UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS OF THE LIFE CYCLE INVENTORY OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS FROM SECONDARY FLOTATION OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS IN BENEFICIATION RARE EARTH WASTE FROM THE GOLD PROCESSING: CASE STUDY

References: 17th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2017, www.sgem.org, SGEM2017 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7408-06-5 / ISSN 1314-2704, 29 June - 5 July, 2017, Vol. 17, Issue 41, 269-276 pp, DOI: 10.5593/sgem2017/41/S18.035

ABSTRACT

The aim of the paper is created the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)/Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) under uncertainty of the production of rare earth elements (REEs), from the European sources, mainly neodymium, cerium and lanthanum obtained from secondary sources, considered now as waste. The European sources with the highest content in REE, were identified to be New Kankberg (Sweden), and data from the flotation and magnetic separation processes of the tailings were used in presented case study. Uncertainty assessment in LCI was performed using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation with the Crystal Ball® software, leading spreadsheet-based application suite for modeling, as well as simulation. The framework of the study was originally carried out for 2016 data. A LCI analysis needs a large amount of data. As the monazite, the main REE-bearing mineral, is paramagnetic, the neodymium, cerium and lanthanum were inventoried in presented study. The primary data used in this study are based on the elements determined from the chemical analyses done by instrumental neutron activation analyses site-specific measured or calculated data, and values based on literature, Secondary data were mainly derived from the ecoinvent process „rare earth concentrate, 70% REO, from bastnäsite, at beneficiation”. The LCI study is conducted in accordance with all requirements of the International Standards ISO 14040 relating to Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI), as well as delines (International Organization for Standardizations ISO 14040 1997) and Polish standards RPrPN-EN ISO 14041 1998 without the Life Cycle Impact Assessment phase).

Keywords: Poland, Life cycle inventory, Monte Carlo simulation, rare earth elements, flotation