Rare Earth Extraction from Industrial Wastes and Ores
This community focuses on the chemical separation and recovery of rare earth elements from industrial by-products like red mud and coal fly ash, as well as primary ores, to supply materials for permanent magnets and other applications.
The work centers on hydrometallurgical processes, specifically acid leaching, solvent extraction, and adsorption techniques used to isolate rare earths from complex matrices. Key feedstocks include bauxite residue (red mud), coal fly ash, and ion-adsorption type ores. The research addresses the selective separation of specific elements such as lanthanum and neodymium, often utilizing ionic liquids or aqueous solutions to improve efficiency. A significant portion of the literature deals with the recovery of rare earths from secondary resources, including spent NdFeB magnets and mine tailings, alongside the development of cleaner production methods for permanent magnets.
The largest share of this community's output is found in scandium research, representing 8.6% of all scandium studies, followed by neodymium at 8.0% and lanthanum at 4.5%. Neodymium also contributes the highest absolute number of papers within this group, with 1,846 entries.
The community comprises 26,868 papers, publishing most frequently in Hydrometallurgy, Separation and Purification Technology, and Analytica Chimica Acta.
Recent work continues to focus on the recovery of rare earths from phosphogypsum and wastewater, as well as the utilization of red mud in cementitious materials and geopolymers for construction applications.