Multidisciplinary research towards a secure and environmentally sustainable supply of critical rare earth elements (Nd and HREE)

The rare earth elements (REE) are widely used in modern technologies varying from wind turbines to hard disk drives, low energy lighting to electric cars. They are recognised as critical raw materials by the European Commission and other authorities, because of security of supply concerns. Recent work has highlighted neodymium (Nd) and the heavy rare earth elements (HREE) as being most at risk of supply disruption in the near future.

In this collaborative project (SoS RARE) funded by NERC and EPSRC under the Security of Supply of Mineral Resources (SoS Minerals) science programme, researchers from the University of Brighton worked on formation of ion adsorption deposits. The project aimed to understand the mobility and concentration of Nd and HREE in natural systems, and to investigate new processes that will lower the environmental impact of REE extraction and recovery.

The research team included 17 investigators from six UK universities and research institutes, with ten industry partners and eight core international research collaborators.

University of Brighton
Camborne School of Mines, University of Essex
British Geological Survey
University of Leeds
University of Sheffield
University of St Andrews

Colorado School of Mines
Camborne School of Mines
GET, Toulouse
Geological Survey of Japan
Greenland Rare Earths Project Limited (GREP)
Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology
McGill University
Mendel University
Mkango Resources
Namibia Rare Earths Inc.
Oakdene Hollins
RPC
SRK Consulting
Umwelt- und Ingenieurtechnik GmbH Dresden
University of Sao Paulo