UK and Australian scientists develop method for finding rare earth deposits
The new system can be used to better and cheaper find deposits of rare earth materials.
Andrew Friedman (AF)September 14, 2026
Researchers at the University of Exeter and the Australian National University have published a study that could help identify new, untapped neodymium and dysprosium deposits. In the paper - which appeared in Science Advances - the scientists say they conducted a series of experiments that showed that sodium and potassium - rather than chlorine or fluorine, as previously thought - are the key ingredients in making these rare earth elements soluble close. According to the experts, this is crucial as it determines whether they crystallize - which makes them suitable for extraction - or remain dissolved in liquids. In detail, the team, led by Michael Anenburg, simulated the crystallization of molten carbonate magma to find out which elements would be concentrated in the hot waters left over from the crystallization process. The experiment showed that sodium and potassium make the rare earths soluble in solution. Without sodium and potassium, the rare earth minerals precipitate in the carbonatite itself. Intermediate minerals such as burbankite form with sodium and are then replaced. In the case of potassium, dysprosium is more soluble than neodymium and is transferred to the surrounding rocks. "My tiny test capsules revealed minerals that nature typically hides from us. It was a surprise how well they explain what we see in natural rocks and ore deposits," Anenburg said in a media statement. For co-author Frances Wall, the experiment proved to be an elegant solution that helps better understand where 'heavy' rare earths such as dysprosium and 'light' rare earths such as neodymium may be concentrated in and around carbonatite intrusions. "We've always looked for evidence of solutions containing chloride, but we haven't found it. These results give us new ideas," said Wall. Neodymium and dysprosium are essential to the manufacture of digital devices and clean energy infrastructures like wind turbines and electric car engines.
