China discovered enormous rare earth deposit

China discovers a 1.15M-ton rare earth deposit in Yunnan, including 470K tons of key REEs like neodymium, marking its largest medium-heavy rare earth find.

China has discovered a new rare earth deposit in Honghe, Yunnan province, with potential resources of 1.15 million metric tons. 

The China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources said in a news release that the deposit is a source of critical rare earth elements (REE) such as praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium exceed 470,000 tons in this newly discovered rare earth deposit.

The newly discovered deposit is “a super-large ion-adsorption type of rare earth, marking another significant breakthrough in China since the first such discovery in Jiangxi province in 1969.” Ion-adsorption rare earth ore is a mineral deposit where RREs are naturally concentrated and absorbed onto the surfaces of clay minerals.

The deposit is expected to become China's largest medium to heavy rare earth mine.

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