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Tony Mariano: The Special Science of Rare Earths



-- Posted Monday, 2 August 2010 | | Source: GoldSeek.com

The ability to separate the science from the promotional claims is among the expertise that Geological Consultant Tony Mariano, PhD, brings to the rare earth elements (REE) table. Tony, who for decades has combined long hours in the lab with even longer field visits to evaluate mineralization in its natural environment, is among the rare ones who can help companies evaluate a deposit for grade, tonnage and the prospects for economic recovery. A sharp technician who manages to keep his head out of the clouds and his feet on the ground, Tony shares some of his secrets, and some of his opinions about the hottest prospective properties, in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report.

The Gold Report: Jon Hykawy, technology analyst at Byron Capital Markets, recently told us that short supplies of heavy rare earths (HREEs) will be driving up their price and shifting the economies of mining projects in favor of companies that can produce large quantities of heavy rare earths. To what extent do you agree with that assessment?

Tony Mariano: I believe that this may be true, however we must define our demarcation of the light rare earth elements (LREEs) and heavy rare earth elements. Individuals have their own ideas of where to start defining the heavies as opposed to the lights.

Currently the lanthanides in greatest demand are neodymium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium and terbium; however, the demand for particular REEs is dynamic and can change at any time. Praseodymium is also of value because of its similar properties to neodymium.

When companies promote their deposits, they tend to come up with something along the lines of, "We have a certain percentage of the heavies and a certain percentage of the lights." The greater the percentage of the heavies they show, the more it is to their advantage, so they tend to start counting in areas that I would qualify as light rare earth elements.




When REEs are being discussed, people should define what they mean by the light and heavy rare earths. For me, the lights go midway through gadolinium. I would classify the heavies as terbium through lutetium. If you attempt to synthesize each of the REEs with a certain complex, phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5), for example, lanthanum through gadolinium will assume a monoclinic structure. Terbium through lutetium will assume a tetragonal structure similar to yttrium phosphate, and also similar to the mineral zircon. For me this demarcation is more rigorous from a scientific point of view. Otherwise the distinction between the LREEs and HREEs is arbitrary.

TGR: So the generally accepted notion that the HREEs are less common and therefore rarer and more valuable isn't accurate?

TM: No, that's not accurate. They're heavies or they're lights, period. Some are common. Some are not. Some of the heavies tend to be much rarer. Lutetium is a rare element, but yttrium—which always accompanies the heavy lanthanides—is not a rare element. In many areas, dysprosium, erbium and terbium are not that rare.

TGR: When investors hear the terms light rare earths and heavy rare earths, how should they be thinking as far as the economic viability of a deposit?

TM: I would imagine they have to pay attention to those that are currently in demand and place that into the equation. When they hear that a deposit has a certain amount of tonnage of certain elements, nowadays people tend to sit down and look at those elements' market prices. Then they decide that they've got something great. To me this approach can be very misleading.

TGR: Why?

TM: You can find many deposits that show good grade and tonnage consisting of a large quantity of valuable elements. If one calculates the elements' value based on current prices, the deposit looks like it's of great value. However, those elements must be mineable and economic to process so they are competitive in the marketplace. In many occurrences that might not be the case.

TGR: The Chinese have become very good at finding rare earth deposits and processing them, and are dominant in this space. Recently they announced they will begin restricting rare earth exports, which seems to have created a rush to find deposits throughout North America. In general, where do you think the prospects look good?

TM: We know of a number of deposits in North America where we can acquire the light lanthanides. We can do well going from lanthanum into the mid-atomic number lanthanides.

In terms of the heavies, we have several interesting HREE occurrences with some potential that are currently being investigated.

TGR: Let's move on to some of the other deposits you'd like to talk about.

TM: I started the mineral exploration in Kipawa, Quebec, in the mid-1980s. Kipawa is enriched with the mineral eudialyte, which means "well decomposable" in Greek. I was able to establish that eudialyte contained yttrium and HREEs in anomalous amounts.

I've been basically working [there] and they beginning to get some very interesting results.

TGR: What are you finding?

TM: First of all, it's going to be very easy to make a eudialyte physical concentrate in Kipawa. In fact, the way I see it, it's going to be easier to do this than in any other eudialyte deposit that I've worked on thus far. They are working on establishing that they indeed can process the eudialyte concentrate chemically to remove all of the lanthanides and yttrium and be able to bring them into the market. And do it at a cost that's competitive.

TGR: So the ease of creating that eudialyte concentrate translates into a lower cost of production?

TM: Yes. But there are a lot of other additional costs. Using common sense, if a deposit is in a certain type of geologic occurrence where the rocks are very difficult to crush and separate, it's going to be much more costly. And if a deposit is in a remote place it's going to cost a lot more to mine and you need to get power, too. You need to get reagents. You need qualified people to do the mining.

Plenty of academic people have worked on these things, but the academics are not exploration geologists. Even economic geology professors don't make their living on exploration and true economics. They make their living teaching, hopefully teaching students and publishing academic papers. They make great contributions, but when they look at a deposit, they don't focus on the things we geologists have to focus on in order to evaluate a deposit from an exploration and economic point of view.

One has to look at these deposits. Once you study and understand them in the field and in the laboratory, you can make a value judgment about which have the best possibility of being able to take over the marketplace.

TGR: We've talked about Eden Lake, Mountain Pass, Bear Lodge, Wicheeda Lake, Bokan Mountain, Strange Lake, Pajarito, Kipawa, Red Wine, Steenkampskraal, Norra Kärr, the Ilimaussaq Intrusion and the Kola Peninsula. Have we left off any?

TM: There are so many deposits, it's hard to keep them all in mind. The deposits I currently think have the most potential and deserve a closer look from the point of view of the heavy lanthanides are Pajarito and Kipawa. We need to look into the Red Wine to find out what indeed is there. And I hear there are some interesting things at the Douglas River deposit. I have a pretty good idea what the geology is, but I've never been to the Douglas River. I'm scheduled to go there August 23–30.

TGR: Where is Douglas River?

TM: It's in Saskatchewan. It's similar to the Maw zone in the lower part of the Athabasca—the uranium occurrence. It's supposedly mineralized with xenotime. The mineral xenotime has about 29% to 31% yttrium oxide. About another 30% includes the other heavy lanthanides. So it's a very attractive mineral. But again, it needs to be found in grade and tonnage to make it a bona fide deposit.

TGR: If Pajarito and the Kipawa are developed and begin to produce, will they deliver enough supply to satisfy the demand or will we need additional mines?

TM: I think they'd be able to satisfy the conditions for a number of years. Meanwhile, we're very busy looking all over the world for more of these. Particularly since the lanthanides, the heavies and including the lights, as far as I'm concerned, have unique properties. This is particularly true of the lanthanides, where the valence electrons are suborbital, which imparts very special properties. And they're being used extensively in many ways.

TGR: Early on in the conversation we touched on China beginning to restrict exports of the various rare earths. With some of these deposits potentially coming into production, are the fears that are being generated unfounded?

TM: Well. . .Bear in mind, once you find the deposit it's very costly to get it going, to reproduce a Mountain Pass. So suppose people do find these different deposits and finally establish that they have the grade and tonnage and that the deposit is amenable to economic recovery. At that time a large capital is required to start a mine.

TGR: Tony, this has been a great education in the world of rare earths. We appreciate your time.

Anthony N. (Tony) Mariano, PhD, is a geological consultant for rare earths and other rare metals. For decades, he has been the "go-to" expert on the geology and mineralogy of rare earths, niobium-tantalum and other rare metals. A seasoned mineralogist and petrographer, Tony integrates his strong knowledge of geology and extractive metallurgy ("geometallurgy") to predict success or failure of proposed rare earth ventures. Companies around the world depend on his professional opinions on the potential economic viability of deposits based on mineralogical examination, lab work and field visits. After earning his PhD in geology from Boston University, Tony worked a number of years at Kennecott Research's lab in Massachusetts, after which he began his career as a consulting geologist, specializing in carbonatite-hosted rare earth and niobium deposits.

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-- Posted Monday, 2 August 2010 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com




 



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