| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2023 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Rare Metal Extraction & Processing
|
| Presentation Title |
Separation of Rare Earth Elements from Monazite via Sulfidation |
| Author(s) |
Caspar Stinn, Zachary Kenneth Adams, Vasu Kaker, Antoine Allanore |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Caspar Stinn |
| Abstract Scope |
Rare earth elements are critical for sustainability applications; yet their extraction, separation, and smelting remain environmentally and economically tedious. Conventional rare earth processing consists of a sequence of physical beneficiation, hydrometallurgical, and metallothermic or electrolytic processes to produce pure metals and alloys. Environmental impacts are concentrated in impurities management and material separation. Recently, sulfide-based separation chemistries have been shown to offer higher separation effectiveness than legacy hydrometallurgical methods at a fraction of the cost and energy usage. However, previous experimental studies have only employed synthetic feedstocks of mixed rare earth oxides or FeNdB magnets. Herein, we conduct rare earth element separation from monazite mineral using sulfidation. We explore the use of iron and alkaline earth compounds as separation additives to enable single stage separation of light and heavy rare earth elements and sequestration of normally occurring radioactive materials. We then explore vacuum thermal treatments for carbon-free rare earth alloy production. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Extraction and Processing, Pyrometallurgy, Other |