University of Tasmania, Australia

According to Professor Dima Kamenetsky, carbonatite are the metals of the future. Carbonatites are magmas that are uniquely enriched in very rare elements, called rare earth elements; it can be one gram per tonne or even less. In electric cars of the future, engines will be replaced with huge magnets made of various elements, which are very hard to get, the source of these metals are the rocks Prof Kamenetsky is studying.

Prof Kamenetsky is researching melt inclusions of carbonatites as opposed to rocks themselves. In the earth’s mantle, there are liquids, these are called a magma. The temperature can be as high as 1,500 degrees, once the magma comes to the crust or surface, it cools down and rocks form. Dr Kamenetsky is investigating what happens when he heats magma and the way crystals form from within his laboratory. He has magma collections from Antarctica, Canada, Greenland, South Africa, Europe and Siberia.