The evolution of immiscible silicate and fluoride melts: Implications for REE ore-genesis

The inclusion represents the first macroscopic example of silicate-fluoride immiscibility in nature. We propose that globules of the fluoride melt were initially dispersed within the silicate melt and preserved only rarely in unaltered hypersolvus granite. They accumulated in the residual melt (and therefore in pegmatites) scavenging REE, Ca and F from the silicate melt and, with rare exceptions, were later destroyed by fluids. The latter process contributed significantly to the enrichment of the host rocks in REE, Ca and F.