Testing Prisma Capability to Detect Rare Earth Element Contents from Space

The REE are among the most demanded critical raw materials in the 21st century but some potentially prospective locations have uneasy access or are remote. We tested the ability of PRISMA hyperspectral satellite to reveal possible economic REE deposits using direct REE spectral absorption features. The study focused on carbonatite occurrences in north Namibia. The multiple REE-related spectral absorption feature parameters were detected in the range 700–900 nm, whereas absorptions at 714, 744, 786 and 817 nm were found to correlate with carbonatites containing high REE abundances. Using this approach, three carbonatite areas with promising REE-bearing orebodies were identified. One site was validated using laboratory geochemical data, showing promising results for the future use of hyperspectral imaging data for exploring REE deposits.