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Geochemical study of rare earth elements, uranium and thorium in mylonitic rocks of north Abu Rusheid, Egypt using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

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A geochemical study of rare earth elements (REEs), uranium (U), thorium (Th) and major elements was conducted in mylonitic rocks found in north Abu Rusheid, south eastern desert, Egypt, a well-known uranium ore deposit area. The concentrations of REEs, U, and Th were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. ∑REEs varied from 38 to 183 µg/g with a mean value of 90 µg/g. U and Th concentrations varied from 67 to 171 and 98 to 454 µg/g, respectively. The mean value of the U/Th ratio was higher than the upper continental crust value and the mylonitic rocks were concluded to have high U content.

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Acknowledgements

One of the authors (SS) is thankful to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo, Japan for the award of a doctoral fellowship through the “Tokyo Global Partner Scholarship Program” at Tokyo Metropolitan University. This research was partially supported by the JSPS core-to-core program (Grant Number: JPJSCCB20210008).

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Correspondence to Sarata Kumar Sahoo.

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Sakr, S., Inoue, K., Arae, H. et al. Geochemical study of rare earth elements, uranium and thorium in mylonitic rocks of north Abu Rusheid, Egypt using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 333, 3269–3277 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-023-09257-w

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