REALIZING CANADA'S RARE EARTH ELEMENTS RESOURCE POTENTIAL: RD PERSPECTIVE

摘要

Rare earth elements (REE) are resources of strategic importance to Canada. However this emerging REE industry requires new and complex metallurgical research to be able to effectively and environmentally develop Canadian REE deposits. Due to the critical nature of these metals and the need for metallurgical research and development (R&D) across this emerging industry there is a strong national role. To address this need CanmetMINING is undertaking research to advance technological innovation for Canadian REE projects. Following a gaps analysis, several research projects were initiated including mineralogical characterization of Canadian rare earth ores, physical separation techniques to produce high grade REE concentrates, evaluation of leaching and separation processes for REE ores, and investigation of the chemistry and toxicity of REE leachates. The paper discusses these research gaps and recent advances in these areas, as well as additional work being undertaken in the area of certified reference materials and regulatory requirements for radioactive residuals.