From magma reservoir to regolith: controls on the distribution of ion adsorption rare earth element ores

摘要

High field strength magnets and rechargeable batteries, which are extensively used in low carbon technologies, require a secure and sustainable supply of the rare earth elements (REE), particularly Nd, Dy and Pr (Goode-nough, et al. 2016). Ion adsorption deposits are the main source of heavy REE (REE: Gd-Lu), which include Dy, to global markets (European Commission 2017). Although low grade, these regolith-hosted REE deposits host over 50% of their REE in an ion exchangeable form (Sanematsu and Watanabe 2016), and so the REE can be liberated using in-situ or heap leaching techniques with weak electrolyte solutions (Moldoveanu and Papangelakis 2012).