Development of sequential extraction method for rare earth elements

Separation of rare earth elements (REE) from South Sulawesi soil has been carried out using three sequential extraction methods. Rare earth elements were determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) instrument. The REE metals analyzed were Ce, La, Nd, Pr, and Y. The results showed thatthere were 6 species of Ce, La, Nd, Pr, and Y with the highest species for Cerium was C6 in the amount of 28,514 ppm; Lanthanum A1 of 63,344 ppm; Neodymium A1 of 62,916 ppm; Praseodymium A1 of 39,004 ppm; and YttriumC1 of 51,124 ppm, respectively. The main species Ce were identified as strong acid soluble/oxidisable compounds, while La, Nd, Pr and Y were identified as adsorbed-exchangeable-carbonate species. Method A is recommended as asequential extraction method for REE from South Sulawesi soil.