Geochemical controls on the release of rare earth elements from nechalacho tailings

女王大学和阿瓦隆稀有金属有限公司的专家将联合调查稀土元素（REE）是否从细磨尾矿中释放到地表水中，这些尾矿将来自西北地区耶洛奈夫附近的一个拟议中的新矿山。将进行实地和室内试验，以确定水化学的季节变化对稀土元素迁移率的影响。超滤、同步加速器分析和形态建模将用于区分含有REE的细胶体颗粒、REE的水络合物和REE的简单溶解离子形式。只有后者被认为是水生生物可利用的。该研究项目将包括1名硕士学生、1名理学士和1名PDF学生，他们将与设计浮选厂和尾矿管理设施的阿瓦隆员工及其顾问密切互动。这项研究对加拿大的好处是，它将填补一个关键的信息空白，这与我们参与快速兴起的稀土开采经济部门的能力有关，同时保持对北方水生生态系统的环境保护。阿瓦隆的好处包括改进了控制和关闭计划，并消除了稀土元素对细尾矿的损失。

Expertise from Queen's University and Avalon Rare Metal Ltd. will be combined to investigate whether rare earth elements (REE) are released to surface water from the finely ground tailings to be produced from a proposed new mine near Yellowknife, NWT. Field and laboratory experiments will be conducted to determine the influence of seasonal changes in water chemistry on REE mobility. Ultrafiltration, synchrotron analysis and speciation modeling will be used distinguish between fine colloidal particles that contain REE, aqueous complexes with REE, and simple dissolved ionic forms of REE. Only the latter is considered bioavailable to aquatic life. The research program will involve 1 MSc student, 1 BSc and 1 PDF who will interact closely with Avalon staff and their consultants who are designing the flotation plant and the tailings management facility. The benefits to Canada of this research are that it will fill a critical information gap relevant to our ability to participate in the rapidly emerging economic sector of REE extraction while maintaining environmental protection of Northern aquatic ecosystems. The benefits to Avalon include improved control and closure plans, and eliminating loss of REE to fine tailings.