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Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources

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A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (27 November 2020) | Viewed by 58565

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Prof. Dr. Kenneth N. Han

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Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, USA
Interests: hydrometallurgy; metallurgical kinetics; solution chemistry; interfacial phenomena; electrometallurgy; nano/colloidal particles synthesis and applications
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Dear Colleagues,

Rare earth elements (REEs) have become an important group of metals used in many high-tech industries including high-strength magnets, plasma TVs, various military applications, and clean and efficient green energy industries. Unlike many commercially available metals, REEs are rarely concentrated into mineable ore deposits. The principal concentrations of REEs are associated with uncommon varieties of igneous rocks, alkaline rocks, and carbonatites. These types of deposits are refractory in nature due to unusually strong binding energies of these metals with the surrounding media. As a result, the strategy involved in the extraction of these elements requires a careful consideration of the chemical and physical nature of the energy associated between these metals and the surrounding media. Similar extraction behavior is observed when REEs are leached from secondary sources.

Because of the refractory nature of these mineral deposits, these deposits in general undergo heat-treatment, often either with sulfuric acid or alkaline to make these deposits amenable to leach in water-based solutions. Consequently, the leaching behavior of these minerals vastly differs based on its prior treatment. There has been much research carried out to release REEs from various sources using various leaching technologies. Some studies include the thermodynamic aspects of the association of various anions during the leaching process. Such approaches attempt to improve the overall strategies of REE leaching.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide important works that have been carried out in the field of leaching REEs from various sources. The key areas that have been concentrated on include but are not limited to the leaching behavior of REEs from various sources before and after prior-treatments. Salient analysis of the thermodynamic aspects of leaching behavior will also be covered, along with the characteristics of the chemical precipitation of REEs in various solutions provided by associated mineral matters included in the original sources and their effect on the secondary leaching process.

Prof. Dr. Kenneth N. Han
Guest Editor

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Keywords

leaching
heat treatment
precipitation
complexation
thermodynamics
selectivity
recycling

Related Special Issue

Leaching and Solution Treatments of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources, Volume II in Minerals (7 articles)

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

9 pages, 1286 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predicting the Logarithmic Distribution Factors for Coprecipitation into an Organic Salt: Selection of Rare Earths into a Mixed Oxalate

by Harry Watts and Yee-Kwong Leong

Minerals 2020, 10(8), 712; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10080712 - 12 Aug 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2411

Abstract

Thermodynamic modelling of a leaching system that involves concurrent precipitation depends on an understanding of how the metals distribute into the precipitate before an assessment of solubility can be made. It has been suggested in the past that a pair of rare earths [...] Read more.

λ

), determined by the kinetics of the precipitation. By contrast, the present study hypothesises that

λ

may be approximated from thermodynamic terms, including the solubility product (K_Sp) of each rare earth oxalate and the stability constant (

β_{1})

for the mono-oxalato complex of each rare earth. The proposed model was used to calculate

λ

between pairs of rare earths. An experimental study was conducted to determine

λ

between selected pairs using homogenous precipitation through the hydrolysis of an oxalic acid ester, with fairly close agreement to the values under the proposed model. Though this model requires more thorough testing, as well as application to other organic salts, it may provide insight into distribution factors of a precipitate formed by a sequence of organic complexes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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19 pages, 2496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Central Appalachian Coal Seam Underclays

by Scott N. Montross, Jonathan Yang, James Britton, Mark McKoy and Circe Verba

Minerals 2020, 10(6), 577; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060577 - 26 Jun 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3634

Abstract

Rare earth elements (REE) are necessary for advanced technological and energy applications. To support the emerging need, it is necessary to identify new domestic sources of REE and technologies to separate and recover saleable REE product in a safe and economical manner. Underclay rock associated with Central Appalachian coal seams and prevalent in coal utilization waste products is an alternative source of REE to hard rock ores that are mainly composed of highly refractory REE-bearing minerals. This study utilizes a suite of analytical techniques and benchtop leaching tests to characterize the properties and leachability of the coal seam underclays sampled. Laboratory bench-top and flow-through reactor leaching experiments were conducted on underclay rock powders to produce a pregnant leach solution (PLS) that has relatively low concentrations of gangue elements Al, Si, Fe, and Th and is amenable to further processing steps to recover and produce purified REE product. The leaching method described here uses a chelating agent, the citrate anion, to solubilize elements that are adsorbed, or weakly bonded to the surface of clay minerals or other mineral solid phases in the rock. The citrate PLS produced from leaching specific underclay powders contains relatively higher concentrations of REE and lower concentrations of gangue elements compared to PLS produced from sequential digestion using ammonium sulfate and mineral acids. Citrate solution leaching of underclay produces a PLS with lower concentrations of gangue elements and higher concentrations of REE than achieved with hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid. The results provide a preliminary assessment of the types of REE-bearing minerals and potential leachability of coal seam underclays from the Central Appalachian basin. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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20 pages, 7160 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Sulfuric Acid Baking and Caustic Digestion on Enhancing the Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from a Refractory Ore

by Rina Kim, Heechan Cho, Jinan Jeong, Jihye Kim, Sugyeong Lee, Kyeong Woo Chung, Ho-Sung Yoon and Chul-Joo Kim

Minerals 2020, 10(6), 532; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060532 - 12 Jun 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3989

Abstract

To improve the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from a refractory ore, this study investigated two different chemical decomposition methods, namely sulfuric acid baking and caustic digestion, with their respective leaching processes. The studied lateritic ore contained goethite (FeOOH) as a major constituent with REEs scattered around and forming submicron grains of phosphate minerals, such as apatite and monazite. Therefore, despite the substantially high content of REEs (3.4% total rare earth oxide), the normal acidic leaching efficiency of REEs reached only 60–70%. By introducing sulfuric acid baking and caustic digestion, the REE-leaching efficiency was significantly improved. After sulfuric acid baking at 2.0 acid/solid ratio and 200 °C for 2 h, the leaching efficiency reached 97–100% in the subsequent water-leaching. When the ore was digested with a solid/liquid ratio of 100 g/L in a 30 wt% NaOH solution at 115 °C and 300 rpm for 3 h, the REE-leaching efficiency of 99–100% was attained at 80 °C using a 3.0 M HCl solution. The correlation between the REE and the Fe-leaching was determined. The improvements in REE-leaching in both methods were mostly attributed to the mineral phase and crystallinity changes of Fe-bearing minerals due to the ore pretreatments. Such findings were also supported by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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13 pages, 6944 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Concentration of Rare Earth Elements (Sc, Y, La, Ce, Nd, Sm) in Bauxite Residue (Red Mud) Obtained by Water and Alkali Leaching of Bauxite Sintering Dust

by Leonid Chaikin, Andrei Shoppert, Dmitry Valeev, Irina Loginova and Julia Napol’skikh

Minerals 2020, 10(6), 500; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060500 - 30 May 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5261

Abstract

One of the potential sources of rare-earth elements (REE) is the industrial waste known as red mud (bauxite residue), in which the majority of REE from the initial bauxite are concentrated via the Bayer process. Therefore, the studies of the subject, both in Russia and outside, focus almost exclusively on red mud processing. This article looks into the possibility of REE concentration into red mud by leaching an intermediate product of the bauxite sintering process at Russian alumina refineries, namely electrostatic precipitator (ESP) dust. The experimental works were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD)and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) of the sinter and sinter dust. The determination of major and rare-earth elements in the sinter from the rotary kilns and in the ESP dust before and after leaching was carried out by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study showed that it is possible to obtain red mud that contains three times more REE than traditional waste red mud after two-stage leaching ESP dust in the water at 95 °C followed by leaching in an alkaline-aluminate liquor at 240 °C. The shrinking core model was used to study the kinetics of leaching of the original ESP dust and water-treated dust in alkaline-aluminate liquor. The study showed the change in the limiting stage of the alkaline leaching process after water treatment, with the activation energy growing from 24.98 to 33.19 kJ/mol. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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17 pages, 4045 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Leaching Kinetics of Rare Earth Elements from Fire Clay Seam Coal

by Xinbo Yang and Rick Q. Honaker

Minerals 2020, 10(6), 491; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060491 - 27 May 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4583

Abstract

Recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from coal samples collected from the Fire Clay coal seam using diluted mineral acid solutions was investigated. The initial processing step was coal recovery using conventional froth flotation which concentrated the REEs in tailing material resulting in an upgrade to values around 700 ppm on a dry whole mass basis. Leaching experiments were performed on the flotation tailings material using a 1.2 M sulfuric acid solution adjusted to a temperature of 75 °C to study the extractability of REEs from coal material. The effect of particle size, leaching time, leaching temperature, and solid concentration on REE leaching recovery were evaluated. The kinetic data obtained from leaching over a range of temperatures suggested that the leaching process follows the shrinking core model with possibly a mixed control mechanism that may be a result of several heterogenous materials leaching simultaneously. Leaching recovery increased rapidly at the beginning of the reaction then slowed as the system reached equilibrium. The apparent activation energy determined from test data obtained over a range of temperatures using 1 M sulfuric acid was 36 kJ/mol for the first 20 min of reaction time and 27 kJ/mol for the leaching period between 20 and 120 min. The leaching of light REEs during the initial stage was determined to be driven by a chemical reaction, followed by the formation of a product layer, which required lower activation energy in the later stage of leaching. In regards to the heavy REEs, the major mechanism for leaching is desorption and the product layer formation does not affect the heavy REEs significantly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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27 pages, 4643 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Grain Size Distribution and Clay Mineral Distinction of Rare Earth Ore through Different Methods

by Lingkang Chen, Xiongwei Jin, Haixia Chen, Zhengwei He, Lanrong Qiu and Hurong Duan

Minerals 2020, 10(4), 353; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10040353 - 15 Apr 2020

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4374

Abstract

Although clay mineral content in ion-absorbed rare earth ores is crucial for migrating and releasing rare earth elements, the formation, distribution, and migration of clay minerals in supergene rare earth ores have not been fully understood. Therefore, this study analyzes the characteristics of clay mineral type and content, soil particle size, pH value, leaching solution concentration, and leaching rate. This analysis was performed using different methods, such as regional rare earth mine soil surveys, in situ leaching profile monitoring, and indoor simulated leaching. The results showed that the grain size and volume curve of rare earth ore have unimodal and bimodal shapes, respectively. X-ray diffraction showed the differences in clay mineral types formed by different weathered bedrocks. The principal clay minerals were kaolinite, illite, chlorite, and vermiculite, with their relative abundance varying with parent rock lithology (granite and low-grade metamorphic rocks). In the Ganxian granite weathering profile, the kaolinite content increased from top to bottom. The decomposition of feldspar minerals to kaolinite was enhanced with an increase in the SiO₂ content during weathering. The in situ leaching profile analysis showed that the kaolinite content increased initially and then decreased, whereas the illite/mica content exhibited the opposite trend. Under stable leaching solution concentration and leaching rate, clay mineral formation is favored by lower pH. Low pH, low leaching rate, and highly-concentrated leaching solution (12 wt%) resulted in a slow increase in kaolinite content in the upper part of the profile (30 cm). A lower concentration of the leaching solution (4 wt%) resulted in rapid enrichment of kaolinite after 15 days. Low pH, leaching solution concentration, and leaching rate promoted the formation of distinct kaolinite horizons. We suggest that by disregarding other control factors, rare earth recovery of over 90% can be achieved through leach mining with solutions of 8 wt% and a pH of 5 at a leaching rate of 5 mL/min. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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13 pages, 2183 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characteristics of Precipitation of Rare Earth Elements with Various Precipitants

by Kenneth N. Han

Minerals 2020, 10(2), 178; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10020178 - 17 Feb 2020

Cited by 70 | Viewed by 11197

Abstract

The effective and selective leaching of rare earth elements (REEs) from various sources is frequently possible in practice by adopting a carefully coordinated strategy incorporating a selective precipitation of these elements from undesired ones in solution. In this study, the behavior of chemical precipitation of REEs with commonly used precipitants such as sulfate, carbonate, fluoride, phosphate, and oxalate was examined using thermodynamic principles and calculations. It was found that the pH of the system has a profound effect on determining particular chemical species of precipitants, which are subsequently responsible for the precipitation of REEs. The role of various anions such as Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, and SO₄²⁻ derived from the acid used in the leaching process on the precipitation behavior of REEs was examined. These anions form complexes with REEs and display a very positive effect on the precipitation behavior. The nitrate environment exhibits most conducive to precipitation followed by sulfate and then chloride. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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Review

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20 pages, 6179 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Magnetic Nanohydrometallurgy Applied to Lanthanide Separation

by Fernando M. de Melo, Sabrina N. Almeida and Henrique E. Toma

Minerals 2020, 10(6), 530; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060530 - 11 Jun 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3163

Abstract

Lanthanides play an important role in modern technology because of their outstanding optical, electronic, and magnetic properties. Their current hydrometallurgical processing involves lixiviation, leading to concentrates of elements whose separation requires exhaustive procedures because of their similar chemical properties. In this sense, a new nanotechnological approach is here discussed, involving the use of iron oxide nanoparticles functionalized with complexing agents, such as diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), for carrying out the magnetic extraction and separation of the lanthanide ions in aqueous solution. This strategy, also known as magnetic nanohydrometallurgy (MNHM), was first introduced in 2011 for dealing with transition metal recovery in the laboratory, and has been recently extended to the lanthanide series. This technology is based on lanthanide complexation and depends on the chemical equilibrium involved. It has been better described in terms of Langmuir isotherms, considering a uniform distribution of the metal ions over the nanoparticles surface, as evidenced by high angle annular dark field microscopy. The observed affinity parameters correlate with the lanthanide ion contraction series, and the process dynamics have been studied by monitoring the nanoparticles migration under an applied magnetic field (magnetophoresis). The elements can be reversibly captured and released from the magnetically confined nanoparticles, allowing their separation by a simple acid-base treatment. It can operate in a circular scheme, facilitated by the easy magnetic recovery of the extracting agents, without using organic solvents and ionic exchange columns. MNHM has been successfully tested for the separation of the lanthanide elements from monazite mineral, and seems a promising green nanotechnology, particularly suitable for urban mining. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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28 pages, 3463 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Comprehensive Review of Rare Earth Elements Recovery from Coal-Related Materials

by Wencai Zhang, Aaron Noble, Xinbo Yang and Rick Honaker

Minerals 2020, 10(5), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10050451 - 17 May 2020

Cited by 114 | Viewed by 14002

Abstract

Many studies have been published in recent years focusing on the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from coal-related materials, including coal, coal refuse, coal mine drainage, and coal combustion byproducts particularly fly ash. The scientific basis and technology development have been supported by coal geologists and extractive metallurgists, and through these efforts, the concept has progressed from feasibility assessment to pilot-scale production over the last five years. Physical beneficiation, acid leaching, ion-exchange leaching, bio-leaching, thermal treatment, alkali treatment, solvent extraction, and other recovery technologies have been evaluated with varying degrees of success depending on the feedstock properties. In general, physical beneficiation can be a suitable low-cost option for preliminary upgrading; however, most studies showed exceedingly low recovery values unless ultrafine grinding was first performed. This finding is largely attributed to the combination of small RE-bearing mineral particle size and complex REE mineralogy in coal-based resources. Alternatively, direct chemical extraction by acid was able to produce moderate recovery values, and the inclusion of leaching additives, alkaline pretreatment, and/or thermal pretreatment considerably improved the process performance. The studies reviewed in this article revealed two major pilot plants where these processes have been successfully deployed along with suitable solution purification technologies to continuously produce high-grade mixed rare earth products (as high as +95%) from coal-based resources. This article presents a systematic review of the recovery methods, testing outcomes, and separation mechanisms that are involved in REE extraction from coal-related materials. The most recent findings regarding the modes of occurrence of REEs in coal-related materials are also included. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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13 pages, 2967 KiB

Open AccessReview

Hydrometallurgical Recovery and Process Optimization of Rare Earth Fluorides from Recycled Magnets

by Prince Sarfo, Thomas Frasz, Avimanyu Das and Courtney Young

Minerals 2020, 10(4), 340; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10040340 - 10 Apr 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3556

Abstract

Magnets containing substantial quantities of rare earth elements are currently one of the most sought-after commodities because of their strategic importance. Recycling these rare earth magnets after their life span has been identified to be a unique approach for mitigating environmental issues that originate from mining and also for sustaining natural resources. The approach is hydrometallurgical, with leaching and precipitation followed by separation and recovery of neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr) and dysprosium (Dy) in the form of rare earth fluorides (REF) as the final product. The methodology is specifically comprised of sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) leaching and ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH) precipitation followed by reacting the filtrate with ammonium bifluoride (NH₄F·HF) to yield the REF. Additional filtering also produces ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄) as a byproduct fertilizer. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations by means of XRD, ICP and TGA-DSC to determine decomposition of ammonium jarosite, which is an impurity in the recovery process were performed. Additionally, conditional and response variables were used in a surface-response model to optimize REF production from end-of-life magnets. A REF recovery of 56.2% with a REF purity of 62.4% was found to be optimal. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Various Sources)

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