Beneficiation of the Nechalacho rare earth deposit. Part 1: Gravity and magnetic separation

摘要

The beneficiation of rare earth element (REE) minerals may include many different beneficiation unit operations, but the final process choice typically depends on the inherent mineral characteristics. The Nechalacho REE deposit contains multiple low specific gravity, diamagnetic silicate gangue minerals (predominantly feldspars and quartz) and high specific gravity, iron oxide minerals (magnetite and hematite). The valuable REE minerals (REM) in the deposit consist of a variety of relatively high specific gravity, paramagnetic minerals. A process has been proposed to concentrate the value REM through a combination of gravity (rejecting silicate gangue) and magnetic (rejecting iron oxide gangue) separation steps prior to froth flotation.