2017-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2017 Volume 1. Barrios Intl. Symp. / Non-ferrous Smelting & Hydro/Electrochemical Processing

Editors:Kongoli F, Palacios M, Buenger T, Meza JH, Delgado E, Joudrie MC, Gonzales T, Treand N
Publisher:Flogen Star OUTREACH
Publication Year:2017
Pages:264 pages
ISBN:978-1-987820-61-4
ISSN:2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series)
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    Recovery of Rare Earth Elements by Co-precipitation with Iron, Aluminum and Manganese (Hydr)oxides from Acid Mine Drainage

    Mateus Lanna Borges de Moraes1; ana flavia marinho saraiva2; Ana Claudia Ladeira2;
    1COMISSION NACIONAL DE ENERGIA NUCLEAR, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; 2CENTRO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DA TECNOLOGIA NUCLEAR, Belo Horizonte, Brazil;
    Type of Paper: Regular
    Id Paper: 302
    Topic: 6

    Abstract:

    In the actual global chain of high-tech products, such as smartphones or communication satellites, specific wavelength lasers, catalyzers, etc., rare earth elements (REE) are important raw materials. In 2015, the global estimated production was 124 kt, and China alone produced 105 kt. Although the production and demand for REE are well established, there is a worldwide effort to find new resources and technologies due to the high demand foreseen for these elements in the near future. Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) can be a secondary resource of REE, since it is a natural and continuous leaching process of rocks or waste piles. For example, in The Osamu Utsumi mine (Minas Gerais-Brazil) the AMD waters contain around 130 mg L-1 of total REE - the light ones being the majority. Considering a flow rate of 150 to 300 m3 h-1, it is expected to recover up to 468 to 936 kg of REE per day, what is quite considerable. In AMD waters, iron and manganese (hydr)oxides are ubiquitous minerals and their importance on the retention and transportation of U, REE and other metals is well known. Previous studies showed that some REE can be immobilized by iron (hydr)oxides in acid solutions, with posterior selective extraction. This study aims at concentrating the REE present in AMD waters by co-precipitating it with synthetic Fe, Al and Mn (hydr)oxides. AMD was simulated using a laboratory solution with pH = 2.6, sulfate content of 2 g L-1 and total REE content of ~130 mg L-1. Different amounts of FeCl3, Al2(SO4)3 and MnSO4 0.5 mol L-1 were added to the laboratory solution in order to reach distinct Fe:Al:Mn:REE molar ratios. The pH was adjusted to 6±0.3 using KOH 2 mol L-1. Results showed that for some experimental conditions, the effectiveness of the removal of REE were above than 90 %. It was obtained an amorphous solid phase with ~17% of REE oxides using a molar ratio of 16:0:4:1, with 98% of removal effectiveness. Further studies will focus on the increase of REE content in the solid phase, followed by the leaching of these elements with acid and saline solutions, aiming to obtain a REE concentrate.

    Keywords:

    Environment; Hydrometallurgy; RareEarth; Recovery; Yttrium;

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    Moraes M, marinho saraiva a, Ladeira A. (2017). Recovery of Rare Earth Elements by Co-precipitation with Iron, Aluminum and Manganese (Hydr)oxides from Acid Mine Drainage. In Kongoli F, Palacios M, Buenger T, Meza JH, Delgado E, Joudrie MC, Gonzales T, Treand N (Eds.), Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit SIPS 2017 Volume 1. Barrios Intl. Symp. / Non-ferrous Smelting & Hydro/Electrochemical Processing (pp. 208-220). Montreal, Canada: FLOGEN Star Outreach