State of rare earth elements in the rare earth deposits of Northwest Guizhou, China

We studied the states of rare earth elements in ore of the Xianglushan rare earth deposit. Rare earth ore samples were tested and examined by scanning electron microscope, electron probe, and chemical leaching. No independent rare earth minerals were detected by scanning electron microscope. Elements detected by the electronic probe for the in situ micro-zone of the sample included: O, Al, Si, Ca, Mg, Fe, Ti, K, Na, S, Cl, C, Cu, Cr, V, and Pt. Rare earth elements were not detected by electron probe. (NH4)2SO4, (NH4)Cl, NaCl, and H2SO4 were used as reagents in chemical leaching experiments that easily leached out rare earth elements under the action of 10% reagent, indicating that the rare earth elements in ore are mainly in the ionic state rather than present as rare earth minerals. © 2018, Science Press, Institute of Geochemistry, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.