Discovery of Waimirite-(Y) in Egypt: Insights into REE Mineralization in Neoproterozoic Granite and Metasediments, Wadi Abu Rusheid, Eastern Desert

Abstract

We report, for the first time, waimirite-(Y) in Egypt. This is only the third reported occurrence of this mineral in the world. This observation arose during our study of the rare earth element (REE) mineralization associated with the Neoproterozoic rare-metal granite intrusion in Wadi Abu Rusheid in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The principal lanthanide and yttrium (Y) hosts in the area are waimirite-(Y) and bastnäsite-(Ce) in leucogranite and bastnäsite-(Y) in adjacent metasedimentary country rock. The leucogranite is a strongly fractionated, metaluminous to weakly peraluminous (A/CNK = 0.98–1.03), medium- to high-K calk-alkaline I-type granite. The metasediments are composed of upper greenschist to lower amphibolite-grade biotite schists with variable amounts of amphibole, graphite, and garnet. Leucogranite contains accessory Li-bearing mica, garnet, zircon, fluorite, and columbite in addition to the REE minerals. It is enriched by three orders of magnitude relative to primitive mantle in Li, Rb, Th, Ta, Nb, Pb, U, and Sn; relative to these highly enriched elements the concentrations of Sr, Ba, Ga, Zr, Hf, and Y are notably low. The REE patterns of most samples show strong enrichment in heavy relative to light REE but occasional samples have light REE-enriched patterns controlled by accessory REE minerals, and all display strong negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* ≤ 0.05). The whole-rock chemistry of the metasedimentary units are different; relative to average upper continental crust they show enrichments of one to two orders of magnitude in Li, Rb, Pb, Sn, Cs, and sometimes Cr and Zn. The REE patterns of the metasedimentary units are nearly flat, with some samples showing negative Eu anomalies. Waimirite-(Y), nominally YF3, also contains several weight percent each of Yb, Dy, and Er. The empirical formula (based on one cation) is (Y0.55Ce0.02Pr0.01Nd0.02Sm0.02Gd0.02Dy0.05Er0.04Yb0.05Th0.05Ca0.16Pb0.01)∑1.00(F2.48O0.52)∑3.00. Bastnäsite-(Ce) in leucogranite samples, nominally Ce(CO3)F, also has several weight percent each of Nd2O3 and La2O3. The REE host in metasedimentary rocks is bastnäsite-(Y), nominally Y(CO3)F, but also rich in Nd2O3 (11–19 wt.%) and La2O3 (4–14 wt.%). It is intimately associated with fluorophlogopite. The geochemical, mineralogical, and textural evidence indicates that waimirite-(Y) and bastnäsite-(Ce) in leucogranite crystallized from granite-derived F- and CO2-bearing hydrothermal fluids, whereas the source of Y for growth of the bastnäsite-(Y) in the metasedimentary rocks is unclear; the large negative Ce anomaly in bastnäsite-(Y) suggests an oxidizing supergene setting. Despite their proximity, if there is a genetic connection between the mineralization in the granite and in its country rocks, the relationship is not evident from elemental patterns or host mineralogy.