcelliott@gsu.edu the release and sorption of these seemingly insoluble REE onto

0003-004X/20/0001–001$05.00/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2138/am-2020-7312 1

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 2 ELLIOTT: REGOLITH-HOSTED RARE-EARTH ELEMENTS

clay particles at the atom or nanoscale. This new model will be stoker ash. International Journal of Coal Geology, 189, 75–82.
Li, M.Y.H., and Zhou, M-F. (2020) The role of clay minerals in formation of the
useful to find further REE prospects in regolith settings. regolith-hosted heavy rare earth element deposits. American Mineralogist,
105, 92–108.
Acknowledgments Liu, P., Huang, R.X., and Tang Y.Z. (2019) Comprehensive understanding of
The author thanks James Renner (Southern Ionics Minerals, LLC) for some rare earth elements (REE) occurrence in coal fly ashes and implications for
interesting discussions regarding the occurrences of the rare earth elements in REE extractability. Environmental Science & Technology, 53, 9, 5369–5377.
alluvial and beach sands in southern Georgia. Lucas, J., Lucas, P., LeMercier, T., Rollat, A., and Davenport, W. (2015) Rare
Earths—Science, Technology and Use. Elsevier, 370 p.
McLennan, S.M., and Taylor, S.R. (2012) Geology, geochemistry and natural
References cited abundances of the rare-earth elements. In D.A. Atwood, Ed., The Rare Earth
Bern, C., Shah, A.K., Benzel, W.M., and Lowers, H.A. (2016) The distribution and Elements. Wiley.
composition of REE-bearing minerals in placers of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Seredin, V.V., and Dai, S. (2012) Coal deposits as potential alternative sources of
Coastal Plains. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 162, 50–61. lanthanides and yttrium. International Journal of Coal Geology, 94, 67–93.
Bern, C.R., Yesavage, T., and Foley, N.K. (2017) Ion-adsorption REEs in regolith Shah, A.K., Bern, C.R., VanGosen, B.S., Daniels, D.L., Benzel, W.M., Budahn, J.R.,
of the Liberty Hill pluton, South Carolina. USA: An effect of hydrothermal Ellefsen, J.J., Karst, A., and Davis, R. (2018) Rare earth mineral potential in the
alteration. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 172, 29–40. doi:10.1016/j. southeastern US Coastal Plain, from integrated geophysical, geochemical and
gexplo.2016.1009.1009. geologic approaches. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 129, 1140–1157.
Burkov, V.V., and Podporina, Ye.K. (1967) Rare-earths in granitoid residuum. Takaya, Y., Yasukawa, K., Kawasaki, T., Fujinga, K., Ohta, J., Usui, Y., Nakamura,
Doklady Academy of Sciences. U.S.S.R., Earth Science Section, 177, 214–216. K., Kimura, J-I., Chang, Q., Hamada, M., and others. (2018) The tremendous
Cheshire, M.C., Bish, D., Cahill, J.F., Kertez, V., and Stack, A.G. (2018) Geochemi- potential of deep-sea mud as a source of rare-earth elements. Scientific
cal evidence for the rare-earth element mobilization during kaolin diagenesis. Reports, 8, 5763.
ACS Earth and Space, 3, 506–520. Van Gosen, B.S., and Ellefsen, K.J. (2018) Titanium mineral resources in the
Elliott, W.C. Gardner, D.J., Malla, P., and Riley, E. (2018) A new look at the oc- heavy-mineral sands in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the Southeastern United
currences of the rare-earth elements in the Georgia Kaolins. Clays and Clay States. Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5045. U.S. Department of the
Minerals, 66, 245–260. Interior, 32 pp.
Fan, H-R., Yang, K-F., Hu, F-F., Liu, S., and Wang, K-Y. (2016) The giant Bayan
Obo Nb0Fe deposit, China: Controversies and ore genesis. Geoscience Fron-
tiers, 7, 335–344. Manuscript received October 2, 2019
Hower, J.C., Qian, D., Briot, N.J., Henke, K.R., Hood, M.M., Taggard, R.K., and Manuscript accepted October 19, 2019
Hsu-Kim, H. (2016) Rare earth element associations in the Kentucky State Manuscript handled by Don Baker

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