South China (southern Jiangxi, southwestern Fujian, northern Guangdong and northwestern Guangxi in particular) is determined by both regional and local factors. Regionally, the deposits are generally found in areas with low topography, low hills lower than 500 m in elevation. Moreover, as located in subtropical area, South China has a warm and humid climate. Therefore, the deposits are often densely-vegetated. Locally, the deposits tend to form along ridges, rather than valleys. Thicker weathering crust, together with its associated orebody is found along ridges while its thickness decreases valley-wards or down slope. Ore-body profile The whole weathering crust can range from 30 to 60m in thickness, depending on its local structural, geomorphological, and hydrogeological conditions. In general, the deposit can be divided into 4 layers with accordance to its weathering intensity. Taking a 25-m-thick weathering crust as an example, its weathering profile is as illustrated as below: REE enrichment generally occurs as a 5-to-10-meter-thick zone between the completely weathered layer and strongly weathered layer and it is targeted for commercial mining. Compared to other REE deposits, regolith-hosted rare earth element deposits are substantially low-grade (containing 0.05-0.3 wt.% extractable REEs). Nevertheless, due to its easy extraction method, low processing costs and large abundance, the orebodies are economic to be extracted. Genesis of orebody The followings are some key aspects of ideas in the genesis of regolith-hosted rare earth element deposits. Deposit-forming magma is sourced from either LREE- or HREE-enriched granitic magma and it is not necessarily related to any special tectonic settings or geological time periods. Then, LREE or HREE experiences first stage enrichment through its own mechanism when magma solidifies. After the granite is brought to ground surface, it experiences intense denudation and exhumation in subtropic areas. At this stage, REEs are further enriched, which makes mining economical. These processes are discussed in details below: Magmatic origins In terms of tectonic settings, no obvious trend in tectonic setting that favours the formation of regolith-hosted rare earth element deposits is observed. Geologists had long believed that among different magma sources, magmas originated formed anorogenic (non-mountain building) and anhydrous settings (e.g. divergent plate boundaries), which consequently form A-type granites, are REEs-enriched. This is because lower degree of partial melting in this tectonic setting favours the enrichment of the REEs, which are incompatible and tend to melt preferentially. However, from field observations, A-type granite is not outstandingly REEs-enriched (in Total REE %). Instead, it