Economic mineralization in pegmatites: comparing and contrasting NYF and LCT examples

Granitic pegmatites can represent superb deposits of rare metals, including some ‘critical metals' that are important for many modern technologies (Linnen et al. 2012, London 2018). Notably, the majority of ore deposits associated with granitic pegmatites are found in LCT pegmatites, which represent many of the world's resources of lithium, tantalum, cesium and beryllium. In contrast, the NYF pegmatites may be enriched in the rare earth elements (REE) and niobium, but they rarely contain economic resources of these metals. Compared with LCT pegmatites, NYF pegmatites have seen relatively little research. This contribution will compare recent work from examples of the two pegmatite families and summarize how magmatic and hydrothermal processes affect their potential as ore deposits.