Author(s)

Yongqing Wang, Huayin Liang, Qibing Chang^*, Xiaozhen Zhang, Jian’er Zhou

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Xianghu, Jingdezhen, China.

Several hundred million tons of ion-adsorption rare earth tailings exist in Ganzhou, Southern China, which is a severe environmental hazard. To reduce and reutilize the tailing, kaolinite has been separated from the tailings by mechanical separation in laboratory scale and pilot scale. The results show that the tailing is mainly composed of fine kaolinite and coarse quart. Quartz and kaolinite can be separated by sieves, shaker, spiral chute or hydrocyclone, which has the similar results in laboratory scale and pilot scale. 30.2% of the tailings can be re-sourced and applied in ceramic industries. 41.7% of kaolinite can be obtained after sorting and iron removal by magnetic separator in pilot scale, which can be applied in ceramic industries according to the Chinese national standard (TC-3). The results give a progressive solution to re-source the tailings economically.

Rare Earth Tailing, Kaolinite, Separation, Reutilize, Iron Removal

Wang, Y.Q., Liang, H.Y., Chang, Q.B., Zhang, X.Z. and Zhou, J.E. (2016) Separation of Kaolinite from Ion-Adsorption Rare Earth Tailings in Southern China and Iron Removal Treatment. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 4, 40-47. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2016.41005.