Rare Earth Minerals

This is the first book to give an overview of this geologically and industrially important group of minerals. The book concentrates on the minerals themselves rather than whole rock geochemistry, and presents a wide range of information - crystal structures, petrographic descriptions, analytical data and numerous illustrations from outcrop photos to SEM pictures and crystallographic models. The book starts with an expert review of the geochemical behaviour of Rare Earth elements, and an up-to-date review of Rare Earth minerals based on crystal structures and a new classification of perovskite. There is a chapter on pressure and temperature stabilities of some igneous RE minerals based on experimental work, and a chapter on RE minerals in China (with geological maps) much of which is entirely new. Subsequent chapters have been selected to illustrate the wide variety of different geological settings where RE minerals occur, from alkaline igneous rocks through hydrothermal ores and metamorphic skarns to very recent work on RE-mineralized carbonatites and laterites and bauxites. This book will be essential reading for research workers in mineralogy, geology, materials science and economic geology. It will also be a valuable source of information for third-year earth science undergraduates.