Development of a process for recovery of rare earth elements from bastnasite and monazite minerals

作为具有银色的金属的稀土元素（RE）是元素周期表中原子序数为57至71的十五种镧系元素以及原子序数分别为21和39的钇和钪。这些元素是许多先进和高科技产品的基本成分，例如，在电子，石油和清洁能源行业。人类在文明社会的生活毫无疑问是没有意义的，如果没有获得现代和先进的产品，需要稀土。稀土的需求预计将以每年9%至15%的速度增长，直到2015年。中国拥有全球约36%的稀土储量，但95%以上的稀土元素是中国生产的。换句话说，世界其他地区对稀土元素的回收还不了解。另一方面，中国出台了限制稀土出口的新政策。这种需求增加和供应短缺的趋势导致自2010年以来稀土价格大幅上涨。因此，特别是发达国家已经认识到，应该减少对中国进口的依赖。然而，从相应的矿石中回收稀土元素具有明显的挑战性，这是由于稀土矿物的特殊性质以及稀土元素之间在物理和化学性质方面的相似性。加拿大是一个具有巨大潜力的国家，因为其丰富的稀土储量，成为世界稀土生产的领导者。本项目是关于开发一种从世界上最丰富的稀土矿物氟碳铈矿和独居石中回收稀土的新工艺。研究团队包括来自蒙特利尔理工学院、麦吉尔大学和拉瓦尔大学的教授以及IAMGOLD公司的两位专家。提出的工艺流程包括精矿物理提纯、精矿热裂解获得高品位稀土氧化物和稀土元素的单独分离。

The rare earth elements (REEs) which are metals with silvery colors are fifteen lanthanide elements in the periodic table with atomic numbers of 57 to 71 as well as yttrium and scandium with atomic numbers of 21 and 39, respectively. These elements are essential ingredients in many advanced and high tech products, for example, in electronics, petroleum and clean energy industries. Human's life in civilized societies is undoubtedly meaningless without having access to modern and advanced products which require REEs.Demand for REEs is expected to expand by 9% to 15% per year until 2015. China holds about 36% of global REEs' reserve, but it produces over 95% of these elements. In other words, recovery of REEs has been not known in the rest of the world. On the other hand, China has made new policies to restrict exports of REEs to outside. This trend of increase in demand and shortage in supply has caused dramatic increase in REEs price since 2010. Therefore, it has been understood by, especially, developed countries that this reliance on Chinese imports should be declined. However, recovery of rare earth elements from the corresponding ores is noticeably challenging due to special characteristics of the REE bearing minerals and similarity between rare earth elements in terms of physical and chemical properties. Canada is a country with huge potential to be a world leader in REEs production because of its significant REE deposits. This proposal is about development of a new process for recovery of REEs from bastanasite and monazite minerals which are the most abundant REE bearing minerals in the world. The research team includes professors from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, McGill University and Laval University as well as two specialists from IAMGOLD Corporation. The proposed process includes physical beneficiation for concentrate production, concentrate thermal cracking to gain high grade rare earth oxides and individual separation of the rare earth elements.