Europe s Rare Earth Deposits, Mineralogy and Beneficiation

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1 EURARE: Development of a sustainable exploitation scheme for Europe s REE ore deposits Europe s Rare Earth Deposits, Mineralogy and Beneficiation MINERALS IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY (MINCE) / Espoo Jason Yang (GTK), Damien Krebs (GME)

2 Contents The rare earth elements (REE), the most important critical raw material in EU The REE minerals Europe s REE resources The EURARE project Mineralogy and Beneficiation of European REE ores Acknowledgement 2 MINCE Espoo

3 Light Rare Earths Lanthanum (La) Cerium (Ce) Praseodymium (Pr) Neodymium (Nd) Samarium (Sm) Heavy Rare Earths (Less common and more valuable) Europium (Eu) Gadolinium (Gd) Terbium (Tb) Dysprosium (Dy) Holmium (Ho) Erbium (Er) Thulium (Tm) Ytterbium (Yb) Lutetium (Lu) Yttrium (Y) Notes: Yttrium is lighter than the light rare earths, but included in the heavy rare earth group because of its chemical and physical associations with heavy rare earths in natural deposits. 3 MINCE Espoo

4 REE, the most important critical raw material in EU 4 Raw materials Main producers (2010, 2011, 2012) Main sources of imports into the EU (2012) Substitutability index* HREE China 99 % Australia 1 % China 41 % (all REE) 0.77 China 87 % Russia 35 % (all REE) LREE USA 7 % USA 17 % (all REE) 0.67 Australia 3 % * a measure of the difficulty in substituting the material, between 0 and 1 ** the proportion of metal and metal products produced from end-of-life scrap End-of-life recycling input rate** MINCE Espoo % 0 %

5 The REE minerals More than 200 minerals known to contain essential or significant REE concentrations Usually, they are carbonates, phosphates, oxides and silicates Xenotime YPO4 5 MINCE Espoo

6 REE resources in Europe Kringlerne Norra Kärr Kvanefjeld 6 - Project Overview EURARE Kick off meeting Athens Feb 2013

7 Sarfartoq Qaqarssuk Kringlerne Kvanefjeld Motzfeldt Named deposits are subjects of active exploration with bold explorations in EURARE Sökli Kiruna Fen Norra Kärr Storkwitz Peramos Çanakli 7 MINCE Espoo

8 Kvanefjeld Deposit, Greenland One of the world s largest known REE deposit GME has invested over $60M over past 5 years in exploration and research JORC-code mineral resource at Kvanefjeld, 619Mt 1.06% TREO (17% in Heavy REE), 0.03% U 3 O 8 and 0.3% Zn Potential to supply 20% of global heavy rare earth element demand. Geological Setting: Peralkaline nepheline Major REE mineral: Steenstrupine Steenstrupine Na 14 Ce 6 Mn 2 Fe 2 (Zr,Th,U)(PO 4 ) 7 Si 12 O 36 (OH) 2.3H 2 O 8 MINCE Espoo

9 Norra Kärr Deposit, Sweden Unique HREE/LREE % ratio: 48/52 331Kt of TREO at 0.44% (48% in heavy REE) No radioactivity Major REE mineral: Eudialyte Na 4 (Ca,Ce) 2 (Fe,Mn,Y)ZrSi 8 O 22 (OH,Cl) 2 Eudialyte typically has a significant content of U, Pb, Nb,Ta (Tantalum), Zr, Hf (Hafnium), and REE. Potential to supply 14% of the projected world demand in Dy (Dysprosium) oxide, 7% in Tb (Terbium) oxide and 2.2% of Nd oxide, Exploitable Zr content Simply magnetic separation Geological Setting: Peralkaline nepheline Granted test mine permit plans to be in production by MINCE Espoo

10 Kringlerne Deposit, Greenland High HREE/LREE % ratio: 31/69 Large 0.68% TREO grade Similar to Norra Karr ore in mineralogy and HREE content Estimated TREO reserves close to Kvanefjeld No radiation issues Exploration license Geological Setting: Peralkaline nepheline Major REE mineral:eudialyte (33 wt%) in coarse grain size 10 MINCE Espoo

11 Fen Complex, Norway Søvite REO: 0,5% (in apatite) Th: 0,01% Calcite (65%): Ca CO3 Apatite (12%):Ca5(PO4)3(F,Cl,OH) Niobium 11 Rødberg REO: 1,5-2,0% Th: 0,1% Fe-oxides (76%): magnetite, hematite, goethite REE in carbonates Rauhaugite REO:1,2-1,8% Th: 0,01% Ankerite(72%):Ca(Fe,Mg,Mn)(CO3 )2 REE minerals: parisite, allnite, monazite Historical (1921) REE deposit 129 km from Oslo Complex REE minerals: synchysite, parisite, monazite, allanite, bastnäsite, ferrocolumbite, pyrochlore and apatite % REO (mostly LREE) Contains also Fe, Nb, Th Rodberg: over 300 Mt ore at1,5-2.0 % REO; up to 76% Fe-oxides Fine grain size and low liberation of REE minerals MINCE Espoo

12 The EURARE project Funding from the European Community s Seventh Framework Programme ([FP7/ ]), effect from 01/01/2013 to 31/12/ partners from 10 European countries the main goal of the EURARE project is to set the technological basis for the development of a European REE industry that will safeguard the uninterrupted supply of REE raw materials and products to crucial for the EU economy industrial sectors, such as automotive, electronics, machinery and chemicals, in a sustainable, economically viable and environmentally friendly way. 12 MINCE Espoo

13 Objectives I. Definition and assessment of the exploitable REE mineral resources and REE demand in Europe. II. Development of sustainable and efficient REE Ore Beneficiation Technologies III. Development of sustainable REE Extraction and Refining Technologies, extraction, separation and production IV. The development of a Strategy for safe REE mining and processing V. Field Demonstration of the novel EURARE REE exploitation technologies. VI. Identification of novel sustainable exploitation schema for Europe s REE deposits. 13 MINCE Espoo

14 Mineralogy and Beneficiation of European REE ores Supplied by mining companies XRD, MLA, EMPA Mineralogy, mineral grain size and association, REE deportment Flotation, magnetic, electro and gravity separation, chemical leach ect. Condition and flowsheet optimization Continuous flowsheet simulation by bench scale Contiinuous pilot testing 14

15 Mineralogy of European REE ores 15 Sample Kvanefjeld (Greenland) Norra Karr (Sweden) Kringlerne (Greenland) Fen RØDBERG Complex (Norway) Olserum (Sweden) Nea Peramos (Greece) Total REE (TREE) and ratio of heavy REE to light REE (HR/LR) TREE 0.81%, HR/LR 17%/83% TREE 0.44% HR/LR 48%/52% TREE 0.57% TREE 1.5%, HR/LR 4%/96% TREE 0.5%, HR/LR 36%/64% TREE 0.6 % HR/LR 4% /96% Mineralogical analysis 25 minerals are identified. The major rock minerals are arfvedsonite (31.68 Wt %), naujakasite (11.46 Wt %), albite (11.27 Wt %) and orthoclase (9.51 Wt %). The main REE mineral is steenstrupine (5.58 Wt %). The other minor REE minerals are monazite and vitusite. 23 minerals are identified. The major rock minerals are aegirine, K- feldspar, albite, analcime and nepheline. The main REE mineral is eudialyte (7.2%). 30 minerals are identified. Th major rock minerals are eudialyte (33.36 Wt %), nepheline (14.16 Wt %), arfvedsonite (13.54 Wt %), albite (12.57 Wt %) and sodalite (11.71 Wt %). Eudialyte is the main REE-carrier mineral. 31 minerals are identified. The major rock minerals are magnetite, hematite and goethite which are grouped as Fe-oxides (78.22 Wt %) and calcite (10.77 Wt %). The main REE minerals are synchysite (0.98 Wt %) and parisite (0.77 Wt %). The other minor REE minerals are monazite, allanite, bastnasite, ferrocolumbite and pyrochlore. 28 minerals are identified. The major rock minerals are quartz (47.89 Wt %), biotite (19.66 Wt %) and albite (11.90 Wt %). The main REE minerals are monazite (0.61 Wt %) and xenotime (0.31 Wt %). The other minor REE minerals are allanite and pyrochlore Τhe minerals consist of mainly of granite and granodiorite The mainly identified minerals by optical microscopy and SEM-EDS are : quartz, mica, epidote, alanite,magnetite, titanite, ilmenite, monazite, xenotime,zircon, apatite MINCE Espoo

16 Challenges of European ores in beneficiation Complex compositions (several different minerals carry the REE in the same ore) Oxides, phosphates, carbonates and silicates require different methods or flotation reagents Mineral association and fine grain size Fine grinding is required for liberation of REE minerals. Low efficiency of mineral processing for fine particles. 16 MINCE Espoo

17 Progress in beneficiation of European REE ores Kvanefjeld ore: multi-stage flotation Norra Kärr ore: WHIMS, flotation Olserum ore: WLIMS, flotation Kringlerne ore: DHIMS FEN Rodberg ore: WHIMS, flotation, smelting and chemical leach Nea Peramos ore: Gravity, mag and electro separation 17 MINCE Espoo

18 Aknowledgement EURARE coordination and Prof. Ioannis Paspaliaris are acknowledged for permission for dissemination of EURARE project information "The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community s Seventh Framework Programme ([FP7/ ]) under grant agreement n This publication reflects only the author s view, exempting the Community from any liability. Project web site: 18 MINCE Espoo

19 THANK YOU