An oreXpress, oreXplorer or oreXpert field spectrometer with EZ-ID mineral identification software can be used in exploration and identification of light rare earth bearing minerals. Light rare earths or LREEs include:

• Lanthanum
• Cerium
• Praseodymium
• Neodymium
• Samarium

Unlike other metals rare earths are abundant but not in minable concentrations. Most rare earths are found in uncommon types of igneous rocks, especially alkaline rocks and carbonatites. Minerals that can contain rare earths include euxenite, bastnaesite, xenotime,monazite, and allanite.

Bastnaesite is a rare LREE bearing carbonate mineral. It is closely related to the mineral parisite and can sometimes replace crystals of allanite. Allanite belongs to the epidote mineral group and is one of the more common LREE bearing minerals in igneous rock, but rarely in minable quantities. Allanites can be found in granites, syenites, diorites, and associated pegmatites.

Allanite and bastnaesite are part of the EZ-ID available libraries.

The oreXpress, oreXplorer and oreXpert and EZ-ID mineral identification software, are well- suited for exploration geologists looking for LREE deposits.

Every oreXpress, oreXplorer and oreXpert geological spectrometer includes our DARWin SP Data Acquisition software and is available with EZ-ID and the Custom Library Builder Module. EZ-ID allows you to compare your target sample with a known library of mineral spectra. EZ-ID comes with the USGS spectral library and is available with the GeoSPEC library and SpecMIN library.

• Fast and accurate identification of an unknown mineral to a known spectral library sample
• Ease-of-use: take your scan using an oreXpress, oreXplorer or oreXpert and see results in real-time
• Simple, consistent user interface
• USGS, SpecMIN and GeoSPEC libraries available
• Weighted score for best matches
• Include or exclude spectral regions of interest for optimal results
• Includes scalars for more precise mineral identification

Using an oreXpress, oreXplorer or oreXpert with EZ-ID delivers the following benefits for exploration geologists exploring for LREEs:

• Quickly take a lot of samples
• Cover more ground in less time
• More accurate data provides a more complete picture of what you are looking at
• Less time and expense than waiting for samples to come back from the lab
• Less drilling – better results quickly delivers a return-on- investment

EZ-ID matching bastnaesite to a known sample from the SpecMIN library. The USGS and GeoSPEC high resolution library are also available.