A Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy

In recent years, acid mine drainage (AMD) has emerged as a promising unconventional source of rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical minerals (CMs) such as cobalt and manganese. In this regard, AMD provides a natural heap leaching effect that extracts and concentrates REE/CM from the host str...

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Autores principales:	Tommee Larochelle, Aaron Noble, Paul Ziemkiewicz, David Hoffman, James Constant
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	techno-economic analysis rare earth elements acid mine drainage solvent extraction critical materials cobalt Mineralogy QE351-399.2
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/09ad09faa526459287f8e165cd709944
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:09ad09faa526459287f8e165cd7099442021-11-25T18:26:56ZA Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy10.3390/min111112982075-163Xhttps://doaj.org/article/09ad09faa526459287f8e165cd7099442021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/11/11/1298https://doaj.org/toc/2075-163XIn recent years, acid mine drainage (AMD) has emerged as a promising unconventional source of rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical minerals (CMs) such as cobalt and manganese. In this regard, AMD provides a natural heap leaching effect that extracts and concentrates REE/CM from the host strata creating a partially enriched feedstock suitable for downstream extraction, separation, and recovery. While several prior studies have described processes and approaches for the valorization of AMD, very few have described the supply chain and infrastructure requirements as well as the associated economic assessment. To that end, this paper provides a fundamental economic assessment of REE/CM recovery from AMD using a network sourcing strategy in addition to a robust, flexible feedstock separations and refining facility. The methodology of this paper follows that of a typical techno-economic analysis with capital and operating costs estimated using AACE Class IV (FEL-2) guidelines. To demonstrate the range of possible outcomes, four pricing scenarios were modeled including contemporary prices (September, 2021) as well as the minimum and maximum prices over the last decade. In addition, five production scenarios were considered reflecting variations in the product suite, ranging from full elemental separation to magnet REE and CM production only (i.e., Pr, Nd, Tb, Dy, Y, Sc, Co, and Mn). The results of this analysis show that, with the exception of the minimum price scenario, all operational configurations have positive economic indicators with rates of return varying from 25% to 32% for the contemporary price scenario. The optimal configuration was determined to be production of Co, Mn, and all REEs except for mischmetal, which is not recovered. Sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation show that capital cost and HCl consumption are the two major factors influencing rate of return, thus indicating opportunities for future technology development and cost optimization. Implications of the study and a cooperative profit-sharing model for sourcing are also described.Tommee LarochelleAaron NoblePaul ZiemkiewiczDavid HoffmanJames ConstantMDPI AGarticletechno-economic analysisrare earth elementsacid mine drainagesolvent extractioncritical materialscobaltMineralogyQE351-399.2ENMinerals, Vol 11, Iss 1298, p 1298 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	techno-economic analysis rare earth elements acid mine drainage solvent extraction critical materials cobalt Mineralogy QE351-399.2
spellingShingle	techno-economic analysis rare earth elements acid mine drainage solvent extraction critical materials cobalt Mineralogy QE351-399.2 Tommee Larochelle Aaron Noble Paul Ziemkiewicz David Hoffman James Constant A Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy
description	In recent years, acid mine drainage (AMD) has emerged as a promising unconventional source of rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical minerals (CMs) such as cobalt and manganese. In this regard, AMD provides a natural heap leaching effect that extracts and concentrates REE/CM from the host strata creating a partially enriched feedstock suitable for downstream extraction, separation, and recovery. While several prior studies have described processes and approaches for the valorization of AMD, very few have described the supply chain and infrastructure requirements as well as the associated economic assessment. To that end, this paper provides a fundamental economic assessment of REE/CM recovery from AMD using a network sourcing strategy in addition to a robust, flexible feedstock separations and refining facility. The methodology of this paper follows that of a typical techno-economic analysis with capital and operating costs estimated using AACE Class IV (FEL-2) guidelines. To demonstrate the range of possible outcomes, four pricing scenarios were modeled including contemporary prices (September, 2021) as well as the minimum and maximum prices over the last decade. In addition, five production scenarios were considered reflecting variations in the product suite, ranging from full elemental separation to magnet REE and CM production only (i.e., Pr, Nd, Tb, Dy, Y, Sc, Co, and Mn). The results of this analysis show that, with the exception of the minimum price scenario, all operational configurations have positive economic indicators with rates of return varying from 25% to 32% for the contemporary price scenario. The optimal configuration was determined to be production of Co, Mn, and all REEs except for mischmetal, which is not recovered. Sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation show that capital cost and HCl consumption are the two major factors influencing rate of return, thus indicating opportunities for future technology development and cost optimization. Implications of the study and a cooperative profit-sharing model for sourcing are also described.
format	article
author	Tommee Larochelle Aaron Noble Paul Ziemkiewicz David Hoffman James Constant
author_facet	Tommee Larochelle Aaron Noble Paul Ziemkiewicz David Hoffman James Constant
author_sort	Tommee Larochelle
title	A Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy
title_short	A Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy
title_full	A Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy
title_fullStr	A Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy
title_full_unstemmed	A Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy
title_sort	fundamental economic assessment of recovering rare earth elements and critical minerals from acid mine drainage using a network sourcing strategy
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/09ad09faa526459287f8e165cd709944
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A Fundamental Economic Assessment of Recovering Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage Using a Network Sourcing Strategy

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