Alkaline Rocks and Carbonatites of the World

Setup during HiTech AlkCarb: an online database of alkaline rock and carbonatite occurrences

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.

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith