Ann: Further Outstanding Rare Earth Assays from Innouendy, page-32

Wait until the greenies get hold on these Ion adsorption (clay) deposits. The rare earth elements are adsorbed onto the surfaces of the clay particles in Australia , That is when the fun will begin.
Rare earth elements can, under certain conditions, bind to the surface of clay minerals. These
types of deposits are called ion adsorption clay deposits (IA deposits) and are formed where the
rare earth elements, connected to minerals in granitic rocks, dissolve during weathering processes caused by percolating groundwater. The dissolved REE ions can be precipitated and adsorbed to the surface of the clay minerals (e.g. kaolin, halloysite and illite) under special pH and Eh conditions. IA deposits are therefore typically near-surface, not consolidated, fine-grained,
have low REE grades and are small in tonnage. The low grade means that 2-3,000 tonnes of
material often have to be processed to produce 1 tonne of REO. However, IA deposits are often
characterised by having a very high HREE/LREE ratio and are therefore commercially attractive
and have until now been the most important deposit type in Eastern and Southern China.

The in-situ methods often cause great damage to the environment because it is difficult to ensure
that all the ion exchange liquid is collected. The Chinese authorities are therefore officially discontinuing this type of operation