T176 Science and Technology Advancement in Responsible Mining of Critical Minerals from Primary and Secondary Resources (Posters)

Tuesday, 24 September 2024
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Hall D

RAPID ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS USING PORTABLE XRF AS PROXIES FOR CHARACTERIZING RARE EARTH ELEMENTS AND OTHER CRITICAL MINERALS

Paper number: T176-4
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

As technological advances continue, the demand for Rare Earth elements (REEs) and other critical minerals has surged due to their essential applications in technology, energy, and national security. These elements have become some of the most valuable non-renewable resources in our modern society. However, the increasing depletion of certain elements poses a significant risk to sustainable economic development. Traditionally, most critical minerals have been produced from hard-rock (high-grade ore) mining. However, recent advancements have enabled the geochemical characterization and extraction of these metals from alternative unconventional and secondary resources, such as coal ash, mine tailings and low-grade ores. The spatial distribution, concentration and host minerals for critical minerals are crucial information to determine the economic viability of these resources. The concentrations of critical minerals are typically determined via time-consuming digestion process followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis.

In this study, we utilize a portable energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) instrument to rapidly analyze coal ash, sandstone beach deposit, mine tailings and shale for contents of critical minerals. The ED-XRF is calibrated with a suite of standards and is capable of detecting elements from magnesium to uranium. Our preliminary results demonstrate that rapid ED-XRF analyses, 90 seconds per analysis, can quantify both major elements and most trace elements. The major elements can be used to construct mineral phases in the samples. Three REEs, Y, La, and Ce, can be used as proxies to estimate total REE abundances. The ED-XRF is also capable to quantify transition metals, such as, Cr, Ni, V, Cu with high precision. These findings show that portable XRF can be used as a fast-screening tool for critical minerals in various resources within minutes.

SNL is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525. This project is supported by the U.S. DOE FECM via FWP-23-025668. SAND2024-07691A

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2024AM-404909

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