Bottlenecks in REE refining

[yelda]

Hi Rare Earth Exchanges community,

First of all, I'm not sure if this is the right section for my post - sorry if not.
I've been following your work and discussions here the past months and I'm very happy to have found "my people" who are as interested in REE.
I would be very happy to connect with each of you.

I'm working on the development of a biosorption system for selective recovery of REE.
Currently, I'm assessing the bottlenecks in REE refining and would like to better understand which value our system could/should bring.
We have been speaking with various metallurgists but would appreciate exchanges with technical experts currently working in REE refining. If you know anyone or you would like to speak with us, please feel free to reach out here or let me know below.

 

[John]

Hi @yelda

The major issue is taking the carbonate/concentrate to an oxide and dealing with the radioactive waste stream. This is oversimplified. But if you can 'fix' that..then that would make the capex required much less and also the opex.

Happy to discuss further. You can reach me at john@rareearthexchanges.com.