Rare earth element (REE) behaviour in alkaline mineral systems:Harnessing nature's geochemical patterns.

稀土元素(REE)在碱性矿物体系中的行为：利用自然的地球化学模式稀土元素(REE)对英国的高科技制造业至关重要，但我们的供应仅来自全球少数几个矿床，绝大多数来自中国。必须发现新的资源，开发新的勘探方法。根据最近的地质假说，所有埋藏的矿藏都有指纹，我们认为表层土壤和某些岩石(如火山灰)含有导致深层矿床的稀土元素特征。我们研究的一个目的是确定这些特征是什么，并利用这些“路线图”发现被表层隐藏的新的稀土矿藏。为了实现这一点并使我们的研究得到广泛应用，我们需要了解签名模式和导致它们的基本过程。这也将有助于我们理解稀土元素在地表环境中的循环，不仅着眼于应用于寻找新的资源，也有助于有效地开采。我们激发了矿产勘探公司对这一概念的浓厚兴趣，该项目旨在将这些行业参与者和学术研究人员聚集在一起，开发这些想法。我们注意到，一组常见的、自然产生的矿物，即沸石，积累了少量的稀土元素，并可能对它们所富含的稀土元素具有选择性。我们希望发现哪些沸石对哪种特定的稀土元素具有选择性，从而能够利用产业创新的模式。这些发现将有可能帮助制造用于制造的特殊的、分离的REE组分，并从节能中获得环境效益。理解和模仿自然导致了许多造福社会的创新(例如飞行和抗生素)，为了追求我们的目标，我们可以利用从世界上最大的稀土矿藏(白云鄂博，中国)最近观察到的结果，帮助检验我们的REE迁移率概念。白云鄂博存在轻稀土和重稀土的富集型式，可以用来解释稀土元素的活动性。如果我们与理论模型师和材料科学家合作，我们希望设法模仿自然，通过使用现有的工业液体，为社会开发更多重稀土产品，并减少对新矿的需求。

Rare earth element (REE) behaviour in alkaline mineral systems:Harnessing nature's geochemical patternsRare Earth Elements (REE) are essential to the UK's high technology manufacturing industries but our supply comes from only a few deposits worldwide, with the vast majority from China. New sources must be found and new exploration methods developed. All buried mineral deposits have a fingerprint and we believe that surface soils and certain rocks such as volcanic ashes contain signatures of REE leading to deposits deep below, according to recent geological hypothesis. One aim of our research is to determine what these signatures are and to use these "route-maps" discover new REE deposits, hidden by surface layers. To achieve this and to make our research widely applicable, we need to understand the signature patterns and the fundamental processes causing them. This will also help us to understand the cycling of REE in surface environments, not just with an eye on the application to finding new resources but also for efficient exploitation. We have stimulated significant interest in this concept from mineral exploration companies and this project aims to bring together these industrial players and academic researchers to develop the ideas. We have noted that a particular group of common, naturally occurring minerals, the zeolites, accumulate small quantities of REE and might be selective in which REE they concentrate. We hope to discover which zeolites are selective for which particular REE to be able to harness the patterns for industrial innovation. The findings will have the potential to help with making special, separated REE components for use in manufacturing, and for environmental benefits from energy savings.Understanding and mimicking nature has led to many innovations for the benefit of society, (e.g. flight and antibiotics) and in pursuit of our goals we can exploit recent observations from the largest REE deposit in the world (Bayan Obo, China), to help examine our concepts of REE mobilities. At Bayan Obo there are enrichment patterns involving the light-REE and the much sought after heavy-REE, which we can use to understand REE mobility. If we team up with theoretical modellers and materials' scientists, we hope to contrive to mimic nature for developing more heavy-REE products for society, by using existing industrial liquids, and lessening the need for new mines.