Warta Geologi, Vol. 52, No. 1, April 2026, pp. 11-19
Ibrahim Danial Maarof*, Nor Syazwani Zainal Abidin, Belinda Clare Bonny
Geoscience Department, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
*Corresponding author email address: ibrahim.maarof@yahoo.com
Abstract: This study investigates rare earth elements (REE) occurrences in the southern part of Taiping pluton, part of Bintang batholith in Peninsular Malaysia. 36 samples were collected from three outcrops (PSS, PUK, MJ) across four weathering horizons (A, B, C, D) and analysed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), petrography and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The granitic bedrock (horizon D) is amphibole-bearing I-type granite, averaging 389.00 ppm REE. The granite was observed containing zircon and apatite as the main REE-bearing minerals. Among the weathered profiles, horizon C shows the highest enrichment, averaging 683.00 ppm, compared with 258.00 ppm in horizon B and 119.75 ppm in horizon A. The strong enrichment of REE occurred in horizon C due to the closer depth to the granite and REMs. This finding provides new insight for the enrichment of REE within the weathered profiles of Taiping pluton.
Keywords: REE, Main Range Granite, Bintang batholith, Taiping pluton, geochemical
Abstrak: Kajian ini menyiasat kehadiran unsur-unsur nadir bumi (REE) di bahagian selatan pluton Taiping, yang merupakan sebahagian daripada batolit Bintang di Semenanjung Malaysia. Sebanyak 36 sampel telah diambil dari tiga singkapan (PSS, PUK, MJ) yang merentasi empat lapisan luluhawa (A, B, C, D) dan telah dianalisa menggunakan pendarfluor sinar-X (XRF), pembelauan sinar-X (XRD), petrografi, dan ICP-MS. Batuan dasar (lapisan D) adalah granit jenis-I yang mengandungi amfibol, dengan purata 389.00 ppm REE. Batuan dasar ini mengandungi zircon dan apatit sebagai mineral utama pembawa REE. Antara lapisan – lapisan profil terluluhawa yang terbentuk di lapangan, lapisan C mempunyai pengayaan yang tertinggi, dengan purata 683.00 ppm, berbanding 258.00 ppm di lapisan B dan 119.75 ppm di lapisan A. Pengayaan REE yang tinggi berlaku di lapisan C disebabkan oleh kedalaman yang lebih hampir dengan batuan dasar dan mineral nadir bumi (REMs). Penemuan ini memberikan pandangan baharu untuk pengayaan REE dalam profil terluluhawa pluton Taiping.
Kata kunci: REE, Granit Banjaran Utama, batolit Bintang, pluton Taiping, geokimia
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Manuscript received 2 June 2025;
Received in revised form 23 August 2025;
Accepted 23 December 2025
Available online 30 April 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7186/wg521202602
0126-5539; 2682-7549 / Published by the Geological Society of Malaysia.
© 2026 by the Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License 4.0
