Alkaline rocks and carbonatites of Namibia

There are over 50 occurrences of alkaline rocks and carbonatites in Namibia (Woolley, 2001; Do Cabo, 2014) in four age groups ranging from Mesoproterozoic (Epembe, Swartbooisdrif), through Neoproterozoic, to Cretaceous and late Cretaceous to Cenozoic, all at various levels of erosion. Many localities have been subject to exploration licences recently, especially for REE but also for Ta, Nb at Epembe for example. Okorusu has been an active mine for fluorspar until 2015. Access to many of these complexes is easy. The complexes include the heavy REE carbonatite deposit at Lofdal, especially important for future targetting in a European context. Exploration has been carried out by hyperspectral imaging, field mapping, radiometrics, and drilling campaigns, and access to these data is available through Geoafrica.