03-Rare-Earth Elements.pdf

Rare Earth Element Research,
Sustainable Materials Management,
and EPA’s Potential Role
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Office of Research and Development
National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Sustainable Technology Division, Systems Analysis Branch
November 27, 2012

Outline
• Background
-What are REEs and ECEs
- Applications
- Environmental Impacts
• What is Sustainable Materials Management
• What is currently being done to support sustainable materials management of REEs
– Emerging Policies
– DOE
– Other Federal Agencies
– EPA research and collaboration
– Studies
– Processing
– Recycling/Alternatives
– How can EPA help
• Conclusions
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Rare Earth Elements – a Family of 17 Elements
Rare earth metals (REM) and rare earth elements (REE) are the collection of 17
elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and 15 lanthanides.
Rare earth oxides are further classified as light rare earth oxides (LREO) which
includes La 2 O 3 , Ce 2O 3 , Pr 2 O 3 , Nd 2 O 3 and Sm 2 O 3 , and heavy rare oxides (HREO) which
includes Eu 2 O 3 , Gd 2 O 3 , Tb 2 O 3 , Dy 2 O 3 , Ho 2 O 3 , Er 2 O 3 , Tm 2 O 3 , Yb 2 O 3 , Lu 2 O 3 , and Y2O3.

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Energy Critical Elements (ECEs) – a class of chemical
elements that currently appear critical to one or more new,
energy-related technologies

Energy Critical
Elements: Powering
Our High-Tech/Clean
Tech World
Energy Critical Elements
(ECEs) are found in a myriad
of high-tech, environmental
and military equipment. From
smart phones to solar panels
to jet engine parts, ECEs
play crucial roles in products
affecting our daily lives.
Energy-critical element images
obtained from: http://images-ofelements.com
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Principal Uses of REEs
Oxide 99% min
FOB China
Principal Uses
Price* US$ / Kg
Lanthanum Re-chargeable batteries 119.00 – 122.00
Cerium Catalysts, glass, polishing 120.00 – 122.00
Praseodymium Magnets, glass colourant 198.00 – 201.00
Neodymium Magnets, lasers, glass 205.00 – 208.00
Samarium Magnets, lighting, lasers 105.00 – 108.00
Europium Tv Colour phosphors: red 980.00 – 1000.00
Terbium Phosphors: green, magnets 1000.00 – 1050.00
Dysprosium Magnets, lasers 635.00 – 645.00
Gadolinium
Magnets, superconductors
155.00 – 160.00
Yttrium Phosphors, ceramics, lasers 140.00 – 145.00
Lutetium
Ceramics, glass, phosphors and lasers **Up to 2,000 / kg
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Thulium
Superconductors, ceramic magnets,
lasers X-ray devices
*prices quoted from www.metal-pages.com as of Apr. 7, 2011. ** prices quoted from
www.questrareminerals.com
**Up to 3,000 / kg

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Risks of Rare Earth Mining Without Environmental Protection Systems

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REE Mining Environmental Risks

What is Sustainable Materials Management
“an approach to serving human needs by using/reusing
resources most productively and sustainably
throughout their life cycles, generally minimizing the
amount of materials involved and all the associated
environmental impacts”
9
EPA, 2009. Sustainable Materials Management: The Road Ahead
Report

Emerging Policies
• Critical elements have sparked activity in congress
• 6 bills in the House and 3 in the Senate have been proposed
to address securing continued supplies of REEs.
• The Energy Critical Elements Advancement Act of 2011”
(H.R. 2090). It calls for the Department of Energy, working
with the Department of the Interior, to put together a report
investigating the lifecycle of energy critical elements from
discovery and mining through production and uses on to
disposal and potential for recycling. The bill focuses
especially on research into better ways to collect and recycle
these elements.
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Emerging Policies
• Rare Earth Alternatives in Critical Technologies (REACT) –
fund technology alternatives to reduce dependence on REEs
by developing substitutes used in vehicles and wind
generators – April 2011
• Responsible Electronics Recycling Act prohibits U.S.
companies from exporting certain electronic wastes to
developing countries – establishment of recycling initiative
that will fund projects in three areas.
• Executive Order National Defense Resources Preparedness
- March 16, 2012
Sec. 306. Encourage the exploration, development, and
mining of strategic and critical materials and other materials.
• Sec. 307. Development of substitutes for strategic and
critical materials, critical components, critical technology
items, and other resources to aid national defense.

2011 DOE’s Critical Materials Strategy
• Second report on this topic and provides an update
to last year's analysis.
• Report includes criticality assessments for 16
elements based on their importance to clean energy
and supply risk.
• $20 million to fund an energy innovation hub
focused on critical materials that will help to further
advance the three pillars of the DOE strategy:
diversifying supply, developing substitutes, and
improving recycling, reuse and more efficient use.
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DOE Strategy is Addressing the Entire Supply
Chain
• Diversify global supply chains
• Develop substitutes
• Reduce, reuse and recycle
UUPSTREAM
DOWNSTREAM
Extraction Processing Components
End Use
Applications
Recycling and Re-Use
14

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2011 CMS Medium-Term Criticality (2015-2025)

Global Life Cycles of the Rare Earth Elements
• Losses occur at five points in the cycles: mining,
separation, fabrication, manufacturing, and waste
management.
• Improvements in efficiency at any stage, or enhanced
efforts at recovery, are important factors in ensuring
the long-term availability of REE.
• With this said, REE recycling has the potential to offset
a significant part of REE virgin extraction in the future.
• In addition to mitigating some of the supply risk,
recycling could minimize the environmental challenges
present in REE mining and processing
17
Xiaoyue Du 1 & T. E. Graedel 1 Scientific Reports Volume: 1, Article number: 145 DOI:
Published 04 November 2011

Molycorp’s Near-Zero Wastewater-Discharge
Facility
• Company plans to install a chlor-alkali plant on-site to
recycle the sodium chloride by-product.
• Hydrochloric acid is recycled into the mineralprocessing
loop.
• Install a natural gas power plant to reduce its need to
buy costlier, less reliable electricity from distant cities.
• Use a separate recycling system to reduce the need for
fresh water from 850 liters/minute to 114 liters/minute.
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Substitution and Efficient Use of Rare Earths
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• Rare earths are currently used in around 14 % of newly installed wind
turbines with gear-less design and technical advantages in terms of
reliability.
• Rare earths are used in permanent motors of hybrid electric vehicles and
electric vehicles.
• Most new energy efficient lighting systems contain rare earths (compact
fluorescent lamp, LED, plasma display, LCD display). Substitutions are
rare, particularly in the case of compact fluorescent lamps. R&D is
required for alternative phosphors with a high efficiency and high light
quality.
• Automotive catalysts contain cerium, and catalysts for petroleum
refining and other industrial processes contain lanthanum. Substitutions
are rare, and R&D is urgently required for alternative catalysts.

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Substitutes for NdFeB magnets

Recycling Consumer Electronics –
Challenges
• Removal of HD from computer
• Adhesives and nickel plating on magnets
• Magnetization
• Purity
• Lack of processing capability
• Need for improved Product and
Design
• EH&S issues
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Recycling Challenges
• An efficient collection system
• Adequate high prices for primary and secondary
rare earth compounds,
• Losses of post-consumer goods by exports in
developing countries
• Long life time of products such as vehicles and
wind turbines of 10 – 20 years before they enter the
recycling economy.
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Recycling Advantages
• More efficient utilization of natural resources.
• Independence from foreign resources.
• The processing of secondary rare earths tend to be
free from radioactive impurities.
• It saves energy, chemicals and emissions in the
primary processing chain.
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EPA’s Role
• Provide more comprehensive information to enable
researchers, developers, and manufacturers to plan
for materials needs in the development of new
technologies.
• Collect and evaluate data required to track availability
and uses of ECEs that are applicable to emerging
energy requirements.
• Collaboration and interaction with multiple
stakeholders.
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CONCLUSIONS
• R&D is needed in all phases of technology
development to enable higher efficiencies in mining,
beneficiation and processing.
• Multiple global supply chains are essential to promote
environmental stewardship and commerce.
• Recycling, reuse and efficiency can significantly lower
world demand for newly extracted materials.
• Identify initial waste streams on the pre-consumer and
postconsumer level.
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CONCLUSIONS
• To promote sustainable materials management,
manufacturers, recyclers, government policy-makers
and researchers need to work together to achieve
successful implementation.
• More scientists and engineers with ECE experience
and life cycle assessment skills are needed to satisfy
materials and technology needs for critical energy
technology development.
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REE Workshops and Conferences
• 2012 EPA Hardrock Mining Conference
April 3-5, 2012 • Denver, CO.
• Rare Earth Elements Workshop
May 10, 2012 • Denver, Colorado
• Rare Earth Minerals/Metals -
Sustainable Technologies for the Future
August 12-17, 2012 • San Diego, California
info@engconfintl.org
• EPA National Association of Remedial Project
Managers (NARPM) Conference
November 27, 2012 • Henderson, Nevada