Growing demand for the rare earth elements, particularly the heavy REE (HREE), has fuelled a boom in mineral exploration and scientific research on carbonatite-hosted deposits, especially those with unusual HREE enrichment. The Ashram REE deposit is such a HREE-enriched carbonatite-hosted REE deposit. Magmatic processes were important in the genesis of the deposit, but hydrothermal mobilization was the main process responsible for the concentration of the REE to potentially economic levels and the fractionation of the HREE.

The REE minerals in the Ashram deposit were precipitated from hydrothermal fluids. They comprise monazite-(Ce) and bastnäsite-(Ce), with lesser monazite-(Nd) and trace xenotime-(Y) and aeschynite-(Nd). This mineralization occurs as disseminations in breccia matrices, in veins, and as vug fillings. Monazite-(Ce) was the earliest mineral to form, followed by xenotime-(Y) and bastnäsite-(Ce). The composition of monazite-(Ce) varies with location in the deposit and is preferentially enriched in the light REE (LREE) with increasing distance from a large, irregular breccia body, underlying the zone of HREE enrichment. This body is interpreted to have been the main conduit for the mineralizing fluids which, on exiting, deposited monazite as a result of the cooling and pH buffering that accompanied their interaction with the adjacent carbonatites. Bastnäsite-(Ce) replaced monazite-(Ce) through ligand exchange (F⁻, CO₃²⁻ for PO₄³⁻), preserving the original REE distribution. Interaction of a compositionally evolving fluid with host rocks of variable bulk composition and buffering capacity resulted in a deposit-scale fractionation and zonation of the REE.

对稀土元素，特别是重稀土元素（HREE）的需求不断增长，推动了对含碳酸盐岩矿床（尤其是那些具有异常HREE富集的矿床）的矿物勘探和科学研究的蓬勃发展。Ashram REE矿床就是富含HREE的碳酸盐岩型REE矿床。岩浆过程在该矿床的成因中很重要，但是热液动员是将REE浓缩到潜在经济水平和将HREE分级的主要过程。

Ashram矿床中的REE矿物是从热液中沉淀出来的。它们包括独居石-（Ce）和bastnäsite-（Ce），以及较少的独居石-（Nd）和痕量的xenotime-（Y）和水滑石-（Nd）。这种矿化作用是在角砾岩基质中散布，在静脉中和作为小孔填充物而发生的。独居石（Ce）是最早形成的矿物，其次是xenotime-（Y）和bastnäsite-（Ce）。独居石-（Ce）的组成随矿床位置的不同而变化，并随着距大型不规则角砾岩体（位于HREE富集区域下方）距离的增加，优先富集于轻稀土（LREE）中。该矿体被认为是矿化流体的主要管道，矿化流体在离开时，由于伴随着它们与相邻碳酸盐相互作用的冷却和pH缓冲作用而沉积出独居石。^-，对于PO ₄ ^3-而言为CO ₃ ^2-），保留原始REE分布。组成演化的流体与具有不同体积组成和缓冲能力的主体岩石的相互作用导致了REE的沉积规模分馏和分带。