Abstract:
Sri Lanka has a geological setting that favors the presence of rare earth elements (REEs),
which are currently identified as the most critical and strategic elements in the world.
Previous geochemical studies show that intrusive rocks, such as carbonatites, pegmatites and
granitoid rocks could be enriched of REEs. Therefore, this research is focused on assessing
the REE potential in pegmatites with special reference to the zircon granite in Massenna. The
collected samples from the focused areas were subjected for XRD analysis and monazite,
apatite, allanite, bastnaesite, and loparite were found as the major RE minerals. Moreover,
Massenna zircon granite has the highest REE potential, particularly LREEs and Y, compared
to other pegmatites. The presence of REEs in the in-situ soil and sediment samples indicate
that, REEs have been transported through weathering and erosion processes of the zircon
granite, thus proving the REE potential in the source rock. Furthermore, REEs are mostly
associated with felsic minerals rather than mafic minerals. Therefore, this research clearly
provides insights of REE potential in the pegmatite bodies in Sri Lanka and more REE
explorations need to be carried out in these prospects.
Citation:
Jayasuriya, J.H.A.A.T.S., Jayathilake, R.G.M.A., Jeyakumar, J., Batapola, N.M., Dushyantha, N.P., Abeysinghe, A.M.K.B., & Premasiri, H.M.R. (2020). Assessment of rare earth element potential in intrusive rocks special reference to massenna zircon granite. In D.M.D.O.K. Dissanayake & A.B.N. Dassanayake (Eds.), Proceedings of International Symposium on Earth Resources Management & Environment 2020 (pp. 60-67). Department of Earth Resources Engineering, University of Moratuwa.