Rare Earth Deposits of Africa

Rare Earth Elements (REE) are a group of chemicallycoherent elements that are critical to a wide range of modern high technology applications and the critical strategic role of REE to the economic development of the U.S.A., European Union and Japan has been recognised. China holds a near monopoly over the supply of REE and REE products-accounting for around 95% of the global supply in 2010. These factors triggered a rush to discover REE deposits and develop REE production outside of China. At the beginning of 2015 there were 11 advanced REE projects on the African continent-projects on which formally defined resources had been published. This review represents the first compilation of the geology, style of mineralisation, size and character of these REE resources drawing on reports in the public domain.