1. A Review on the Beneficiation of Bastnaesite
Mr. Dylan Everly and Dr. Corby Anderson
Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy, The George S. Ansell Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden CO
Abstract
Mineralogical Studies
Collectors
Bastnaesite is an important mineral because of its abundance and rare earth content. Calcite and barite are the most common gangue minerals associated with bastnaesite. The importance of finding a suitable collector that can be selective against the gangue minerals without heat treatment is critical to the advancement of the beneficiation of bastnaesite. This review will present previous research that has been done on bastnaesite flotation and a comparison of collectors used.
Hydroxamic acids, Fatty acids, Phosphoric acids
Chelation improves selectivity
Figure 5: Chelation reaction with hydroxamic acid.
Literature Review
Author
Test
IEP
pH of Max recovery/ adsorption
Collector
Depressant
Frother
Max Recovery
Jordens
Microflotation Zeta Potential
6.3
8.1
9.0
Benzohydroxamic acid
Phosphoric Acid Sodium Oleate
Sodium Silicate
MIBC
F150 95
Pradip Furstenau
Bench scale
Adsorption
9.5
K-Octyl Hydroxamate
Fatty Acid (Sodium Oleate)
Lignin Sulfonate NA
Ren
Bench Scale Zeta Potential
7.8
5.0
Benzoic Acid
Potassium Alum 93
Pavez
Microflotation
4.9
8.0
5.9
Modified Hydroxamic Acid
Sodium Sulfide
~93
Anderson
8.2
5.2
10.4
Hydroxamate
~96
Figure 1: MLA of Bastnaesite ore +100 mesh/ no grinding
Figure 2: MLA of Bastnaesite -200x+400 mesh/ 60 minute grinding
Fundamental Studies
Electric Double Layer – Evaluate the electrical nature of the mineral surface.
Potential Determining Ions (PDI) – Carbonate
Point of Zero Charge (PZC) –
Zeta Potential – Potential at the plane of shear in the electric double layer.
Activity of PDI
Iso Electric Point (IEP) – (mineral), 6.0 (ore)
Type of collector – anionic or cationic
Adsorption Density
Physical adsorption
Chemical adsorption
Temperature dependence
pH dependence
Microflotation
Bench Flotation
Background
Rare earth elements have been receiving a considerate amount of attention over the last few decades because of their increasing use and importance in today’s industry.
Bastnaesite is a fluorocarbonate and is one of the most abundant minerals that contains rare earth elements. The major rare earth elements composing bastnaesite are cerium, lanthanum, and praseodymium, but this may differentiate between ore bodies.
The major reserves of Bastnaesite are located in China, United States, and Brazil.
Applications for the rare earth elements are: catalysts, glass coloring, phosphors, magnets, and polishing agents.
Conclusion
A literature review was done on the beneficiation of bastnaesite along with a mineral liberation analysis on the bastnaesite ore obtained from the Mountain Pass mine. Using results from microflotation studies, 3 collectors were downselected from 17 possible candidates based on recovery and grade of desired and undesired minerals. The fundamental studies on the selected collectors are currently being done so there are limited results presented in this poster.
Figure 3: Partridge Smith microflotation cell
Objectives
Microflotation Results
References
The first objective is to present a mineralogical analysis study of bastnaesite ore.
The aim of poster is to discuss current research for this project and what has been done in literature for the flotation of bastnaesite.
The goal of future work is to evaluate and optimize conditions for the top performing flotation collectors using bench flotation to achieve high selectivity for the beneficiation of bastnaesite and to improve recovery and economics of mining.
Gupta, C.K. and Krishnamurthy, Extractive Metallurgy of Rare Earths. CRC Press, 2005.
Anderson, C.D. “Improved Understanding of Rare Earth Surface Chemistry and Its Application to Froth Flotation,” Doctoral Thesis, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 2015
Pradip, “the Surface Properties and Flotation of Rare-Earth Minerals,” Doctoral Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 1981.
Pradip and D. W. Fuerstenau, “Design and Development of Novel Flotation Reagents for the Beneficiation of Mountain Pass Rare-Earth Ore,” Minerals & Metallurgical Processing, Feb
A. Jordens, Y. P. Cheng, and K. E. Waters, “A review of the beneficiation of rare earth element bearing minerals,” Minerals Engineering, vol. 41, pp. 97–114, Feb
Acknowledgements
This research is supported by the Critical Materials Institute, an Energy Innovation Hub funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office.
Figure 4: Microflotation Results from 17 collectors depicting the effects the top three collectors have on grade, recovery, desired minerals, and gangue minerals.