Selection of an appropriate leaching method for light REEs from Esfordi flotation concentrate based on mineral characterization

Abstract

The rare earth elements (REEs) comprise a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the 15 lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. REEs and alloys that contain them are used in devices such as computer memory, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, catalytic converters, magnets, fluorescent lighting, and many more (Krishnamurthy and Gupta, 2004). China supplies about 94% of the REE demand, with the remaining 6% coming from Russia and Estonia, the USA, India, Malaysia, and Brazil (Zhanheng, 2011). Increased industrial development in China has prompted the Chinese government to limit annual export quotas to approximately 35 kt of rare earth oxides (REOs), while non-Chinese annual demand is expected to reach 80 kt by the year 2015. This constriction of supply is being met by the development of many new rare earth mining projects, each of which has its own unique mining and processing

Rare earths of the Murmansk Region, NW Russia: minerals, extraction technologies and value

“…There are not many mentions in literature about the britholite REE extraction methods. However, laboratory scale method of leaching REE with a mixture of H 2 SO 4 and H 3 PO 4 from the ore concentrate which includes britholite has already been developed (Soltani et al 2017).…”