A New Method for Primary Evaluation of the Outlook for Rare Earth Element Ores

A new method for primary evaluation of REE ore is based on classification of REE by the level of demand from industry. For their primary evaluation, it is proposed to use an outlook coefficient (K-outl) for REE ores, which is a ratio of the relative amount of critical REE to the relative amount of excess REE: K-outl= (Nd + Eu + Tb + Dy + Er + Y)/REE sum : (Ce + Ho + Tm + Yb + Lu)/REE sum. The use of this coefficient for comparison of REE ores pertaining to various genetic types makes it possible not only to grade newly discovered deposits at the early stage of their study but also to evaluate a possible contribution of well-known deposits, including those currently mined, to output of REE.