Physico-Chemical Processes Investigating in the Production of Mischmetal (Cerium, Lanthanum and Neodymium) from the Tailings of CHOGHART Iron Ore Processing Plant With an Emphasis on the of Iron Impurities

Samiee Bayragh, Abdullah; Meshkini, Mohammad

Physico-Chemical Processes Investigating in the Production of Mischmetal (Cerium, Lanthanum and Neodymium) from the Tailings of CHOGHART Iron Ore Processing Plant With an Emphasis on the of Iron Impurities

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Abdullah Samiee Bayragh

Mohammad Meshkini

Faculty of the Mineral Processing Research Institute, Academic Center for Education, Culture&Research (ACECR) on TMU, Tehran. I.R. IRAN

Abstract

The tailings of CHAGHARAT iron ore processing plant have significant amounts of rare earth elements. These elements exist in the apatite mineral in the form of substitution. In this research, the production of Mischmetal (cerium, lanthanum and neodymium) from the tailings of CHOGHARAT - YAZD iron processing plant is investigated. Based on the chemical analysis, the total concentration of the three elements Nd, La and Ce was found to be around 1116 ppm. Pre-processing tests such as pyrometallurgical, magnetic, gravity and flotation methods (mechanical and column) were performed on the initial sample. The concentrate obtained from the experiment with slime shaking table and column flotation of table shaking tailings with suitable efficiency in terms of grade (ppm 2678) and recovery (73%) were selected for the production of Mischmetal. Sulfuric acid digestion was performed on the concentrate obtained from the pre-processing steps, and by leaching it with distilled water, the rare earth elements entered the solution phase.. The primary interfering iron in the solution was first removed by the hydroxide precipitation method with 86% removal from 2277 ppm to 367 ppm, and the rest of the iron was successfully removed from the solution by solvent extraction. Finally, the rare earth elements were precipitated from the solution. The sediment formed is Mischmetal with a grade of 58.9% (light rare earth elements Nd, La and Ce).

Keywords

Rare earth elements

Tailing

Iron removal

Precipitation

Solvent extraction

Mischmetal

Subjects

Mineral Processing & Ore Dressing

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