Res Metallica Symposium “The Rare Earth Elements” May 23,2012 Aula van de`Tweede Hoofdwet

1. Rare Earth Elements’ Processing; Current and Emerging Technologies, andEvolving needs within the Rare Earth Device Manufacturing SectorPresented by Jack LiftonTechnology Metals Research, LLCjacklifton@aol.com Res Metallica Symposium “The Rare Earth Elements” May 23,2012 Aula van de`TweedeHoofdwet K.U. Leuven, Thermotechnical Institute Leuven, Belgium

2. The place of the Rare Earths at “value as mined and concentrated” Mechanically Concentrated rare earth ores are the lowest value point in the supply chain

3. At the mine, as defined on the previous page, the toal value of the rare earths was estimated to be just 15/100 of 1 % of the total value of all global metal production in 2010.

4. Rare Earth Elements’ Processing; Current and Emerging Technologies, and evolving needs within the Manufacturing Sector • The SUPPLY CHAIN for any manufactured product made of metal or based on the electronic properties of a metal begins with a PRODUCING MINE not with an ore deposit. • A MINE is an ORE DEPOSIT from which metal values can be recovered ECONOMICALLY, SAFELY, and LEGALLY. • For rare metals such as the RARE EARTHS grade is NOT automatically the determining factor for economic recovery. • The most important factor for the economic recovery of the rare earths from an ore deposit is the proof that the technologies exist, and are applicable to the particular ore body, that will enable the contained rare earths to be separated from each other as high purity compounds that can be turned into high purity metals at a cost economically competitive with those of existing suppliers. • The initial grade of the ore matters, because it may well determine whether or not the ore can be sufficiently concentrated mechanically to allow a known extraction technology to recover sufficient metal values for the above noted separation and purification technologies to be economically competitive. • The success of an extraction technology in recovering a high percentage of the contained metal values from a mechanically beneficiated “concentrate” is traditionally known as a “metallurgy,” but, by itself it is only necessary but not sufficient to determine the economic viability of a rare earth mine.

5. So, How do we add value to mechanically beneficiated rare earth ores? Extract total metal values Separate and purify the Individual rare earth elements Reduce the purified separated individual metals to high purity metals Alloy the metals Manufacture components from the alloys Each of the above steps is most often today, outside of China as well as within, a separate business,each of which businesses has its own technical problems. It is the pricing at the conclusion of step 3 above that is most often mistakenly used to value the output of a mixed concentrate at the mine.

6. An Integrated Production Model with Value Added Product Sales Points shown on the right MAGNET MAKERS ALLOY PROD’N ALLOY SALES RE METAL SALES METAL MAKING SEPARATION REO SALES BY-PRODUCT SALES PROCESSING • A rare earth mine alone is not of much use to a magnet maker • Enterprise profitability increases with each stage of processing • Graphic Courtesy of Great Western Minerals Group, Ltd MINING EXPLORATION 6

7. Rare Earth Elements’ Processing; Current and Emerging Technologies, and evolving needs within the Manufacturing Sector, • A workshop in Washington, DC entitled: EU-Japan-US Workshop on Critical Materials R&D (on October 4,5, 2011) addressed what I call the separation issue in the following agenda: Workshop B: Resource efficiency: production, reuse, recovery, recycling > Session B1: Materials and processes for environmentally sound, economical separation of rare earths in diverse ore bodies and recycling streams (Tuesday, October 4, 2011 15:00-18:00) > • Organic solvents > • Supercritical solvents > • Membranes > • Biological processes > • Ion exchange

8. Rare Earth Elements’ Processing; Current and Emerging Technologies, and evolving needs within the Manufacturing Sector, • The next two slides are: • 1. A view of a solvent exchange facility in Baotou, China, and • 2. A (Solid Phase Exchange) column used to separate and purify REEs. • A bench-top SPE separation system

12. Rare Earth Elements’ Processing; Current and Emerging Technologies, and evolving needs within the Manufacturing Sector, • In Every Known Case of North American REE deposits they are associated with radioactive nuisance elements and/or other metallic elements such as Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, and Fe, which may add value to the mine’s output. The most challenging of the nuisance elements are the radioactive ones, which are almost universally present in hard rock rare earth deposits globally. • In the fowwing example in order to ultimately produce the desired rare earth metal products, all of the elements first need to be separated from the “nuisance” metals Fe, Th, and U. Second, the rare earth elements need to be separated into classes of elements. Third, separation into purified individual element products will give maximum value for the mine. • These objectives can be accomplished with circuits of chelating ion exchange columns (SPE columns) that effect the separation of metals into classes with similar chemical properties.

14. REECl3 Separation of Ce, La, Pr, Nd, Eu, Dy, Tb REE chlorides 0.35% HCl 10% Na2CO3 Ce purification column Water REECl3 Ce(OH)4 NaCl La purification column Acid recycle Water LaCl3 Pr+Nd+Eu+Dy+TbCl3 NaCl Chelating column Water PrCl3 Pr+Nd+Eu+Dy+TbCl3 raffinate Dy +TbCl3 Chelating column Water PrCl3 Pr+Nd+Eu+Dy+TbCl3 raffinate Dy +TbCl3

15. REECl3 Separation (cont’d) Pr Chelating column Water PrCl3 Nd+Eu+Dy+TbCl3 raffinate Dy +TbCl3 Nd Chelating column (3 times) Dy +TbCl3 Water NdCl3 Eu+Dy+TbCl3 raffinate Eu Chelating column (3 times) Water EuCl3 Dy+TbCl3 raffinate TbCl3

16. Dy +TbCl3 raffinate Chelating column (3 X) TbCl3 DyCl3 Water

17. Rare Earth Metals Production • A. Separated rare earths, typically, as carbonates are changed to halides such as chlorides for • 1. Electrolysis of molten salts (such as halides), or fluorides for • 2. Metallothermic reduction (Schmidt-Geschneidner Process)

18. Rare Earth Product Manufacturing • Example: Sintered Neodymium-Iron-Boron type of rare earth permanent magnet • The procedure tabulated below is in outline form and many details of quality control and safe handling procedures are left out for brevity:

19. Hydrogen Decrepitation: Sintered NdFeB Magnets Multi-Step Process High-value recovered magnet powders 1. Used as a primary alloy feedstock 2. Processed for re-sintering into commodity grade magnets

20. Critical Minerals for the Clean Energy and High Technology Industries 2012 and beyond-The EU PerspectiveRecent Dynamics in the Rare Earth Sector