The deposit model at the Eldor Property is the carbonatite-hosted REE-Nb-Ta deposit. Carbonatites are by definition igneous rocks, intrusive and extrusive, that contain more than 50% by volume carbonate minerals such as calcite, dolomite, ankerite, and less often siderite and magnesite. Intrusive carbonatites occur commonly within alkalic complexes or as isolated intrusions (sills, dikes, breccias, or small plugs) that may not be genetically related to other alkaline intrusions. Carbonatites can also be volcanic-related and occur as flow or pyroclastic rocks like the well-known active Oldoinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania. Carbonatites are generally related to large-scale, intra-plate fractures, grabens, or rifts that correlate with periods of extension, typically Precambrian to recent in age.
Carbonatite-hosted deposits occur almost exclusively in intrusive carbonatite and may be subdivided into magmatic, replacement/veins, and residual sub-type. The Eldor Carbonatite can be classified as a magmatic sub-type, which is the same category as the St-Honore deposit in Quebec, Canada (Niobec niobium mine, Iamgold), the Mountain Pass Deposit in California, U.S.A. (REE), and the Palabora Deposit in South Africa (apatite).
The Rare earth element mineralization at Ashram is hosted primarily (essentially 100%) by monazite, rare earth fluorocarbonates (bastnäsite, parisite, and lesser synchysite) and lesser xenotime. Rare earth mineralization at Ashram is consistent ........
