Orbite Aluminae, in collaboration with two European partners, has used its patented rare-earth and rare-metal extraction and separation process to establish process parameters and a final design for the heavy-rare-earth and rare-metal separation technology that has allowed it to successfully extract the first commercial samples of heavy-rare-earth oxides and scandium from its shale clay deposit in Grande-Vallee. Since this process is suitable for extracting heavy rare earths from a variety of raw materials, Orbite has therefore become, to its knowledge, the only company on the continent with an operational extraction technology for HREOs (such as dysprosium and erbium) and rare metal oxides (such as gallium, scandium and yttrium) from shale clay.
Jack Lifton, an expert in rare earths and metals who recently gave an interview to Critical Metals Report, was quoted as saying that no other company will be ready to extract rare metals for a number of years to come, which is no small feat considering the major work that Orbite has recently undertaken.
Rare earth elements (REE) are 17 chemical elements (metallic) in the periodic table. REE deposits contain the 17 elements, but their distribution and proportions vary. They are considered scarce because of the difficulty in finding them in high enough concentrations to be profitably mined. REEs with a low atomic number are generally known as light rare earths, while those with a high atomic number are categorized as heavy rare earths.
In almost all deposits, the concentration of heavy rare earths in their ores is very low compared to light rare earths. Heavy rare earth elements are used in the manufacturing of many products, including permanent magnets, rechargeable batteries, phosphors, and polishing compounds. Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, yttrium, and terbium are the REEs most commonly used in these applications.
At this stage, no feasibility or prefeasibility study within the meaning of NI 43-101 has been completed in connection with the proposed SGA Plant. Rare earths and rare metals will be byproducts of alumina production and mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Scandium can be used as an alloying element in aluminium at concentrations of between 0.1% and 0.5%, considerably increasing strength and thermal resistance and opening the door to applications that until now have been limited, due to its scarcity and resulting high price. The planned Orbite smelter grade alumina production plant, which will be built in 2013 and is scheduled for start-up in 2014 will potentially produce 540,000 t/y of smelter grade alumina and 1,097 t of rare earths and metals (at an estimated recovery rate of 85%), including more than 60 t/y of scandium oxide.
The scandium eventually produced by the company should enable industrial uses of this material for which more than 100 applications have been patented over the past 50 years. Notable among these is scandium aluminium alloy for use in military and aeronautic applications as well as in solid oxide fuel cells, where the use of scandium oxide in conjunction with zirconium oxide enables a low-temperature electrolyte to be produced, markedly improving the efficiency of these fuel cells. In addition to scandium, Orbite also plans to produce more than 100 t/y of gallium. The gallium market is rapidly growing, driven by the gallium arsenide used in semiconductors, which are in increasing demand in high-performance photovoltaic applications.
The final design parameters, operating expenditures, capital expenditures and equivalent samples expected for the industrial phase are based on concentration factors and conditions that the company should achieve with its extraction process for smelter-grade alumina. Located on the L’Orignal Formation, the deposit resembles the large deposits in China on many levels. Having recently acquired 952 new claims covering a total of 543.2 km2 on a territory extending over 170 km ranging from Quebec City east to Cap-Chat, Quebec (see press release dated April 24, 2012), the company may have the potential, if geological testing on the new claims and the untested actual claims confirm the presence of rare earths and their content, to mine the one of world’s most valuable rare earth deposit, with a heavy rare earth content of more than 22% (to total rare earths volume) and containing scandium, whose oxide is extracted and separated as shown in the accompanying photo. In addition to scandium oxide, yttrium oxide and erbium oxide were also extracted in sufficient quantities to establish the final design parameters of Orbite’s commercial-scale plant. Gallium oxide is also one of the elements successfully extracted at high recovery rates and under the established design parameters, while the final work is currently being carried out for other heavy earths. Some of these, such as dysprosium and neodynium, are currently being completed, and the commercial design basis and expected yields are being established.
The independent evaluation of the Orbite technology for the individual extraction of rare metals and rare earths has been validated by two world-renowned third parties that have pooled their expertise: European group CMI-UVK and German firm MEAB. The evaluation has validated the extraction rate for certain rare earth and rare metal oxides at over 93% (see press release dated June 21, 2012).
“Thanks to its closed-loop hydrochloric acid regeneration process, Orbite can successfully use any source of these raw materials, even with a low concentration of rare earths, concentrate them into chlorides, and convert them into hydroxides and then into oxides,” stated Denis Primeau, the company’s Chief Engineer.
“We are very proud of this new technological development, which is essentially a first for heavy rare earths of high commercial value,” affirmed Richard Boudreault, President and Chief Executive Officer of Orbite. “This deposit of rare earths holds a significant commercial value potential, and we expect to be the first in North America to offer a heavy rare earth extraction and separation technique as a derivative product of alumina production. We have successfully produced commercial samples from demonstrated and measured concentrations of our leachate, notably for yttrium, erbium, scandium and gallium, which should help to greatly reduce the economic risks associated with the Chinese concentration of separation techniques.”