Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from Various Ion-Adsorption Clay Materials

Systematic studies have been conducted at the University of Toronto in order to evaluate lanthanide extraction from clay minerals from different geographical regions. It was found that rare earth elements (REE) are easily recovered into an aqueous solution via an ion exchange mechanism by leaching with electrolyte solutions containing monovalent cations under ambient conditions. In this study we assessed extraction levels of individual REEs as a function of initial clay composition and leaching conditions. It was found that, in spite of variations in clay origin, all clays consistently reached peak REE extraction levels with fast kinetics. However, terminal extractions were clay-specific. The feasibility of using seawater as a leaching solution and potential synergies with ammonium sulphate as a lixiviant was also investigated. Seawater was found to be inferior to using ammonium sulphate, and provided no observable synergy in leaching performance when used together. The aqueous phase trapped in leached clays was shown to contain significant amounts of REE, as demonstrated in clay washing tests. Techniques to improve the REE concentration in leachate through process variations were investigated. However, it was found that most techniques capable of increasing REE concentrations in the resultant leachate also resulted in reduced REE extraction.