REEs enriched heavy minerals from the river and beach sands of Bangladesh

The study area includes sand bars carried by the Jamuna River, coastal dunes on Sonadia Island, and the beach sands of the island of Saint Martin’s, all of which are geomorphologically distinct and possibly rich in economically valuable minerals. This study conducted for the first time in Bangladesh to investigate the occurrence of a few RREs such as Ce, La, Th, Zr, and Nd in monazite, zircon, and allanite heavy minerals. SEM–EDS, statistical methods, and heavy mineral analyses were used to determine the existence and significance of REEs in beach and river sand samples. The concentrations of Ag, La, Ce, and Th in the investigated grains of monazite (-Ce) varied, showing an asymmetric distribution, with the MANOVA test indicating statistically significant ( p -value = 0.004) differences. Three primary components described almost 84% of all changes in monazite, and zircon on the other hand has a constant Zr content. The MANOVA test result shows that differences in zircon locations on two separate elements are statistically significant ( p -value = 0.091). The existence of three rare earth elements (La, Ce, and Nd) in three places has been confirmed by allanite (-Ce), a REE-rich epidote mineral. According to the MANOVA test statistic, differences in allanite mineral study areas on three separate rare elements are not statistically significant ( p -value = 0.245). The analytical data will help differentiate and characterize the REE-containing mineral grains in the diverse geological settings across Bangladesh.