It is possible that the world’s volcanoes are the source of rare things that the world is looking for. A series of laboratory-based experiments revealed that some of these 17 elements may have been hidden in mysterious iron-rich magma embedded within these once-explosive formations. The findings are detailed in a paper published on September 24 in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters.
Volcanoes are volcanoes that scientists believe will not erupt again. According to the USGS, it is easy to tell that some volcanoes are extinct. Mount Thielsen in Oregon last erupted about 300,000 years ago and erosion has removed most of its summit. The mountain was cold and quiet and its eruption period was clearly over. However, some volcanoes—including the infamous Mount Saint Helens—may go dormant for tens of thousands of years before erupting again. There is not enough geological information on other volcanoes to declare them extinct.
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Volcanic eruptions may be the source of rare earth elements, including gadolinium, praseodymium, cerium, samarium, lanthanum and neodymium. Rare earth elements are needed to make the devices we use every day—smartphones, tablets, flat screen televisions, magnets, even missiles and trains. They are also needed to help build renewable energy technologies, including wind turbines and electric car batteries. The rare earth elements themselves are abundant, but their concentration levels in ores can be very low.
“Extraordinary earth objects are rare,” co-author and Australian National University anthropologist Michael Anenburg said in a statement. They are mostly similar in lead and copper. But dismantling and extracting these metals from the mines where they live is difficult and expensive.”
To find new sources of rare earth elements, Anenburg and co-authors from the Chinese Academy of Sciences looked at iron-rich magma from volcanoes. According to the team, this magma is 100 times more efficient at concentrating rare earth metals than the magma that normally erupts from volcanoes.
The team simulated volcanic eruptions in the laboratory using rocks similar to those found in iron-rich volcanoes. The stones were placed in a pressure furnace to heat them to a very high temperature. Eventually they melted and the group looked at the contents of the stones. They saw magmatic-hydrothermal fluid bubbles and iron oxide-bubble pairs, indicating that some rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium are present in the magma.
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“We haven’t seen an iron-rich volcano yet, but we know that other volcanoes, which have been around for millions of years, have an eruption of this extraordinary nature,” said Anenburg. “Our research shows that these iron-rich volcanoes around the world, such as El Laco in Chile, can be studied for the presence of rare earth elements.”
Although currently in the experimental stage, the results show that volcanoes can be a place to look for these elements. Diamonds and copper are already mined from volcanoes, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe as we don’t have enough geological information about potential volcanoes. .
Demand for the world’s rare earths is expected to increase fivefold by 2030, as more countries switch to renewable energy and clean technologies. China currently has the largest known deposit of rare earth elements on the planet. Sweden is home to Europe’s largest deposit of rare minerals, and Australia is home to one at Mount Weld and others near Dubbo and Alice Springs. They have also been found in the Mountain Pass mine in California and possible deposits may also be in Alaska, Wyoming and Texas.
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