PROCESSES FOR RECOVERING RARE EARTH ELEMENTS FROM VARIOUS ORES
First Claim
1. A process for recovering at least one rare earth element and/or at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from at least one material, said process comprising:
- leaching said at least one material with HCl so as to obtain a leachate comprising a first metal ion, a second metal ion, said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga, and a solid, and separating said leachate from said solid;
substantially selectively removing said first metal ion from said leachate, thereby obtaining a composition comprising said second metal ion and said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga;
substantially selectively at least partially removing said second metal ion from said composition, thereby obtaining a liquor comprising said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga; and
substantially selectively removing said at least one rare earth element and/or at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from said liquor, wherein said liquor comprises GaCl3 and is reacted with a first extracting agent in order to substantially selectively extract GaCl3 therefrom, thereby obtaining a Ga-free solution and an extracted gallium solution, and separating said solutions from one another.
13 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to processes for recovering rare earth elements from various materials. The processes can comprise leaching the at least one material with at least one acid so as to obtain a leachate comprising at least one metal ion and at least one rare earth element, and a solid, and separating the leachate from the solid. The processes can also comprise substantially selectively removing at least one of the at least one metal ion from the leachate and optionally obtaining a precipitate. The processes can also comprise substantially selectively removing the at least one rare earth element from the leachate and/or the precipitate.
18 Citations
157 Claims
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1. A process for recovering at least one rare earth element and/or at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from at least one material, said process comprising:
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leaching said at least one material with HCl so as to obtain a leachate comprising a first metal ion, a second metal ion, said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga, and a solid, and separating said leachate from said solid; substantially selectively removing said first metal ion from said leachate, thereby obtaining a composition comprising said second metal ion and said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga; substantially selectively at least partially removing said second metal ion from said composition, thereby obtaining a liquor comprising said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga; and substantially selectively removing said at least one rare earth element and/or at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from said liquor, wherein said liquor comprises GaCl3 and is reacted with a first extracting agent in order to substantially selectively extract GaCl3 therefrom, thereby obtaining a Ga-free solution and an extracted gallium solution, and separating said solutions from one another. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 10, 24, 25, 26, 29, 34, 36, 38, 41, 45, 46, 64, 75, 78)
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2-3. -3. (canceled)
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7-9. -9. (canceled)
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11-23. -23. (canceled)
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27-28. -28. (canceled)
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30-33. -33. (canceled)
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35. (canceled)
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37. (canceled)
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39-40. -40. (canceled)
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42-44. -44. (canceled)
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47-63. -63. (canceled)
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65-74. -74. (canceled)
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76-77. -77. (canceled)
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79-155. -155. (canceled)
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156. A process for recovering at least one rare earth element and/or at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from at least one material, said process comprising:
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leaching said at least one material with HCl so as to obtain a leachate comprising a first metal ion, a second metal ion, said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga, and a solid, and separating said leachate from said solid; substantially selectively removing said first metal ion from said leachate, thereby obtaining a composition comprising said second metal ion and said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga; substantially selectively at least partially removing said second metal ion from said composition, thereby obtaining a liquor comprising said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga; substantially selectively removing said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from said liquor, wherein said liquor is reacted with a first extracting agent in order to substantially selectively extract gallium therefrom, thereby obtaining a Ga-free solution and an extracted gallium solution, and separating said solutions from one another; and reacting said Ga-free solution with a precipitating agent for precipitating at least one rare earth element present in said Ga-free solution, thereby obtaining a precipitate containing said at least one rare earth element and recovering said precipitate via a solid-liquid separation.
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157. A process for recovering at least one rare earth element and/or at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from at least one material, said process comprising:
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leaching said at least one material with HCl so as to obtain a leachate comprising a first metal ion, a second metal ion, said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga, and a solid, and separating said leachate from said solid; substantially selectively removing said first metal ion from said leachate, thereby obtaining a composition comprising said second metal ion and said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga; substantially selectively at least partially removing said second metal ion from said composition, thereby obtaining a liquor comprising said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga, wherein said second metal ion is at least one iron ion and is substantially selectively removed from said composition by carrying out an hydrolysis so as to convert said at least one iron ion into Fe2O3 and removing said precipitated Fe2O3 from said composition by carrying out a solid-liquid separation, thereby obtaining said liquor comprising said at least one rare earth element and/or said at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from said liquor; and substantially selectively removing said at least one rare earth element and/or at least one rare metal chosen from In, Zr, Li and Ga from said liquor.
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Specification