FEBRUARY 2021

Rare earth elementsOpportunities in New South Wales, Australia

To Adelaide

Mudgee

DUBBO

Wentworth

Cobar

ORANGE

WOLLONGONG

Nyngan

Walgett

Coonamble Gunnedah

Parkes

BrokenHill

Narrabri

Inverell

Cowra

Goulburn

Griffith

NOWRA

Batemans Bay

Narooma

Bega

Cooma

Moree

WAGGAWAGGA

ALBURY

Grafton

Yamba

BallinaLISMORE

NEWCASTLE

Balranald

Deniliquin

TibooburraLightning Ridge

Eden

BATHURST

PORT MACQUARIE

COFFS HARBOUR

Kempsey

Taree

Muswellbrook

Bourke

TAMWORTH

Armidale

SYDNEY

CANBERRA

A.C.T.

Q U E E N S L A N D

V I C T O R I A

SO

UT

H A

US

TR

AL

I A

New EnglandOrogen

LachlanOrogen

Murray Basin

Delamerian Orogen

Thomson Orogen

CurnamonaProvince

SnapperSnapperGinkgoGinkgo

Narraburrainferred73.2 Mt @ 1250 ppm ZrO2, 327 ppm REO,146 g/t Y2O3, 126 g/t Nb2O5, 45 g/t HfO2,61 g/t ThO2, 54 g/t Ga2O3, 118 g/t Li2O

Dubbo Zirconia Projectproved & probable35.93 Mt @ 1.93% ZrO2, 0.04% HfO2,0.14% Y2O3, 0.46% Nb2O5, 0.03% Ta2O5,0.74% other rare earth oxidesmeasured & inferred73.2 Mt @ 1.95% ZrO2, 0.04% HfO2,0.14% Y2O3, 0.46% Nb2O5, 0.03% Ta2O5,0.75% other rare earth oxides

Mole GraniteMole Granite

Gilgai GraniteGilgai Granite

Jindera GraniteJindera Granite

WhipstickGranite

WhipstickGranite

Dumboy-GraginGranite

Dumboy-GraginGranite

REFERENCEHeavy mineral sandsmine (monazite potential)REE projectGraniteExport portRailway Major road, sealedMajor road, unsealedGas pipeline

SnapperSnapper

200 km

N

Overview

• New South Wales (NSW) offers a range of opportunities for discoveries of rare earth elements (REE).

• Rocks known to contain elevated concentrations of rare earth elements in NSW include:

◦ Trachytes such as those that host the Dubbo Zirconia Project (Toongi)

◦ Nephelinite and carbonatite magmatic rocks ◦ Highly fractionated granitoids and pegmatites ◦ Pliocene heavy mineral sands deposits that contain

monazite (for example the Snapper and Ginkgo mines).

• The potential for rare earth elements in NSW is largely untested.

• Rare earth elements comprise a series of 15 natural metallic elements ranging in atomic number from 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutetium). Also generally included for geological purposes are yttrium (which behaves as a rare earth element), scandium and thorium. Compounds of rare earth elements have numerous uses, such as in the production of automotive catalytic converters, optical lenses, lighting and powerful magnets.

resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au

Geological setting

Prospective rocks for rare earth elements include:

• Potassic rocks, carbonatite and nephelinite rocks• Highly fractionated, metaluminous and peralkaline I-type

granites that can be enriched in incompatible elements. Hydrothermal activity, commonly involving chlorine and fluorine associated with the intrusions, can concentrate rare earth elements.

• Surficial clays and laterites with elevated concentrations of rare earth elements.

Bastnaesite is the most important mineral as a source of rare earth elements. Other important source or tracer minerals include parisite, monazite and xenotime.

Project highlights

Dubbo Zirconia Project (Toongi), about 275 km northwest of Sydney, is a world-class resource containing zirconium (ZrO2), hafnium (HfO2), niobium (Nb2O5), tantalum (Ta2O5), yttrium (Y2O3) and rare earth elements. The deposit is associated with a hydrothermally altered pipe-like alkaline (trachyte) intrusion of Jurassic age.

Narraburra, 375 km west of Sydney, contains zirconium oxide, yttrium oxide, rare earth oxides, niobium oxide, and thorium oxide, hosted by deeply weathered and fresh leucogranite.

Exploration targets

The Lachlan Orogen, recognised as a world-class mineral province for metalliferous deposits, also hosts important rare earth element deposits.

Exploration opportunities for rare earth elements include highly fractionated metaluminous and peralkaline I-type granitoids and associated skarns (e.g. at Narraburra, Jindera and Whipstick).

Latite–trachyte intrusions, mainly of Jurassic age, are scattered widely across NSW. These intrusions have potential for Toongi-style deposits. Laterites associated with the intrusions have potential to host elevated concentrations of rare earth elements.

The New England Orogen hosts highly fractionated, relatively oxidised and metaluminous I-type granitoids of Permian to Early Triassic age. The Mole Granite, north east of Inverell, is associated with many polymetallic mineral occurrences, some of which contain monazite with elevated rare earth elements and thorium. Other prospective rocks in the area include the Dumboy-Gragin and Gilgai granitoids.

In the Proterozoic Curnamona Craton, highly anomalous concentrations of rare earth elements occur in sulfide-bearing deposits including the famous Broken Hill base metal deposit. Granitoids (e.g. Mundi Mundi-type) and associated pegmatites can also be anomalous in rare earth elements.

The Delamerian Orogen is a greenfields terrain that offers many opportunities for rare earth elements including oxidised mafic carbonatite and nepheline syenite.

The Murray Basin in the southwest of the state is a globally significant heavy mineral sands province, with extensive Pliocene beach placer deposits that contain rare earth element-bearing monazite. The economic potential for monazite associated with heavy mineral sands extraction has not been fully established.

Periodic table

REERare EarthElements

PmPromethium145

61

EuEuropium152.0

63

GdGadolinium157.3

64

TbTerbium158.9

65

NdNeodymium144.2

60

DyDysprosium62.5

66

CeCerium140.1

58

LaLanthanum138.9

57

PrPraseodymium140.9

59

SmSamarium150.4

62

YbYtterbium173.1

70

HoHolmium164.9

67

ErErbium167.3

68

TmThulium168.9

69

LuLutetium175.0

71

NpNeptunium237

93

AmAmericium243

95

CmCurium247

96

BkBerkelium247

97

UUranium238.0

92

CfCalifornium252

98

ThThorium232.0

90

AcActinium227

89

PaProtactinium231.0

91

PuPlutonium244

94

NoNobelium259

102

EsEinsteinium252

99

FmFermium257

100

MdMendelevium258

101

LrLawrencium262

103

HHydrogen1.007

1

HeHelium4.003

2

FrFrancium223

87

RaRadium226

88

BhBohrium262

107

MtMeitnerium266

109

DsDarmstadtium269

110

RgRoentgenium272

111

SgSeaborgium263

106

CnCopernicium277

112

RfRutherfordium261

104

**Actinideseries

89-103

DbDubnium262

105

HsHassium265

108

LvLivermorium292

116

FlFlerovium289

114

RbRubidium85.47

37

SrStrontium87.62

38

XeXenon131.3

54

TcTechnetium98.0

43

RhRhodium102.9

45

PdPalladium106.42

46

AgSilver107.8682

47

MoMolybdenum95.96

42

CdCadmium112.4

48

ZrZirconium91.224

40

YYttrium88.91

39

NbNiobium92.91

41

RuRuthenium101.07

44

TeTellurium127.6

52

InIndium114.818

49

SnTin118.710

50

SbAntimony121.760

51

IIodine126.9

53

CsCaesium132.9

55

BaBarium137.327

56

RnRadon222

86

ReRhenium186.2

75

IrIridium192.2

77

PtPlatinum195.084

78

AuGold196.966569

79

WTungsten183.84

74

HgMercury200.6

80

HfHafnium178.5

72

*Lanthanideseries

57-71

*

**

TaTantalum180.94788

73

OsOsmium190.2

76

PoPolonium209

84

TlThalium204.3

81

PbLead207.2

82

BiBismuth208.98

83

AtAstatine210

85

KPotassium39.10

19

CaCalcium40.08

20

KrKrypton83.80

36

MnManganese54.938044

25

CoCobalt58.933194

27

NiNickel58.6934

28

CuCopper63.546

29

CrChromium51.9961

24

ZnZinc65.38

30

TiTitanium47.867

22

ScScandium44.96

21

VVanadium50.94

23

FeIron55.85

26

SeSelenium78.96

34

GaGallium69.723

31

GeGermanium69.723

32

AsArsenic74.92

33

BrBromine79.90

35

LiLithium6.94

3

BeBeryllium9.0121831

4

NeNeon20.18

10

OOxygen16.00

8

BBoron10.80

5

CCarbon12.00

6

NNitrogen14.00

7

FFluorine19.00

9

NaSodium22.99

11

MgMagnesium24.3

12

ArArgon39.95

18

SSulfur32.06

16

AlAluminium26.9815385

13

SiSilicon28.08

14

PPhosphorus30.97

15

ClChlorine35.44

17

Pegmatite, Triple Chance mine.

Global REE production (2020)Vietnam 0.4%

USA 15.6%

Thailand 0.8%Russia 1.1%Other 0.2%

Myanmar 12.3%

Madagascar 3.3%

India 1.2%

China 57.5%

Brazil 0.4%Australia 7.0%

Source: modified from https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021.pdf

Global REE reserves (2020)

Vietnam 19%

USA 1.3%

Russia 10.4%

Tanzania 0.8%South Africa 0.7% Canada 0.7%

India 6.0%

Australia 3.5%

Brazil 18.1%

China 38.0%

Other 0.3%

Greenland 1.3%

Source: modified from https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021.pdf

Contact: mra.info@geoscience.nsw.gov.au | +61 2 4063 6500

© State of New South Wales through Department of Regional NSW 2021. Information presented is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (February 2021) and may not be accurate, current or complete. This product is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).