Two new niobium-scandium minerals were discovered at the Baiyun Obo deposit in Inner Mongolia
The rock mass of Baiyun Obo mining area in Baotou City is partial. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
On the 29th, the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units announced at the press conference on the new niobium-scandium minerals held in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, that researchers had discovered two new minerals, Obo niobium ore and Zhai scandium amphibole in the Baiyun Obo rare earth deposit.
The above two new minerals were discovered, named and declared by researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Baotou Iron and Steel (Group) Company, Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute, Central South University and other units, and were approved by the New Mineral Nomenclature and Classification Committee of the International Mineralogical Association on May 3 and June 3, 2024, respectively.
Li Xiao, general manager of Baotou Steel (Group) Company, said that Baiyun Obo Mine is the world's largest rare earth deposit, and also contains a large number of mineral resources such as iron, niobium, scandium, thorium and fluorite. Since 1959, 18 new minerals have been discovered in this deposit, and Obo niobium ore and Zhai scandium amphibole are the 19th and 20th new minerals discovered in this deposit.
Ore containing Obo niobium ore. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
Niobium and scandium are important associated metal mineral resources in the Baiyun Obo deposit, but they have not been exploited and utilized due to their low research degree before. Since 2021, the research team of Fan Hongrui, a researcher at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, relying on the Baotou Steel Workstation of Li Xianhua, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and related scientific research projects, has discovered two minerals with "abnormal" chemical compositions, namely Obo niobium ore and Zhai scandium amphibole, in the process of systematic mineralogical research in Baiyun Obo, and clarified their occurrence states and mineral symbiotic combinations.
According to researcher Fan Hongrui, Obo niobium ore is yellow-brown to brown, plate-shaped, self-shaped to semi-automorphic, with a particle size of about 20 microns to 100 microns, and is a simple magnesium-niobium oxide mineral, with an average niobium oxide content of 58%; Scandium amphibole, pale yellow or light blue, long columnar, auto-semi-automorphic, with a grain size of up to 350 microns, is a scandium-containing amphibole mineral, with an average scandium oxide content of 6.4%. Scandium amphibole is the first new scandium-bearing mineral discovered in mainland China, and it is named after Academician Zhai Mingguo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in recognition of his outstanding contribution to promoting the research of mineral deposits in mainland China.
Scandium amphibole under an electron microscope. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
Li Xianhua said that the useful elements contained in the two new niobium-scandium minerals discovered in Baiyun Obo have important uses in the fields of new materials, new energy, information technology, aerospace, and national defense and military industry, and are of great significance to economic and social development.
Source | Xinhua