Rare earth element compositions obtained from particulate material comprising kaolinite and methods for obtaining rare earth element compositions from particulate material comprising kaolinite

• Main Authors: PRUETT ROBERT J, DAVIS JONDAHL
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 22.04.2015
• Subjects: CHEMISTRY; COMPOUNDS OF THE METALS BERYLLIUM, MAGNESIUM, ALUMINIUM,CALCIUM, STRONTIUM, BARIUM, RADIUM, THORIUM, OR OF THERARE-EARTH METALS; DIFFERENTIAL SEDIMENTATION; FLOTATION; INORGANIC CHEMISTRY; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLIDMATERIALS OR FLUIDS; METALLURGY; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS; SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATICTABLES OR JIGS; TRANSPORTING

A method for obtaining rare earth element compositions is disclosed. The method includes providing a dispersed aqueous suspension of a particulate material including at least one rare earth element compound and kaolinite. The method further includes adding to the suspension a selective flocculation polymer that facilitates separation of at least a portion of the at least one rare earth element compound from the kaolinite by flocculating the kaolinite and allowing particles of the rare earth element compound to be or remain deflocculated. The method also includes allowing the suspension containing the polymer to separate in a selective flocculation separator into layers including a flocculated product layer and a deflocculated layer containing the portion of the at least one rare earth element compound. The method further includes extracting each of the separated layers from the separator. The rare earth element compound may include La2O3, CeO2, Nd2O3, or Y2O3.