An eco-friendly method for extracting rare earth elements that's faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial for high-tech electronics, electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and military hardware, but their extraction has long been environmentally costly. With rising demand and climate change intensifying, electrokinetic mining (EKM), developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, offers a revolutionary solution for efficiently and sustainably recovering REE.

Harnessing the power of electric fields, EKM is modernizing how rare earths are recovered from ion-adsorption deposits, the world's primary source of heavy rare earths such as dysprosium, terbium, lutetium, and yttrium.

If conventional mining techniques were a sledgehammer, EKM would be the scalpel; a new process that balances efficiency with sustainability, streamlining the way to a speedy energy transition.

With global attention fixed on reducing the ecological toll of resource extraction, EKM could be the breakthrough the rare earths industry – and the planet – desperately needs. More than a scientific advancement, it's a blueprint for a more sustainable future in mining.

"Rare earth elements (REEs), particularly heavy REEs (HREEs), are key enablers of the rapid transition to a decarbonised world," the Chinese Academy of Sciences team wrote in a paper published in Nature Sustainability earlier this month. "This work validates a new sustainable path for REEs mining, paving the way to a greener resources supply."

Transformative potential

While initial EKM experiments in 2023 demonstrated the rare earth recovery technology's potential, scaling it up for industrial use presented challenges such as electrode instability in corrosive environments, leachate leakage, and difficulties posed by variability in groundwater and ore structure.

The team's troubleshooting strategies slashed energy consumption by 60%, reduced mining chemicals by 80%, and cut extraction time by 70%-all while recovering over 95% of REEs.

EKM extraction was applied specifically to ion-adsorption deposits, which supply over 90% of the world's heavy rare earth elements. These deposits typically form through weathering when minerals adhere to clay surfaces commonly found in regions with underlying granite.

Current extraction methods, primarily involving ammonium salts, can cause significant environmental damage while generating an unsustainable stripping ratio.

The researchers comprehensively evaluated EKM results across variations in leachate composition, groundwater, surface water, and soil samples, providing a detailed assessment of the extraction process's efficiency and environmental impacts and valuable insights for applying EKM in different geological settings.

EKM experiments at scale demonstrate the effectiveness of electric fields in mobilizing ions to enhance the leaching process, with a 95% reduction in ammonia-nitrogen emissions in groundwater and surface water, addressing one of the significant environmental impacts of conventional methods.

The study underscores the transformative potential of EKM for large-scale industrial applications. By offering significant environmental, efficiency, and cost advantages, EKM presents a sustainable alternative.

As the world transitions to green energy, innovations of this nature are poised to play a critical role in ensuring that all mining practices, not just the end result, align with sustainability goals.