Research progress of rare earth element resources in Africa

Rare earth elements are an essential part for modern high-tech development and have been listed as key mineral resources by major economies in the world.Since 2017, the import trend of rare earth element resources has increased significantly in China.This paper systematically composes and summarizes China's imported rare earth element resource data, distribution of rare earth projects, reserves and resources, deposit types, mineralization ages, typical deposit characteristics and exploration investment in Africa.Africa is rich in rare earth element resources, with advanced resources of rare earth oxides exceeding 10 million tons.In recent years, the exploration and development progress have been enhanced rapidly.The mineralization types can be divided into eight types(complex mineralization period), in which the reserves and resources are mainly concentrated in 12 countries, such as Tanzania, and the igneous carbonatite type and ion adsorption-type REE deposits are currently the focus of exploration and development.The largest exploration investment of rare earth element deposits in Africa occurred in 2012, then continued to decline, reaching a low point in 2017, and the exploration investment has grown very rapidly since 2018.With the gradual production of rare earth element minerals projects in the future internationally, China's dominant global rare earth element market prices will face competition.Rare earth element ore formation conditions are superior in African, and Chinese investment enterprises can use the technical advantages to actively guide and promote African rare-earth element production into our industrial chain.