Extractive Metallurgy of Rare Earths

TLDR: A comprehensive review of the extractive metallurgy of rare earths can be found in this article, where the topics covered are: world rare earth resources and production; ore processing and separation of individual rare earth elements; reduction, refining, and ultrapurification of rare Earth elements; methods for rare earth materials analysis; and a selection of the numerous rare earth applications.

Abstract: A comprehensive review is presented of the extractive metallurgy of rare earths. The topics covered are: world rare earth resources and production; ore processing and separation of individual rare earths; reduction, refining, and ultrapurification of rare earth elements; methods for rare earth materials analysis; and a selection of the numerous rare earth applications. World rare earth reserves are abundant and would last for well beyond the next century. However, all of the 16 naturally occurring rare earth elements are not equally distributed in the ore minerals. This, compounded with the problems specific to the isolation and recovery of each of the rare earths, sets the stage for an unequal rare earth availability. The close chemical similarity of rare earths looses its importance when divergent physical properties determine the processes for rare earth element reduction and refining. The rare earth metals, alloys, and compounds have been as pure as could be determined. Finally, the commercial...