Date of Award

5-4-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geosciences

First Advisor

W. Crawford Elliott

Second Advisor

Hassan A. Babaie

Third Advisor

Brian K. Meyer

Abstract

Rare earth elements (REE) are critical constituents in many modern technologies and products. Five samples (beach sands, gangue from Upper Coastal Plain Creataceous-early Tertiary sandstones, and Ti-Zr heavy mineral concentrates) were collected from different locations in the Coastal Plain of Georgia. The heavy mineral subfractions contained specific heavy minerals (zircon, rutile, and ilmenite). They were enriched in the light rare earth elements (LREE) by 20 to 400 times relative to their concentrations in the upper continental crust (UCC). Monazite [(LREE)PO4] and xenotime [(Y, HREE)PO4] were identified as REE-bearing minerals in these samples. The total REE concentrations ranged roughly from 3,700 to 74,319 ppm. The heavy mineral subfraction of the Upper Coastal Plain sandstone gangue showed the highest concentration of REE (74,319 ppm), the highest REO (8.9 wt.%), and the highest P2O5 (3.9 wt.%). This heavy mineral fraction represents a potential resource of rare earth elements.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/35314420

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