On the 17th, it was learned from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) that the university, in collaboration with the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Geological Survey Institute, discovered a new rare earth mineral in the middle of the ore body in the main ore section of the Bayan Obo deposit in Inner Mongolia. It was named "neodymium Huanghe mineral". 

It is learned that recently, the name "Neodymium Yellow Riverite" for a new mineral has been unanimously approved by the Commission on New Minerals Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association. 

Zhao Laishi, the head of the research team and a researcher at the National Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources Prediction at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), introduced that the neodymium-containing Huanghe mineral belongs to the family of rare earth carbonate minerals and has a unique enrichment feature of neodymium in its chemical composition. Neodymium, as a core component of high-performance permanent magnetic materials, is in high demand in fields such as new energy vehicles, wind power generation, and electronic information. 

The Bayan Obo deposit is the world's largest rare earth deposit and a treasure trove of mineral resources in China. More than 210 kinds of minerals have been discovered there so far. Zhao Laihui said that the discovery of the neodymium-yellow ore further highlights the complexity and diversity of resources in this deposit. 

Zhao Laishi introduced that during the project research, the team, through systematic field geological investigation and geochemical analysis, revealed the distribution pattern and occurrence law of rare earth elements in the Bayan Obo deposit. On this basis, the zonation characteristics of ore bodies and the genesis model of the deposit in Bayan Obo have been established. 

The discovery of the neodymium-yellow-river mineral was made under the guidance of the theoretical model of mineralization through micro-area analysis of minerals. Previously, the team also discovered two other new rare earth minerals in Baiyunebo - neodymium-fluorite-carbonate and neodymium-monazite.

July 18th, 2025（Metal Alloy Online）