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Crystallization of bastnäsite and burbankite from carbonatite melt in the system La(CO3)F-CaCO3-Na2CO3 at 100 MPa

  • Anna M. Nikolenko ORCID logo , Konstantin M. Stepanov , Vladimir Roddatis and Ilya V. Veksler ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: December 1, 2022
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 107 Issue 12

Abstract

Bastnäsite [REE(CO3)F] is the main mineral of REE ore deposits in carbonatites. Synthetic bastnäsite-like compounds were precipitated from aqueous solutions by many different methods, but previous attempts to model magmatic crystallization of bastnäsite from hydrous calciocarbonatite melts were unsuccessful. Here we present the first experimental evidence that bastnäsite and two other REE carbonates, burbankite, and lukechangite, can crystallize from carbonatite melt in the synthetic system La(CO3)F-CaCO3-Na2CO3 at temperatures between 580 and 850 °C and a pressure 100 MPa. The experiments on starting mixtures of reagent-grade CaCO3, Na2CO3, La2(CO3)3, and LaF3 were carried out in cold-seal rapid-quench pressure vessels. The studied system is an isobaric pseudoternary join of a quinary system where CO2 and fluorides act as independent components. Liquidus phases in the run products are calcite, nyerereite, Na carbonate, bastnäsite, burbankite solid solution (Na,Ca)3(Ca,La)3(CO3)5, and lukechangite Na3La2(CO3)4F. Calcite and bastnäsite form a eutectic in the boundary join La(CO3)F-CaCO3 at 780 ± 20 °C and 58 wt% La(CO3)F. Phase equilibria in the boundary join La(CO3)F-Na2CO3 are complicated by peritectic reaction between Ca-free end-member of burbankite solid solution petersenite (Pet) and lukechangite (Luk) with liquid (L):

N a 4 L a 2 C O 3 5 ( P e t ) + N a F ( L ) = N a 3 L a 2 C O 3 4   F ( L u k ) + N a 2 C O 3 ( N c ) .

The right-hand-side assemblage becomes stable below 600 ± 20 °C. In ternary mixtures, bastnäsite (Bst), burbankite (Bur), and calcite (Cc) are involved in another peritectic reaction:

2 L a C O 3 F ( B s t ) + C a C O 3 ( C c ) + 2 N a 2 C O 3 (   L ) = N a 2 C a L a 2 C O 3 5 ( B u r ) + 2 N a F ( L ) .

Burbankite in equilibrium with calcite replaces bastnäsite below 730 ± 20 °C. Stable solidus assemblages in the pseudoternary system are: basnäsite-burbankite-fluorite-calcite, basnäsite-burbankite-fluorite-lukechangite, bastnäsite-burbankite-lukechangite, burbankite-lukechangite-nyerereitecalcite, and burbankite-lukechangite-nyerereite-natrite. Addition of 10 wt% Ca3(PO4)2 to one of the ternary mixtures resulted in massive crystallization of La-bearing apatite and monazite and complete disappearance of bastnäsite and burbankite. Our results confirm that REE-bearing phosphates are much more stable than carbonates and fluorocarbonates. Therefore, primary crystallization of the latter from common carbonatite magmas is unlikely. Possible exceptions are carbonatites at Mountain Pass that are characterized by very low P2O5 concentrations (usually at or below 0.5 wt%) and extremely high REE contents in the order of a few weight percent or more. In other carbonatites, bastnäsite and burbankite probably crystallized from highly concentrated alkaline carbonate-chloride brines that were found in melt inclusions and are thought to be responsible for widespread fenitization around carbonatite bodies.

Keywords: Experimental petrology; carbonatite melts; REE ore deposits; Mountain Pass; Bayan Obo

Acknowledgments and Funding

We thank Oona Appelt for help with EMP analyses of experimental products. Thoughtful and constructive reviews by Bruce Kjarsgaard, David Doleiš, and an anonymous colleague inspired us to do additional experiments and improve the original version of the paper. The project was supported by RSF Grant No. 19-17-00013.

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Received: 2021-03-21
Accepted: 2021-11-26
Published Online: 2022-12-01
Published in Print: 2022-12-16

© 2022 Mineralogical Society of America

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  1. Oxidation of arcs and mantle wedges: It’s not all about iron and water
  2. Paragenesis of Li minerals in the Nanyangshan rare-metal pegmatite, Northern China: Toward a generalized sequence of Li crystallization in Li-Cs-Ta-type granitic pegmatites
  3. The new mineral tomiolloite, Al12(Te4+O3)5[(SO3)0.5(SO4)0.5](OH)24: A unique microporous tellurite structure
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  7. Sound speed and refractive index of amorphous CaSiO3 upon pressure cycling to 40 GPa
  8. Calorimetric study of skutterudite (CoAs2.92) and heazlewoodite (Ni3S2)
  9. Melting phase equilibrium relations in the MgSiO3-SiO2 system under high pressures
  10. Effects of hydrostaticity and Mn-substitution on dolomite stability at high pressure
  11. Crystallization of bastnäsite and burbankite from carbonatite melt in the system La(CO3)F-CaCO3-Na2CO3 at 100 MPa
  12. Crystal shapes, triglyphs, and twins in minerals: The case of pyrite
  13. Nanostructure reveals REE mineral crystallization mechanisms in granites from a heavy REE deposit, South China
  14. Paratobermorite, Ca4(Al0.5Si0.5)2Si4O16(OH)·2H2O·(Ca·3H2O), a new tobermorite-supergroup mineral with a novel topological type of the microporous crystal structure
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  19. New Mineral Names
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8064
Keywords for this article
Experimental petrology; carbonatite melts; REE ore deposits; Mountain Pass; Bayan Obo

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Oxidation of arcs and mantle wedges: It’s not all about iron and water
  2. Paragenesis of Li minerals in the Nanyangshan rare-metal pegmatite, Northern China: Toward a generalized sequence of Li crystallization in Li-Cs-Ta-type granitic pegmatites
  3. The new mineral tomiolloite, Al12(Te4+O3)5[(SO3)0.5(SO4)0.5](OH)24: A unique microporous tellurite structure
  4. Authigenic anatase nanoparticles as a proxy for sedimentary environment and porewater pH
  5. Color effects of Cu nanoparticles in Cu-bearing plagioclase feldspars
  6. Expanding the speciation of terrestrial molybdenum: Discovery of polekhovskyite, MoNiP2, and insights into the sources of Mo-phosphides in the Dead Sea Transform area
  7. Sound speed and refractive index of amorphous CaSiO3 upon pressure cycling to 40 GPa
  8. Calorimetric study of skutterudite (CoAs2.92) and heazlewoodite (Ni3S2)
  9. Melting phase equilibrium relations in the MgSiO3-SiO2 system under high pressures
  10. Effects of hydrostaticity and Mn-substitution on dolomite stability at high pressure
  11. Crystallization of bastnäsite and burbankite from carbonatite melt in the system La(CO3)F-CaCO3-Na2CO3 at 100 MPa
  12. Crystal shapes, triglyphs, and twins in minerals: The case of pyrite
  13. Nanostructure reveals REE mineral crystallization mechanisms in granites from a heavy REE deposit, South China
  14. Paratobermorite, Ca4(Al0.5Si0.5)2Si4O16(OH)·2H2O·(Ca·3H2O), a new tobermorite-supergroup mineral with a novel topological type of the microporous crystal structure
  15. Morphological and chemical characterization of secondary carbonates in the Toki granite, central Japan, and the evolution of fluid chemistry
  16. Characteristics and formation of corundum within syenite in the Yushishan rare metal deposits in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau
  17. Hydrogen solubility in FeSi alloy phases at high pressures and temperatures
  18. First evidence of dmisteinbergite (CaAl2Si2O8 polymorph) in high-grade metamorphic rocks
  19. New Mineral Names
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