CMI scientists at Colorado School of Mines and Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted this research.
Achievement:
One-step HCl leach reaches 90% recovery from bastnaesite mining concentrate.
Significance and Impact:
- Eliminates caustic crack step
- Greatly reduces:
- Complex processing
- Chemicals & labor
- Waste (allows HCl recycle)
- Lowers cost of RE mining (most important RE mineral is bastnaesite)
Next Steps:
- Devise method to recover REE from leach liquor: Ion exchange vs precipitation
- Investigate leach sensitivity to impurities
- Evaluate impurity removal methods