U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Scientific and Technical Information
Rare-earth occurrences in the Pea Ridge tailings
Abstract
Tailings from the Pea Ridge iron mine contain significant amounts of apatite, which has rare-earth element values associated with it. In association with the recovery of rare-earth minerals as a secondary resource, the US Bureau of Mines conducted an investigation on the recoverability of the rare-earth minerals from the tailings. The mill tailings were subjected to a phosphate flotation to separate the apatite from other constituents. More than 70-pct recovery of the rare-earth values was achieved. Based on mineralogical characterization and prior analysis of rare-earth-bearing breccia pipe material at Pea Ridge, it is proposed that processing this phosphate concentrate on a vanner table would yield up to a 95-pct recovery of the rare earths in the concentrate, with the apatite reporting to the tailings. Intensive ore microscopy studies of the original tailings to the flotation products led to the identification of monazite, xenotime, and rare-earth-enriched apatite as the major rare-earth-bearing minerals in the tailings.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- OSTI Identifier:
- 6120964
- Resource Type:
- Book
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES; MILL TAILINGS; FLOTATION; MATERIALS RECOVERY; RARE EARTHS; APATITES; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION; ELEMENT ABUNDANCE; GEOCHEMISTRY; IRON ORES; ORE PROCESSING; US BUREAU OF MINES; ABUNDANCE; CHEMISTRY; ELEMENTS; MANAGEMENT; METALS; MINERALS; NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS; ORES; PHOSPHATE MINERALS; PROCESSING; SEPARATION PROCESSES; SOLID WASTES; TAILINGS; US DOI; US ORGANIZATIONS; WASTE MANAGEMENT; WASTE PROCESSING; WASTES; 580000* - Geosciences
Citation Formats
Vierrether, C W, and Cornell, W I. Rare-earth occurrences in the Pea Ridge tailings. United States: N. p., 1993.
Web.
Vierrether, C W, & Cornell, W I. Rare-earth occurrences in the Pea Ridge tailings. United States.
Vierrether, C W, and Cornell, W I. 1993.
"Rare-earth occurrences in the Pea Ridge tailings". United States.
@article{osti_6120964,
title = {Rare-earth occurrences in the Pea Ridge tailings},
author = {Vierrether, C W and Cornell, W I},
abstractNote = {Tailings from the Pea Ridge iron mine contain significant amounts of apatite, which has rare-earth element values associated with it. In association with the recovery of rare-earth minerals as a secondary resource, the US Bureau of Mines conducted an investigation on the recoverability of the rare-earth minerals from the tailings. The mill tailings were subjected to a phosphate flotation to separate the apatite from other constituents. More than 70-pct recovery of the rare-earth values was achieved. Based on mineralogical characterization and prior analysis of rare-earth-bearing breccia pipe material at Pea Ridge, it is proposed that processing this phosphate concentrate on a vanner table would yield up to a 95-pct recovery of the rare earths in the concentrate, with the apatite reporting to the tailings. Intensive ore microscopy studies of the original tailings to the flotation products led to the identification of monazite, xenotime, and rare-earth-enriched apatite as the major rare-earth-bearing minerals in the tailings.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6120964},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1993},
month = {Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1993}
}