01-10-2010, 06:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-10-2010, 07:00 AM by Peter Lemkin.)
10% of 20.000.000 tons of ore is one hell of a lot of rare earth metals...so the tears and bruhaha is artificial, or at best temporary...and their own fault for shutting down the mine...though it is a horrible polluter and open-pit horror. I've passed it on the highway perhaps a hundred times. From Wiki:
The Mountain Pass rare earth mine is a an open-pit mine of rare earth elements (REEs) on the south flank of the Clark Mountain Range and just north of the unincorporated community of Mountain Pass, California, United States. [Right on Interstate 15] The mine, owned by Molycorp Minerals, once supplied most of the world's rare earth elements. It is presently inactive, but is projected to reopen in 2011.Contents
1 Geology
2 Ore processing
3 History
4 Environmental Impact
5 Current activity
6 Citations
7 Other references
8 External links
[edit]
Geology
The Mountain Pass deposit is in a 1.4 billion year old Precambrian carbonatite intruded into gneiss, and contains 8% to 12% rare earth oxides, mostly contained in the mineral bastnäsite.[1] Gangue minerals include calcite, barite, and dolomite. It is regarded as a world-class rare-earth mineral deposit. The metals that can be extracted from it include:[2]
Cerium
Lanthanum
Neodymium[3]
Europium
Known remaining reserves were estimated to exceed 20 million tons of ore as of 2008, using a 5% cutoff grade, and averaging 8.9% rare earth oxides.[4]
[edit]
Ore processing
The bastnäsite ore was finely ground, and subjected to froth flotation to separate the bulk of the bastnäsite from the accompanying barite, calcite and dolomite. Marketable products include each of the major intermediates of the ore dressing process: flotation concentrate, acid-washed flotation concentrate, calcined acid-washed bastnäsite, and finally a cerium concentrate, which was the insoluble residue left after the calcined bastnäsite had been leached with hydrochloric acid.
The lanthanides that dissolved as a result of the acid treatment were subjected to solvent extraction, to capture the europium, and purify the other individual components of the ore. A further product included a lanthanide mix, depleted of much of the cerium, and essentially all of samarium and heavier lanthanides. The calcination of bastnäsite had driven off the carbon dioxide content, leaving an oxide-fluoride, in which the cerium content had become oxidized to the less-basic quadrivalent state. However, the high temperature of the calcination gave less-reactive oxide, and the use of hydrochloric acid, which can cause reduction of quadrivalent cerium, led to an incomplete separation of cerium and the trivalent lanthanides.
[edit]
History
The Mountain Pass mine dominated worldwide REE production from the 1960s to the 1980s (USGS).
The Mountain Pass deposit was discovered by a uranium prospector in 1949, who noticed the anomalously high radioactivity. The Molybdenum Corporation of America bought the mining claims, and small-scale production began in 1952. Production expanded greatly in the 1960s, to supply demand for europium used in color television screens.
The deposit was mined in a larger scale between 1965 and 1995. During this time the mine supplied most of the world wide rare earth metals consumption.[4]
The Molybdenum Corporation of America changed its name to Molycorp Inc. in 1974. The corporation was acquired by Union Oil in 1977, which in turn became part of Chevron Corporation in 2005.[citation needed] Another source lists its owner as Unocal from 1976 to 2005.[5]
The mine closed in 2002, in response to both environmental restrictions and lower prices for REEs. The mine has been mostly inactive since 2002, though processing of previously mined ore continues at the site.
In 2008, Chevron sold the mine to privately held Molycorp Minerals LLC, a company formed to revive the Mountain Pass mine.
[edit]
Environmental Impact
In 1998, chemical processing at the mine was stopped after a series of wastewater leaks. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water carrying radioactive waste spilled into and around Ivanpah Dry Lake.[6]
In the 1980s, the company began piping wastewater as far as 14 miles to evaporation ponds on or near Ivanpah Dry Lake, east of Interstate 15 near Nevada. This pipeline repeatedly ruptured during cleaning operations to remove mineral deposits called scale. The scale is radioactive because of the presence of thorium and radium, which occur naturally in the rare earth ore. A federal investigation later found that some 60 spills—some unreported—occurred between 1984 and 1998, when the pipeline was shut down. In all, about 600,000 gallons of radiological and other hazardous waste flowed onto the desert floor, according to federal authorities. By the end of the 1990s, Unocal had been hit with a cleanup order and a San Bernardino County district attorney's lawsuit. The company paid more than $1.4 million in fines and settlements. After preparing a cleanup plan and completing an extensive environmental study, Unocal in 2004 won approval of a county permit that allowed the mine to operate for another 30 years. The mine also passed a key county inspection in 2007.[5]
[edit]
Current activity
The mine, once the world's dominant producer of rare earth elements, was closed in large part due to competition from REEs imported from China, which in 2009 supplied more than 96% of the world's REEs. Since 2007 China has restricted exports of REEs and imposed export tarifs, both to conserve resources and to give preference to Chinese manufacturers.[7] Some outside China are concerned that because rare earths are essential to some high-tech, renewable-energy, and defense-related technologies, the world should not be reliant on a single source.[8][9] On September 22, 2010 China announced a ban on exports of rare earths to Japan in retaliation for the Japanese arrest of a Chinese trawler captain in a territorial dispute. Because Japan and China are the only current sources for rare earth magnetic material used in the United States, a permanent disruption of Chinese rare earth supply to Japan would leave China as the sole source. This would make the United States, "100 percent reliant on the Chinese to make the components for the defense supply chain.” The House Committee on Science and Technology is scheduled on September 23, 2010 to review a detailed bill to subsidize the revival of the American rare earths industry, including the reopening of the Mountain Pass mine. [10]
The mine is owned by Molycorp Inc, which is a subsidiary of Molycorp Minerals[11]. Molycorp plans to invest $500 million to reopen and expand the mine.[12] The money will be raised through an initial public offering of stock in Molycorp Inc.[13] Current plans are for full mining operations to resume by the second half of 2011 as a result of increased demand for rare earth metals.[14]
[edit]
Citations
^ Gordon B. Haxel, James B. Hedrick, and Greta J. Orris, "Rare earth elements - Critical resources for high technology,", US Geological Survey, Fact Sheet 087-02, 17 May 2005.
^ Geological Sciences Department (2008). "Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine". California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
^ Margonelli, Lisa (May 2009). "Clean Energy's Dirty Little Secret". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
^ a b Castor, Stephen B. (2008). "Rare Earth Deposits of North America". Resource Geology 58: 337. doi:10.1111/j.1751-3928.2008.00068.x.
^ a b David Danelski, Expansion in works for S.B. County mine with troubled environmental past, The Biz Press, February 9, 2009.
^ Lisa Margonelli, Clean Energy's Dirty Little Secret, "The Atlantic", May 2009.
^ British Geological Survey, Rare Earth Elements, PDF file, p.25, 29.
^ Jeremy Hsu, "Shortage of rare earth minerals may cripple U.S. high-tech, scientists warn Congress," Popular Science, 17 March 2010.
^ Jeremy Hsu, "U.S. military supply of rare earth elements not secure," TechNewsDaily, 14 April 2010.
^ Amid Tension, China Blocks Crucial Exports to Japan, New York Times, 22/SEP/10
^ Press Release, [1], "Business Wire", 06 Sep 2010.
^ Keith Bradsher, "Challenging China in rare earth mining,", New York Times, 21 April 2010.
^ "Molycorp announces details of IPO," Denver Business Journal, 13 July 2010.
^ Martin Zimmerman, "California metal mine regains luster," Los Angeles Times, 14 October 2009.
The Mountain Pass rare earth mine is a an open-pit mine of rare earth elements (REEs) on the south flank of the Clark Mountain Range and just north of the unincorporated community of Mountain Pass, California, United States. [Right on Interstate 15] The mine, owned by Molycorp Minerals, once supplied most of the world's rare earth elements. It is presently inactive, but is projected to reopen in 2011.Contents
1 Geology
2 Ore processing
3 History
4 Environmental Impact
5 Current activity
6 Citations
7 Other references
8 External links
[edit]
Geology
The Mountain Pass deposit is in a 1.4 billion year old Precambrian carbonatite intruded into gneiss, and contains 8% to 12% rare earth oxides, mostly contained in the mineral bastnäsite.[1] Gangue minerals include calcite, barite, and dolomite. It is regarded as a world-class rare-earth mineral deposit. The metals that can be extracted from it include:[2]
Cerium
Lanthanum
Neodymium[3]
Europium
Known remaining reserves were estimated to exceed 20 million tons of ore as of 2008, using a 5% cutoff grade, and averaging 8.9% rare earth oxides.[4]
[edit]
Ore processing
The bastnäsite ore was finely ground, and subjected to froth flotation to separate the bulk of the bastnäsite from the accompanying barite, calcite and dolomite. Marketable products include each of the major intermediates of the ore dressing process: flotation concentrate, acid-washed flotation concentrate, calcined acid-washed bastnäsite, and finally a cerium concentrate, which was the insoluble residue left after the calcined bastnäsite had been leached with hydrochloric acid.
The lanthanides that dissolved as a result of the acid treatment were subjected to solvent extraction, to capture the europium, and purify the other individual components of the ore. A further product included a lanthanide mix, depleted of much of the cerium, and essentially all of samarium and heavier lanthanides. The calcination of bastnäsite had driven off the carbon dioxide content, leaving an oxide-fluoride, in which the cerium content had become oxidized to the less-basic quadrivalent state. However, the high temperature of the calcination gave less-reactive oxide, and the use of hydrochloric acid, which can cause reduction of quadrivalent cerium, led to an incomplete separation of cerium and the trivalent lanthanides.
[edit]
History
The Mountain Pass mine dominated worldwide REE production from the 1960s to the 1980s (USGS).
The Mountain Pass deposit was discovered by a uranium prospector in 1949, who noticed the anomalously high radioactivity. The Molybdenum Corporation of America bought the mining claims, and small-scale production began in 1952. Production expanded greatly in the 1960s, to supply demand for europium used in color television screens.
The deposit was mined in a larger scale between 1965 and 1995. During this time the mine supplied most of the world wide rare earth metals consumption.[4]
The Molybdenum Corporation of America changed its name to Molycorp Inc. in 1974. The corporation was acquired by Union Oil in 1977, which in turn became part of Chevron Corporation in 2005.[citation needed] Another source lists its owner as Unocal from 1976 to 2005.[5]
The mine closed in 2002, in response to both environmental restrictions and lower prices for REEs. The mine has been mostly inactive since 2002, though processing of previously mined ore continues at the site.
In 2008, Chevron sold the mine to privately held Molycorp Minerals LLC, a company formed to revive the Mountain Pass mine.
[edit]
Environmental Impact
In 1998, chemical processing at the mine was stopped after a series of wastewater leaks. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water carrying radioactive waste spilled into and around Ivanpah Dry Lake.[6]
In the 1980s, the company began piping wastewater as far as 14 miles to evaporation ponds on or near Ivanpah Dry Lake, east of Interstate 15 near Nevada. This pipeline repeatedly ruptured during cleaning operations to remove mineral deposits called scale. The scale is radioactive because of the presence of thorium and radium, which occur naturally in the rare earth ore. A federal investigation later found that some 60 spills—some unreported—occurred between 1984 and 1998, when the pipeline was shut down. In all, about 600,000 gallons of radiological and other hazardous waste flowed onto the desert floor, according to federal authorities. By the end of the 1990s, Unocal had been hit with a cleanup order and a San Bernardino County district attorney's lawsuit. The company paid more than $1.4 million in fines and settlements. After preparing a cleanup plan and completing an extensive environmental study, Unocal in 2004 won approval of a county permit that allowed the mine to operate for another 30 years. The mine also passed a key county inspection in 2007.[5]
[edit]
Current activity
The mine, once the world's dominant producer of rare earth elements, was closed in large part due to competition from REEs imported from China, which in 2009 supplied more than 96% of the world's REEs. Since 2007 China has restricted exports of REEs and imposed export tarifs, both to conserve resources and to give preference to Chinese manufacturers.[7] Some outside China are concerned that because rare earths are essential to some high-tech, renewable-energy, and defense-related technologies, the world should not be reliant on a single source.[8][9] On September 22, 2010 China announced a ban on exports of rare earths to Japan in retaliation for the Japanese arrest of a Chinese trawler captain in a territorial dispute. Because Japan and China are the only current sources for rare earth magnetic material used in the United States, a permanent disruption of Chinese rare earth supply to Japan would leave China as the sole source. This would make the United States, "100 percent reliant on the Chinese to make the components for the defense supply chain.” The House Committee on Science and Technology is scheduled on September 23, 2010 to review a detailed bill to subsidize the revival of the American rare earths industry, including the reopening of the Mountain Pass mine. [10]
The mine is owned by Molycorp Inc, which is a subsidiary of Molycorp Minerals[11]. Molycorp plans to invest $500 million to reopen and expand the mine.[12] The money will be raised through an initial public offering of stock in Molycorp Inc.[13] Current plans are for full mining operations to resume by the second half of 2011 as a result of increased demand for rare earth metals.[14]
[edit]
Citations
^ Gordon B. Haxel, James B. Hedrick, and Greta J. Orris, "Rare earth elements - Critical resources for high technology,", US Geological Survey, Fact Sheet 087-02, 17 May 2005.
^ Geological Sciences Department (2008). "Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine". California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
^ Margonelli, Lisa (May 2009). "Clean Energy's Dirty Little Secret". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
^ a b Castor, Stephen B. (2008). "Rare Earth Deposits of North America". Resource Geology 58: 337. doi:10.1111/j.1751-3928.2008.00068.x.
^ a b David Danelski, Expansion in works for S.B. County mine with troubled environmental past, The Biz Press, February 9, 2009.
^ Lisa Margonelli, Clean Energy's Dirty Little Secret, "The Atlantic", May 2009.
^ British Geological Survey, Rare Earth Elements, PDF file, p.25, 29.
^ Jeremy Hsu, "Shortage of rare earth minerals may cripple U.S. high-tech, scientists warn Congress," Popular Science, 17 March 2010.
^ Jeremy Hsu, "U.S. military supply of rare earth elements not secure," TechNewsDaily, 14 April 2010.
^ Amid Tension, China Blocks Crucial Exports to Japan, New York Times, 22/SEP/10
^ Press Release, [1], "Business Wire", 06 Sep 2010.
^ Keith Bradsher, "Challenging China in rare earth mining,", New York Times, 21 April 2010.
^ "Molycorp announces details of IPO," Denver Business Journal, 13 July 2010.
^ Martin Zimmerman, "California metal mine regains luster," Los Angeles Times, 14 October 2009.
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"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass