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Recovery of Rare Earth Elements and Yttrium from Passive-Remediation Systems of Acid Mine Drainage
journal contribution
posted on 2016-06-28, 00:00 authored by Carlos Ayora, Francisco Macías, Ester Torres, Alba Lozano, Sergio Carrero, José-Miguel Nieto, Rafael Pérez-López, Alejandro Fernández-Martínez, Hiram Castillo-MichelRare
earth elements and yttrium (REY) are raw materials of increasing
importance for modern technologies, and finding new sources has become
a pressing need. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is commonly considered an
environmental pollution issue. However, REY concentrations in AMD
can be several orders of magnitude higher than in naturally occurring
water bodies. With respect to shale standards, the REY distribution
pattern in AMD is enriched in intermediate and valuable REY, such
as Tb and Dy. The objective of the present work is to study the behavior
of REY in AMD passive-remediation systems. Traditional AMD passive
remediation systems are based on the reaction of AMD with calcite-based
permeable substrates followed by decantation ponds. Experiments with
two columns simulating AMD treatment demonstrate that schwertmannite
does not accumulate REY, which, instead, are retained in the basaluminite
residue. The same observation is made in two field-scale treatments
from the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB, southwest Spain). On the basis
of the amplitude of this process and on the extent of the IPB, our
findings suggest that the proposed AMD remediation process can represent
a modest but suitable REY source. In this sense, the IPB could function
as a giant heap-leaching process of regional scale in which rain and
oxygen act as natural driving forces with no energy investment. In
addition to having environmental benefits of its treatment, AMD is
expected to last for hundreds of years, and therefore, the total reserves
are practically unlimited.
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Rare Earth Elementscolumns simulating AMD treatmentwater bodiesenergy investmentIPBREY distribution patternoxygen actdecantation pondsAcid Mine Drainagepollution issueearth elementsREY sourceremediation systemsAMD remediation processIberian Pyrite BeltREY concentrationsAcid mine drainageTraditional AMDbasaluminite residueshale standards
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