Hydrothermal Rare Earth Elements (REE) Partitioning into Fluorite: A Fluid Inclusion Study from the Gallinas Mountains REE-bearing Fluorite Deposit, NM

Rare earth elements (REE) are becoming increasingly important in modern society due to their numerous uses in manufacturing of components for green and high-tech energy industries.Studying the mechanisms of REE mineral formation in geologic systems is vital for understanding where and how these mineral deposits form.Previous studies of REE mineral deposits have shown that hydrothermal fluids can play a key role in the mobilization and enrichment of REE (Williams-Jones et al., 2000;Gysi et al., 2016;Vasyukova and Williams-Jones, 2018).Fluorite is ideal to study the behavior of REE because of their compatibility in its structure and it is a ubiquitous hydrothermal vein mineral found together with REE fluorocarbonates (i.e., bastnäsite and parisite).However, the controls on hydrothermal fluid-mineral REE partitioning in these deposits are not yet fully understood.