Effects of Ammonium Salts on Rare Earth Leaching Process of Weathered Crust Elution-Deposited Rare Earth Ores

In order to reveal the influence of ammonium salts on the rare earth leaching process of weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ores, ammonium acetate, ammonium chloride, and ammonium sulfate were used as leaching agents. The effects of the leaching agent on the rare earth leaching efficiency and the expansion, dissolution, and transformation behavior of clay minerals in the rare earth leaching process were studied. The results showed that rare earth leaching efficiency followed the order ammonium acetate > ammonium chloride > ammonium sulfate, with values of 90.60%, 85.96%, and 84.12%, respectively. The swelling ratio of clay mineral followed the order ammonium acetate < ammonium chloride < ammonium sulfate; the clay mineral swelling ratio was 2.09% when ammonium acetate was the leaching agent. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the interlayer water content was the lowest when ammonium acetate was used as the leaching agent. Under the conditions of different leaching agents, the clay mineral contents changed from illite and halloysite to smectite and kaolinite. When ammonium acetate was used as the leaching agent, the relative conversion of illite was 1.49%, and that of smectite was only 0.17%. SEM analysis showed that the clay minerals expanded and dissolved obviously when ammonium chloride and ammonium sulfate were used as the leaching agents. Meanwhile, the clay mineral layered structure was relatively complete when ammonium acetate was used as the leaching agent. Therefore, when ammonium acetate was used as the leaching agent, it had the least effect on the swelling, dissolution, and transformation of clay minerals. This can provide a theoretical basis for the safe production of weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ore, and for the screening of green and efficient leaching agents.