Occurrence of Rare Earths in Green River Oil Shale

Rare Earth Deposits & Mining / Rare Earth Exploration, Mining, Processing, & Uses

Alan K. Burnham and Jeremy Boak presented at the 35th Oil Shale Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT, October 5-6, 2015 Conclusion - Green River oil shale is not a viable source for Rare Earth Elements -

1. The maximum concentrations of REE in the Green River Formation are approximately crustal abundance.

2. The distribution among the elements reflects very large-scale averaging through sediment recycling.

3. The highest REE concentrations are associated with very lean strata.

4. REE concentrations correlate strongly with other elements associated with clay minerals.

5. REE concentrations are diluted by carbonates and kerogen, and

6. REE concentrations do not correlate with U, Pb and Bi concentrations, which correlate with each other.