Gravity, magnetic and electrostatic separation methods allowed to obtain different titanium oxide concentrates (ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile) varieties of zircon (premium zircon, standard medium grade standard) from Senegal’s heavy mineral sands. During mining separation, monazite, which is a paramagnetic mineral, was found in non-negligible concentration 0.57 wt% on average the also contains 37...

Interest in the deformation behavior and phase transformations of rare earth orthophosphates (REPO4s) spans several fields science—from geological impact analysis to ceramic matrix composite engineering. In this study, polycrystalline, xenotime DyPO4 is studied up 21.5(16) GPa at ambient temperature using situ diamond anvil cell synchrotron X-ray diffraction. This experiment reveals a large xen...

The Stirling Range Formation in southwestern Australia contains discoidal fossils previously linked to the late Neoproterozoic Ediacaran biota and possible trace fossils interpreted to have been made by vermiform, mucus-producing, motile organisms. The age of the sedimentary succession was recently reported to be between 2.0 and 1.2 billion years old, based on U–Pb geochronology of detrital zir...

In this work we report the metastability and the energetics of the phase transitions of three different polymorphs of BiPO4, namely trigonal (Phase-I, space group P3(1)21), monoclinic monazite-type (Phase-II, space group P2(1)/n) and SbPO4-type monoclinic (Phase-III, space group P2(1)/m) from ambient and non-ambient temperature powder XRD and neutron diffraction studies as well as ab initio den...

The phosphate mineral monazite (LREE,Y,Th,Ca,Si)PO 4 occurs as an accessory phase in peraluminous granites and Ca-poor meta-psammopelites. Due to negligible common Pb very low diffusion rates at high temperatures, has received increasing attention geochronology. As the grain sizes are mostly below 100 ?m upper greenschist amphibolite facies meta-psammopelites, rarely exceed 250 granulite gneiss...

Geoactive fungi play a significant role in bioweathering of rock and mineral substrates. Monazite is phosphate containing the rare earth elements (REE) cerium, lanthanum neodymium. Little known about geomicrobial transformations REE-bearing minerals which are also relevant to REE biorecovery from terrestrial extra-terrestrial reserves. The geoactive soil fungus Aspergillus niger colonized monaz...

Metamorphism and partial melting of the lower crust is commonly assumed to cause depletion in heat producing elements (HPEs; K, U, Th). In deep crust, volumetrically subordinate metasedimentary layers, which are source crustal granites (sensu lato), host majority Th ± primarily within REE + U Y phosphate mineral monazite. We examine spatial temporal distribution monazite grains rocks from secti...