System and method for predicting the presence of rare earth elements

A system for predicting the presence of rare earth elements (REEs) in a feedstock, comprising:

• a spectrum analyzer operably configured to measure a sample of the feedstock and record a measurement data for the feedstock sample;
• a processor communicatively coupled to the spectrum analyzer, the processor configured to process the measurement data;
• and
• a memory assembly communicatively coupled to the spectrum analyzer and the processor, the memory assembly comprising one or more machine readable instructions, one or more models, and one or more predictions;
• wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to measure the feedstock sample using the spectrum analyzer to generate the measurement data corresponding to elements of interest with a lower atomic weight than REEs, correlate the measurement data using the one or more models, and predict the presence of one or more REEs based at least in part on the correlation.