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Electrokinetic Mining : Eco-Friendly Method For Extracting Rare Earth Elements

Kumari Sonali

Electrokinetic Mining : Eco-Friendly Method For Extracting Rare Earth Elements

A research team developed electrokinetic mining (EKM), an eco-friendly method for extracting rare earth elements.

  • Electrokinetic Mining is a novel mining technique which uses Electrokinetic i.e the application of a direct or alternating electric field to accelerate the migration of movable species, such as metals, water, and particles.
  • Currently, heavy rare earth elements (HREE) are dominantly mined from ion-adsorption rare earth deposits (IADs) discovered in South China, and the regional mining produces and supports 95% of the global demand of HREEs.
  • However, the conventional mining applies excessive usage of ammonium-salt-based leaching agents to recover HREEs from IADs, such technique exhibits low efficiency and devastating environmental impact on the local eco-system.
  • It reduces leaching agent usage by 80%, and energy consumption by 60%.
  • Its recovery rate exceeds 95% which marks a breakthrough in sustainable mining.
  • It can simultaneously help reduce the environmental impacts and improve the recovery rate of REEs.

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