Environmental risks induced by elevated thorium contents in the complex rare earth elements deposit Strange Lake, Québec (Canada): Mineralogical investigations

The Strange Lake pluton is situated on the northern border between Québec and Labrador in northeastern Canada. The ore-body, located within a complex peralkaline granite-hosted system of pegmatites and aplites, contains elevated concentrations of both LREE and the highly coveted HREE, as well as other HFSE (high field strength elements, such as Zr, Nb, Y, Ti, and Th). The REE mineralization, however, is extremely complex and the elements of interest are variably distributed between various “exotic” minerals from different mineral classes that may also contain considerable amounts of unwanted impurities such as thorium, uranium and beryllium. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) like Th may be concentrated during beneficiation, thus constituting a serious hazard to the workers and the environment. In order to limit transportation and storage of hazardous material during production, it is of the company’s interest to separate these deleterious constituents early in or at best in advance to the extraction process. This study focuses on the characterization of the mineral phases that primarily host thorium for early recognition. Combined chemical and structural analyses indicate that there is one particular mineral phase in which Th is present in highly elevated concentrations. This mineral is best described as a metamict Th-silicate occurring in isolated, rounded grains enclosed in quartz. Further studies are required to indicate if this mineral can be separated early during minerals processing from the ore without considerable loss of valuable REE.