RARE EARTH ELEMENT RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF SUPER-LARGE DEPOSITS IN EASTERN FENNOSCANDIA

Work has been carried out to assess the rare-earth potential of the main ore minerals -loparite, eudialyte and apatite of the Lovozersky and Khibinsky deposits. Super-large deposits of loparite and eudialyte are associated with the giant Lovozero intrusion (Eastern Fennoscandia, Kola Peninsula). There are a number of apatite deposits in the Khibiny complex. All these ores occupy a leading place in the structure of the raw material of Russia. The highest contents of the sum of rare earth metals are characteristic of loparite ores (the content of ΣREE in loparites is about 28 wt%), and light rare earths sharply prevail over heavy ones, the Ce/Yb ratio is about 78 000. The amount of REE in eudialites is about 2 by mass%. A remarkable feature of eudialyte ores is the high concentrations of the heavy REE group, the Ce/Yb ratio is about 14. The apatites of the Khibiny deposits occupy an intermediate position: the Ce/Yb ratio is 680, and the average concentration of the REE sum is 0.9 wt%. The conditions of formation of apatite, loparite and eudialyte ores are considered.