About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Fundamentals of Sustainable Metallurgy and Materials Science
|
| Presentation Title |
Goethite-rich rare earth tailings reprocessing by hydrogen plasma smelting reduction |
| Author(s) |
Deddy C. Nababan, Mark I. Pownceby, Warren J. Bruckard, Baihaqi Hakim, Zulfiadi Zulhan |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Deddy C. Nababan |
| Abstract Scope |
The demand for rare earth elements (REE) is increasing because of their important role in advanced technologies. With a decrease in the availability of high-quality REE ores, recent studies have turned towards recycling secondary sources of REEs like urban wastes and mine tailings. The current work investigated hydrogen plasma smelting reduction (HPSR) to recycle goethite-rich mine tailings containing ~8.4% REOT.
During the HPSR process, the REE’s were concentrated in a silica-rich slag containing ~38.3 wt.% REOT while simultaneously metallizing the iron. This method produced a metallic iron product with a dual-phase structure characterised by high phosphorus levels and numerous Mn-S inclusions. The quantity of Mn-S inclusions in the metal decreased as the smelting time increased.
Results provide important insights into the potential recovery of valuable metals from goethite-rich tailings using a hydrogen plasma-based technique. A discussion of the potential processes for reclaiming REEs from the slag is provided. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Pyrometallurgy, Recycling and Secondary Recovery, Extraction and Processing |