Rare Earth Element Recovery from Acidic Extracts of Florida Phosphate Mining Materials Using Chelating Polymer 1-Octadecene, Polymer with 2,5-Furandione, Sodium Salt

To meet the growing global demand for rare earth elements (REEs), nontraditional mining sources of these metals are being investigated. Phosphate ore and phosphate mining wastes have been identified as possible alternative sources to REEs. In this study, REEs were extracted from Florida phosphate mining materials using mineral and organic acids. The REEs were then recovered at high efficiencies using a chelating polymer, 1-octadecene, polymer with 2,5-furandione, sodium salt. At pH 1.5, the chelation polymer effectively bound nearly 100% of the rare earth elements extracted from the solids. Overall extraction and recovery yields were between 80% for gadolinium and 8% for praseodymium from amine tailings, between 70% for terbium and 7% for praseodymium from phosphogypsum, between 56% for scandium and 15% for praseodymium from phosphate rock, and between 77% for samarium and 31% for praseodymium from waste clay. These results suggest that this chelating polymer efficiently recovers rare earth elements from acidic extracts of phosphate mining waste products.