Wang Weiwei, Peng Zhangkuang, Guo Chunlei, Li Qiang, Liu Yanjiang, Hou Shaochun, Jin Hailong
State Key Laboratory of Bayan Obo Rare Earth Resource Researches and Comprehensive Utilization, Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earths, Baotou, 014030, Inner Mongolia, China.
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
Heliyon. 2023 Feb 26;9(3):e14060. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14060. eCollection 2023 Mar.
The aim of this study was to characterize the riebeckite type rare earth ore found in the Bayan Obo deposit, in order to identify the distribution and occurrence of both rare earths and gangue species within the ore. Several analytical techniques were utilized to accomplish this, such as chemical analysis, quantitative XRD, a single polarizing microscope, and a mineral automatic analysis system. The analysis revealed that the primary rare earth minerals (REMs) in the ore were bastnaesite and monazite, with huanghoite, parisite, aeschynite, and fergusonite identified as secondary rare earth minerals. The main gangue species was magnetite, accompanied by smaller quantities of riebeckite and dolomite. The ore was rich in rare earth oxides, with a 3.81 wt% grade. The screen analysis of the pulverized ore indicates that the 43-100 μm fraction is the dominant size, while the finer size fractions below 43 μm contain the bastnaesite and monazite, as well as huanghoite, parisite, aeschynite, and fergusonite. Microstructural characterization showed that the REMs were both coarse-grained and fine-grained, occurring as granular aggregates and fine disseminations within the gangue. Bastnaesite and monazite were the major REMs, with dominant amounts of cerium, lanthanum, praseodymium, and neodymium, while parasite was identified as an impurity. Huanghoite and parisite contained barium and calcium as impurities, respectively. Aeschynite and fergusonite were REMs that included niobium in their composition. Bastnaesite and monazite were found to contain a much higher rare earth content than huanghoite, parisite, aeschynite, and fergusonite. Potential methods for recovering rare earths from this ore, such as magnetic separation and froth flotation, have been identified and may be applicable to similar ferruginous rare earth-bearing ores.
本研究的目的是对白云鄂博矿床中发现的钠闪石型稀土矿石进行表征，以确定矿石中稀土和脉石矿物的分布及赋存状态。为此采用了多种分析技术，如化学分析、定量XRD、单偏光显微镜和矿物自动分析系统。分析结果表明，矿石中的主要稀土矿物（REMs）为氟碳铈矿和独居石，而黄河矿、氟碳钙铈矿、易解石和褐钇铌矿被确定为次要稀土矿物。主要脉石矿物为磁铁矿，伴有少量钠闪石和白云石。该矿石稀土氧化物含量丰富，品位为3.81 wt%。对粉碎后的矿石进行筛分分析表明，43 - 100μm粒级占主导，而小于43μm的较细粒级含有氟碳铈矿、独居石以及黄河矿、氟碳钙铈矿、易解石和褐钇铌矿。微观结构表征显示，稀土矿物既有粗粒的也有细粒的，以粒状集合体形式存在，并在脉石中呈细分散状分布。氟碳铈矿和独居石是主要的稀土矿物，主要含有铈、镧、镨和钕，而氟碳钙铈矿被确定为杂质。黄河矿和氟碳钙铈矿分别含有钡和钙作为杂质。易解石和褐钇铌矿是成分中含有铌的稀土矿物。发现氟碳铈矿和独居石的稀土含量比黄河矿、氟碳钙铈矿、易解石和褐钇铌矿高得多。已确定从该矿石中回收稀土的潜在方法，如磁选和泡沫浮选，可能适用于类似的含铁稀土矿石。
