Partitioning properties of rare earth ores in China

The properties of rare earth partitioning in Chinese industrial rare earth ores were analyzed. Rare earth ores can be divided into the single-mineral type ore with bastnaesite, the multi-mineral type ore with bastnaesite and monazite, and the weathering crust type. Both the Bayan Obo rare earth ore and the Zhushan rare earth ore are a kind of mixed ore, consisting of bastnaesite and monazite. Their rare earth partitionings are strongly enriched in light rare earths, where CeO2 is 50% and the light rare earth partitioning is totally over 95%. The Mianning rare earth ore as well as the Weishan rare earth is a kind of rare earth ore only having bastnaesite. Their rare earth partitionings are also strongly enriched in light rare earths,in which CeO2 is 47% and the light rare earth partitioning is totally over 94%. For the weathering crust type rare earth ore,there are the Longnan rare earth ore, the Xunwu rare earth ore, and the middle yttrium and rich europium ore. In the Longnan rare earth ore, which is strongly enriched in heavy rare earths, Y2O3 is 64.83%, and the heavy and light rare earth partitionings are 89.40% and 10.53%, respectively. In the Xunwu rare earth ore, which is strongly enriched in light rare earths, CeO2 is 47.16%, and the light rare earth partitioning is totally 93.25%. Y and Eu are enriched in the middle yttrium and rich europium ore. Its middle rare earth partitioning is totally over 10%, and Eu2O3 and Y2O3 are over 0.5% and 20%,respectively, which are mainly industrial resources of the middle and the heavy rare earths.