Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from Bastnasite Ore and Separation of Heavy REEs and Light REEs by Solvent Extraction

In this study, rare earth elements in bastnasite ore from Eskisehir, Turkey, were extracted by leaching using EG-FeCl3-based deep eutectic solvent together with the following solvent extraction. Leaching conditions such as temperature, FeCl3 molarity, solid-liquid ratio (S/L), time, and mixing speed were determined using Taguchi orthogonal (L32) method. About 62.704 wt.% of light REEs (La, Ce, Nd, Pr) were dissolved after the calcination of the ore using 1 M of FeCl3 at S/L ratio of 0.05, with 600 rpm of stirring rate for 16 h at 50 degrees C. Heavy REEs and light REEs were separated by solvent extraction. D2EHPA extracted Y and Th from the leachate sufficiently. The highest distribution ratio for both elements was 17.28 and 8.39, respectively. Following to extraction, 74% of Y has been stripped back to 2M HNO3 solution.