carbonatite / alkaline / ion-adsorption
Gadolinium prospectivityacross Australia, the USA & worldwide.
Carbonatite, alkaline and ion-adsorption gadolinium, ranked and explained across the United States and Australia.
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✓ Australia
Ranked targets
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✓ United States
Ranked targets
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· Canada
Not modelled
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Everywhere else
Global model
Ranked targets come with national models in Australia and the United States. Everywhere else, the global model returns the prospectivity map, the geology behind it and a confidence read. Next, the models are retrained on the full record and new sources, such as hyperspectral imagery, before we use them to rank and select ground.
How we rank gadolinium ground
From a country to a decision.
- 01 · Atlas
Know the ground
The geology, structure, recorded deposits, tenure and geochemistry over the ground, on one map with the source of every layer.
See Atlas - 02 · Open Ground
Find ground you can peg
Which ground is open, held or excluded, read from each licensing authority's own register.
See Open Ground - 03 · Prospectivity
Rank it for gadolinium
The ground scored for gadolinium, with the evidence behind it and ranked targets in Australia and the United States. Anywhere else, the global model maps gadolinium.
See Prospectivity - 04 · Spectral
Map the alteration
The alteration minerals and the structures that control them, from satellite: regional to district scale, and camp scale from WorldView-3.
See Spectral - 05 · Due Diligence
Check before committing
Tenure, land access, environment and the real cost to hold and test a gadolinium position.
See Due Diligence -
Talk to us about gadolinium
Partners, investors, publishers and researchers.
The deposit system
The gadolinium system.
Gadolinium is a middle rare-earth element with two properties few others share: the strongest paramagnetism of any stable element (the basis of MRI contrast agents) and the highest thermal-neutron capture cross-section of any natural element, which makes it invaluable in nuclear engineering. It occurs dispersed through the same mineral hosts as its neighbours (monazite, bastnäsite, xenotime, apatite) in carbonatites, alkaline igneous complexes and, in deeply weathered terrain, ion-adsorption clays.
Read more: the deposit model, why it matters and where it is used +
More on gadolinium
MineDSS models gadolinium through those systems.
The deposit model
As a middle rare earth, gadolinium straddles the light-rare-earth budget of carbonatites and the heavy-rare-earth budget of peralkaline and ion-adsorption systems, so all three families matter. Carbonatites crystallise gadolinium-bearing bastnäsite, monazite and apatite; peralkaline granites and syenites fix it in xenotime, fergusonite and eudialyte alongside zirconium, niobium and thorium; and prolonged subtropical weathering of enriched granites releases it onto kaolinite clays as easily leachable ions, with the middle and heavy rare earths preferentially retained. All three systems share the incompatible-element halo and, for the igneous hosts, thorium-bearing radiometric and ring-like magnetic signatures.
Why it matters
Gadolinium is on national critical-minerals lists for reasons that have little to do with volume: gadolinium-based contrast agents underpin tens of millions of MRI scans a year, gadolinium's neutron-capture capability serves reactor control and shielding, and gadolinium additions raise the performance of magnets, optical materials and solid-state devices. Supply is concentrated and separation capacity limited, so well-characterised new sources of middle-rare-earth ground carry weight for medical and nuclear supply chains alike.
Where it's used
The best-known use is medical: chelated gadolinium is the contrast agent behind a large share of MRI imaging. In nuclear engineering it serves as a burnable poison and emergency shutdown absorber. Elsewhere it improves the high-temperature behaviour of alloys, enables green phosphors, magneto-optical films and solid-state refrigeration research through the magnetocaloric effect, and appears in speciality garnets used in microwave and laser optics.
Questions
Gadolinium: common questions.
Which gadolinium deposit types does MineDSS model? +
Three related families: carbonatite intrusions, whose bastnäsite-monazite-apatite assemblages carry gadolinium in the light-rare-earth budget; peralkaline granite and syenite systems, which fix it in xenotime, fergusonite and eudialyte; and ion-adsorption clays, the deeply weathered expression of enriched granites where the middle and heavy rare earths are held as leachable ions on kaolinite. All three share the incompatible-element and radiometric footprint the model is built to read.
How is the model tested, and where can I run gadolinium? +
Every MineDSS model is tested before it is served: we withhold whole blocks of ground, rebuild the model without them, and check that it still ranks the anomalous samples there above background, with test ground kept spatially separate. A model that does not pass our release gates is not used, for any mineral, in any country. National models for gadolinium run in Australia and the United States, with ranked targets. Anywhere else in the world, the global model returns the prospectivity map, the geology behind it and a confidence read. Skill is model-level, never a specific site's measured accuracy, and never a discovery or JORC / NI 43-101 resource claim.
Which pathfinder elements track gadolinium? +
The co-located incompatible-element family: zirconium, niobium, thorium, uranium, hafnium, tantalum and beryllium, with zirconium, niobium and thorium leading. These elements concentrate in the same enriched melts and weathered profiles as the middle rare earths, and thorium-uranium give the systems their radiometric signature. These elements are part of the geochemical record our models learn from. In a run on any piece of ground, the map itself is read from geology and rock age, gravity and magnetics, radiometrics, terrain, satellite radar and spectral alteration, so it covers ground that has never been sampled.
Does a high MineDSS score mean a deposit or a resource estimate? +
No. A high score means its evidence closely matches ground where samples assay anomalously high for the target mineral, and it merits closer exploration attention. It is not a discovery, not a JORC or NI 43-101 resource or reserve estimate, and not drilling or investment advice. MineDSS ranks prospectivity to help prioritise where to look; confirming whether gadolinium is present, and in what grade and quantity, still requires field programmes, drilling and independent assessment by qualified professionals.
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Partners
Exploration and mining companies interested in working with us.
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Investors
The record, the models and the ground they point to.
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Publishers and researchers
Geological surveys, universities and programmes whose work the record is built on.
MineDSS ranks prospectivity to help you decide where to explore next. It is not a discovery, not a JORC or NI 43-101 resource or reserve estimate, and not drilling or investment advice.