Earths - Avalon Rare Metals

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BUSINESS | RARE EARTHS 1 (1) Senior geologist and camp manager Chris Pedersen considers some of Avalon Rare Metals’ collection of earth samples with project geologist Martin Heiligmann. (2) An Avalon geologist logs information collected from drill cores. 2 to transform such mundane products as vacuum cleaners and table fans. The motor boasts remarkable speed and efficiency because its electrical contacts are suspended by powerful magnets, made from the rare earth neodymium. The ionic properties of that element, as well as samarium, praseodymium and dysprosium, make for some of the strongest known magnets, including some that function at temperatures high enough to remain viable in harsher settings like automobile engines. Such properties also make it possible for at least 11 rare earths to enhance the optical amplification by materials that generate laser beams. This technology, which a few decades ago would have been a rarity outside of a formal research setting, now crops up in all manner of electronic appliances, from children’s video games to office projector displays. These new applications have expanded the market for rare earths, although Mercer points out that it remains much smaller than more primary metals such as copper. The latter might see annual global production of 15 million tonnes of production, while rare earths would be about one per cent of that volume. However, these elements could fetch a price that is 10 times higher, which is one of the key factors behind Avalon’s push in Thor Lake. Even so, Bubar suggests that the site may not be delivering any product until 2016, although he noted that the company would like to accelerate that timeline if possible. The wait reflects the challenges posed by rare earths, which cannot only be difficult to find, but even more difficult to extract in a usable form. “These elements tend to be stored in very refractory minerals,” says Jim Franklin, an exploration FEBRUARY 2012 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 25
ENERGY PRODUCTION ENERGY REDUCTION ENERGY EFFICIENCY LIFESTYLE PETROLEUM REFINING La HIGH-POWERED ELECTRIC MOTORS Dy Nd NEW GENERATION VEHICLES La Tb UV FILTERS IN GLASS Ce REDUCING FUEL CONSUMPTION Nd LIGHTER VEHICLES IMPROVED PERFORMANCE Dy GENERATION VEHICLES Nd Sm RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES La ENERGY-EFFICIENT LIGHTING COLOUS SCREEN LCDS/PDPS Eu Tb Y COMPONENTS TO HARDWARE Nd MEDICAL SERVICES Pr Eu Nd Gd Rare earth elements are especially useful in a new generation of consumer products to boost speed and efficiency as well as improve product efficacy . RARE IDIOSYNCRASIES La (Lanthanum) Nd (Neodymium) Dy (Dysprosium) Tb (Terbium) Ce (Cerium) Sm (Samarium) Pr (Praseodymium) Eu (Europium) Y (Yttrium) Gd (Gadolium) Most of the rare earths consist of the elements between the lanthanum (atomic number 57) and lutetium (atomic number 71), with two outliers: scandium (atomic number 21) and yttrium (atomic number 39). In spite of their collective name, most of them are as plentiful in the earth’s crust as copper. However, they are much more widely dispersed, seldom occurring in concentrations that would allow for easy detection or high-volume extraction. Such dispersal is related to the accepted account of their origins, which begin hundreds of kilometres deep in the earth’s mantle, from which they are thrust up at high velocity. This rapid flow spreads them thinly near the surface, where they can occupy mineral bodies that are a kilometre or more across. In addition, many of those minerals are refractory, a quality that determines how readily they break down under chemical or physical action. A typical example is zircon, which resists erosion so well that it is often used to calibrate measurements of 'deep time,' which determine the age of geological features. Rare earths accommodate such minerals because of their signal feature, an unexpected decrease in the radii of the ionic forms of these atoms. This results in those rare earths with lower atomic numbers and atomic weights actually having larger atoms than elements that are higher in the periodic table. Consequently, the heavier a rare earth, the more tightly it will bind to other atoms and the more difficult it will be to separate them. MEDICAL SERVICES Ce geologist who spent much of his career with the Geological Survey of Canada. “They just don’t dissolve very easily. As a result, a standard analysis that involves an acidic dissolution of the rock doesn’t necessarily break them down.” According to Franklin, commercially viable techniques for analyzing these minerals did not appear until the 1990s, with the advent of induction coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. This approach is now regularly used to identify the presence of rare earths at levels as low as parts per trillion, at a cost of less than $100 per sample. Even so, Mercer adds that life remains complicated when it comes to extracting and refining individual rare earths. Avalon expects the Thor Lake development to include froth floatation, a process for separating these metals from the surrounding material based on its tolerance for the presence of water. It can be a messy business, one that has been met with new environmental regulations in the United States. However, he and Franklin remain confident that a steady market pull will ensure that these restrictions do not restrain the company’s efforts; the find is simply too rich to ignore. “It has all the rare earths, but it also has what geologists call high field strength elements, which are zirconium, niobium, hafnium, and tantalum,” says Mercer. “Gallium also tends to be enriched in it.” Moreover, the concentration of rare earths at this site is as much as three orders of magnitude greater than those found in the Chinese deposits. That bodes well for responding to observers who fear that there simply will not be enough rare earths around to go into the growing assortment of devices that rely on these elements. And Franklin insists that neither these devices nor the metals will ultimately become priced out of reach, now that the rush for rare earths is on. “For varying reasons, commodities have this cyclical approach,” he says. “Uranium goes through cycles; gold is clearly well up in one right now. It’s a supply and demand thing. Right now people are worried about the supply. We will find lots of rare earths,” he says. 26 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2012
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Earths - Avalon Rare Metals

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