How Cerium and Lanthanum as Coproducts Promote Stable Rare Earth Production and New Alloys

Nd2Fe14B permanent magnets substituted with non-critical light rare earth elements (Ce, La): A review

“…Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are co-extracted from natural deposits under the form of mineral species, mainly bastnaesite and monazite, and then separated in order to feed the demand of the current applications. Lanthanum and Cerium represent about 70 % of the weight of REEs present in the minerals but less than 10 % of the economic value of the whole REEs extracted [8]. Actually, Ce and La are devoted to industrial uses with low added values.…”

“…For the mining sector, La and Ce are considered as by products with low economic value compared to the REEs used for permanent magnets (Nd, Pr, Sm, Dy) which constitute about 25 % of the REE content of the extracted minerals. The unbalance between the minerals composition and the market value is seen as a burden in the REE mining activity and several initiatives are considered for the valorization of Ce [8].…”

Acid Leaching of La and Ce from Ferrocarbonatite-Related REE Ores

“…Although La and Ce are the most abundant elements of REEs, their study has been increasing due to their applications in the manufacture of new alloys with high mechanical properties. Therefore, it is expected that the demand for La and Ce will continue to rise in the coming years [35,36] Systematic studies of the kinetics of the leaching of REEs are, however, scarce, so it is necessary to explore this topic from both the mineralogic and kinetic perspectives during processes designed to leach REEs to increase leaching rates.…”

Aluminothermic reduction of CeO2: mechanism of an economical route to aluminum–cerium alloys

“…[5][6][7] Aluminum alloys with up to 10 wt% cerium have been developed in the last decade as a new class of light-weight, high-temperature materials, exploiting formation of the high-melting intermetallic compound Ce 3 Al 11 in the microstructure. 6,8,9 As such, Al-Ce alloys are a competitive high strength alloy class that creates a high-value demand for excess cerium to help stabilize the rare earth market. 10,11 Al-Ce alloys are produced by alloying Al melts with metallic Ce, which itself is produced by calciothermic reduction of CeCl 3 in a prior energy-intensive step.…”

“…Cerium is the majority element in most deposits, and the growing need for Nd, Pr and the heavy lanthanides in permanent magnets and other energy transition technologies results in costly stockpiling of cerium oxide that has low demand. [5][6][7] Aluminum alloys with up to 10 wt% cerium have been developed in the last decade as a new class of light-weight, high-temperature materials, exploiting formation of the high-melting intermetallic compound Ce 3 Al 11 in the microstructure. 6,8,9 As such, Al-Ce alloys are a competitive high strength alloy class that creates a high-value demand for excess cerium to help stabilize the rare earth market.…”