SBIR-STTR Award

It is proposed to utilize an innovative, proprietary process employing proprietary media materials integrated into a process combining traditional stationary sorption columns and chromatographic separation to isolate REEs, remove thorium and uranium, and produce secondary value-add products from mining waste products. Although these types of approaches have been tried individually in the past to separate REEs and thorium from various source solutions with limited success, the innovation of the proposed technology lies in the proper combination sequence of pre-treatment and post-treatment options including selective extraction and precipitation to produce a high quality, thorium free REO materials. This proposed approach utilizes previous knowledge on stationary sorption systems and chromatographic separation providing a sound technical base to limit risk, but also requires innovative approaches to develop and optimize the process system to meet REE separation challenges. Since the combination of alternative pretreatment techniques, stationary columns, chromatographic separation, and post-treatment processes has not been pursued to recover REEs from mining waste materials, the technology concept is innovative and disruptive to traditional solvent extraction systems. A key aspect of the project will be the optimization and refinement of selected operational parameters within chromatographic separation experiments to produce a high-quality REO product. Primary goals are to optimize chromatographic separation of REEs by adjusting operational parameters, 2) investigate and refine RE separation purity by identifying the best media and operational conditions using adsorption columns, and 3) produce an REO product that is >99.5% pure. Secondary goals include the production of high-quality phosphoric acid and gypsum that will be assayed to determine possible market pricing.

Research of chromatographic processing of REE source solutions during Phase I activities provided the foundation for processing REE source materials (acid digestion and caustic bake procedures) and REE separation into high-quality REO materials. The knowledge gained during Phase I will be used to design a larger pilot-scale system capable of processing 100-kg of REE source material per day. Planned activities include operating the pilot-plant for at least 6-months. Additional refinement and troubleshooting of the chromatography process will be completed using the smaller chromatography systems located within the Applicants lab. It is estimated that the work effort expended for in-laboratory work will be less-than that required for pilot operation. Although Phase I operations were successful, much more can be done to optimize the process to be more efficient and cost-effective. The overarching goal of this project is the successful scale-up of the technology to at minimum TRL 6 developed during Phase I. Also, a specific goal of having the pilot system repeatedly and efficiently produce upwards of 1.5-kg day of high-quality REOs with market defined specification of purity at >85% system efficiency is targeted. This requires not only the design, fabrication and commissioning of a large-scale pilot system, but also significant effort to determine and optimize operational parameters and procedures. To achieve these targets, a back-and-forth flow of technical/operational information will need to occur between the pilot system and experiments being completed in the laboratory. The proposed project focusses not only on REO production, but also separation into individual REO materials with a portion of project activities planned to explore this possibility. The ability to produce a mixed high-quality REO product and obtain individually separated REOs using chromatography has never been proven at larger scale. This project will validate the process and provide the foundational information necessary to scale the process to large-scale production.