Abstract
Indonesia has an abundance of various types of natural resources, which if properly managed and utilized will have a positive impact in the form of contributing to financing and development for the region and the country. Utilization of natural resources, especially mineral resources, is a promising aspect to be managed in the present and in the future. Along with the need for energy and raw materials which are increasing every year and the existing resources are depleting, efforts are needed to anticipate in order to have other alternatives to the use of resources by conducting an inventory in areas that have potential resources that have not been properly recorded. One of the issues at the time of potential mineral resources in Indonesia is rare earth metal elements. However, no information has been found regarding rare earth metals in the West Sumatra region. This study aims to determine the geological conditions, characteristics and potential of rare earth metals in sandstone units of the upper and lower ombilin formations, West Sumatra. This research was conducted using the XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) method. The analysis of the XRF method aims to determine the composition of elements and compounds in the sample quickly without damaging the sample. The results of the analysis showed the presence of rare earth metal elements in the study area in the form of Yttrium, Europium and Neodymium. If the levels of rare earth metals are averaged in the study area, there are elements of Europium which contain the most element content of 591.25 ppm, Neodymium of 425 and Yttrium of 292.73 ppm. With this study it is hoped that there will be further development in the observation of rare earth metals in the area around the Ombilin basin by covering a wider scale.
Keywords: Sandstone, Rare Earth Metal Elements, Xrf