The study of modes of occurrence of rare earth elements in the Kunyang phosphorite deposit shows that ∑REE values of the orebody vary between 50×10^-6 and 250×10^-6, characterized by relatively abundant HREE and less LREE. The content of Y is between 30×10^-6 and 155×10^-6. The content of ∑REE is positively correlated with the content of collophane. Heavy minerals prospecting results show that there is a lack of independent rare earth minerals in the Kunyang phosphorite deposit. Chemical phase analysis shows that rare earth elements mainly exist in the phosphate, and are extremely low in carbonate and silicate. LA-ICPMS results show that the values of rare earth elements in collophane are in the range of 280×10^-6~420×10^-6, and those in dolomite is less than 10×10^-6. Therefore, the rare earth elements should mainly exist in collophane as a result of isommorphic replacement of Ca.