Fluid unmixing/immiscibility as an ore-forming process in the giant REE-Nb-Fe deposit, Inner Mongolian, China: Evidence from fluid inclusions

The giant Bayan Obo REE-Nb-Fe deposit consists of replacement bodies hosted in dolomite marble made up of magnetite, REE fluorocarbonates, fluorite, aegirine, amphibole, calcite and barite. Two or three phase CO2-rich, three phase hypersaline liquid-vapor-solid, and two phase liquid-rich inclusions have been recognized in mineralized fluorite and quartz samples. Microthermometry measurements indicate that the carbonic phase in CO2-rich inclusions is nearly pure CO2. Fluids involving in REE-Nb-Fe mineralization at Bayan Obo might be mainly of H2O-CO2-NaCl-(F-REE) system. Coexistences of brine inclusions and CO2-rich inclusions with similar homogenization temperatures give evidence that immiscibility happened during REE mineralization. An unmixing of an original H2O-CO2-NaCl fluid probably derived from carbonatitic magma. The presence of REE-carbonates as an abundant solid in fluid inclusions shows that the original ore-forming fluids are very rich in REE, and therefore, have the potential to produce economic REE ores at Bayan Obo.