Thermal Decomposition Kinetics of Rare Earth Minerals in Tailings with Addition of MgO

Due to the advantage in deactivating fluorine and enhancing the decomposition of rare earth (RE) minerals, MgO was applied to the magnetizing roasting of Bayan Obo tailings in this work. The effects of MgO dosages, roasting temperature, and holding time on the decomposition rate of RE minerals were experimentally studied. With a MgO dosage of 10 wt.%, the decomposition rate of RE minerals reached 98.09% at 750 °C. The phase composition of roasted samples was characterized by XRD and SEM-EDS. The incomplete decomposition rate was investigated with the observation of leaching residual by SEM-EDS. The decomposition kinetics of the RE minerals with the addition of MgO was analyzed with the Ginstling-Brundshtein model, where the reaction rate was controlled by chemical reaction.