Enhancing mineral liberation of rare earth minerals by using high voltage electrical pulses and improved classification - Ashram Deposit

道场矿床是世界上最大的稀土元素(REE)和萤石之一。该矿藏位于魁北克省努纳维克地区的Eldor矿区，由Commerce Resources Corp.开发，由于其在永磁体(风能)和充电电池等各种先进技术中的主要作用，全球稀土需求不断增长。稀土元素并不像它们的名字所暗示的那样稀有。然而，它们在矿石中的浓度很低，使得它们很难提取，开采起来也不经济。为了经济起见，稀土加工包括选矿步骤，以生产高品位精矿，通常高达REO(稀土氧化物)的40%。选矿效率取决于粉碎过程中稀土矿物的释放程度。道场矿藏材料的特点是具有非常细的解离尺寸，通常为15-20微米，因此需要精细研磨以增强解离。然而，细磨的结果是能耗高，运行成本高。此外，细磨会产生超细颗粒，这会降低后续步骤的效率，通常是浮选过程。因此，本项目的主要目标是评估高压电脉冲(HVEP)技术的矿物释放效率和湿法筛分对防止超细粉的影响，以便能够从道场矿床原料中生产高品位稀土精矿。

The Ashram Deposit is one of the largest rare earth elements (REEs) and fluorspar in the world. The deposit located at the Eldor property in the Nunavik Region of the province of Québec, is developed by Commerce Resources Corp. Because of their major role in various advanced technologies like permanent magnets (wind energy) and rechargeable batteries, REEs global demand is constantly increasing. REEs are not as rare as their name implies. However, their very low concentration in the ore makes them difficult to extract and not economical to mine. To be economic, rare earth processing involves beneficiation step to produce high-grade concentrate, typically up to 40 percent of REO (Rare Earth Oxide). The efficiency of beneficiation depends on the degree of liberation of RE minerals during the comminution process. The Ashram Deposit material is characterized by a very fine liberation size, typically 15-20 µm, thus requiring fine grinding to enhance liberation. However, fine grinding results on high energy consumption and operating cost. In addition, fine grinding generates ultra-fine particles which reduce the efficiency of the subsequent step, typically a flotation process. Therefore, the main objective of the present project is to evaluate the mineral liberation efficiency of the high voltage electrical pulse (HVEP) technology and the impact of wet screening on preventing ultra-fines, in order to enable the production of high grade REEs concentrate from Ashram Deposit material.