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17
/ WIS
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ial I
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albertaacademicreview.com
Analyzing the Rare Earth Elements (REE’s) and Trace Metals in TailingsRachel Butler1, Deepak Pudasainee1, Md Khan1, Rajender Gupta1
1Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta
Key words:bitumen, froth treatment tailings, Gupta lab, rare earth elements, trace metals, oil sands, TGA, alberta, chemical engineering
Abstract
In the process of producing bitumen from oil sand, a by-product called tailings is produced. Tailings are a mixture of clay, fine particles, water, solvent and residual bitumen. The industry’s current approach is to leave them in tailings ponds; however, that may cause environmental impacts to the ecosystems around them due in part to the toxic trace metals found in them. Research has shown that there are also valuable rare Earth elements (REEs) present in tailings. REEs found in tailings include Cerium, Neodymium, Lanthanum etc. Iron, Titanium, and Zirconium are not considered REEs but are still valuable enough to be extracted. The objective of this research was to determine the concentration of REEs and trace metals in bitumen froth treatment tailings (FTT). Our research team used acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) to measure the concentration of REEs and trace metals in several samples of FTT ash. We learned that Cerium was the most prevalent REE in tailings samples (>1000ppm), followed by Neodymium and Lanthanum. Zirconium was the most prevalent trace metal found in this tailings sample (>1000ppm), followed closely by Vanadium. Knowing the exact concentration of harmful trace metals in tailings will allow us to determine the extent of tailings ponds environmental effect and toxicity. Collecting and selling expensive metals found in tailings could be the start of a new precious metals economy in Alberta, which would provide new investment opportunities and jobs. This would also encourage corporations to invest in finding new ways to extract these precious metals, resulting in more purified tailings and less tailings overall going into tailings ponds.
Cite as: Butler R., Pudasainee D., Khan M., Gupta R. 2019. Analyzing the rare earth elements (REEs) and trace metals in tailings. Alberta Academic Review, Vol 2 (2) 17-18, WISEST Special Issue (non peer-reviewed), DOI 10.29173/aar54.
ISSN 2561-5327 (print)ISSN 2561-5335 (online)
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Intr
oduc
tion
Met
hods
Res
ults
Ack
now
ledg
emen
tsIw
ould
like
toth
ank
Can
ada
Sum
mer
Jobs
,the
Facu
ltyof
Eng
inee
ring
atU
nive
rsity
ofA
lber
ta,t
heW
ISE
STte
am,a
ndm
ypa
rtner
Iqm
atIy
iola
.
This
proj
ecti
nD
r.G
upta
’sgr
oup
was
supp
orte
dby
Alb
erta
Env
ironm
ent
and
Par
ks.
Ana
lysis
of R
are
Eart
h El
emen
ts a
nd T
race
Met
als i
n Ta
iling
s
Rac
hel B
utle
r, D
eepa
k Pu
dasa
inee
, Md
Kha
n, R
ajen
dar G
upta
Dep
artm
ent o
f Che
mic
al a
nd M
ater
ials
Eng
inee
ring,
Uni
vers
ity o
f Alb
erta
Lite
ratu
re C
ited
1. E
lliot,
Trac
y, H
owar
d, B
ret,
Eva
n, &
Ban
k. (2
017,
Apr
il 05
). R
are
Ear
th E
lem
ents
in A
lber
ta O
ilS
and
Pro
cess
Stre
ams.
Ret
rieve
d Ju
ly 3
1, 2
019,
from
http
s://w
ww
.ost
i.gov
/pag
es/s
ervl
ets/
purl/
1393
393
2. N
. (19
87, M
arch
01)
. Eco
nom
ic a
nd E
nviro
nmen
tal B
enef
its fr
om F
roth
Flo
tatio
n R
ecov
ery
ofTi
tani
um, Z
ircon
ium
, Iro
n an
d R
are
Ear
th M
iner
als
from
Oils
and
Taili
ngs.
Ret
rieve
d Ju
ly 3
1, 2
019,
from
http
s://i
wap
onlin
e.co
m/w
st/a
rticl
e/19
/3-4
/323
/228
80/E
cono
mic
-and
-Env
ironm
enta
l-Ben
efits
-fro
m-F
roth
Figu
re 5
. REE
s in
FTT
ash
. The
conc
entra
tion
is p
rese
nted
in lo
g sc
ale
•Th
eFT
Tlo
stup
to90
%of
itsin
itial
wei
ghtw
hen
heat
edto
550
°C.I
tha
sa
mos
tlyst
eady
wei
ght
loss
exce
ptfo
rno
tabl
edr
ops
at10
0°C
and
400°
C.
•C
eriu
mis
the
mos
tpre
vale
ntR
EE
inta
iling
s(>
1000
ppm
),fo
llow
edby
Neo
dym
ium
and
Lant
hanu
m.
•Zi
rcon
ium
isth
em
ost
prev
alen
ttra
cem
etal
foun
din
this
taili
ngs
sam
ple
(>10
00pp
m),
follo
wed
clos
ely
byVa
nadi
um.
Mer
cury
,Le
ad,
and
Ars
enic
are
also
conf
irmed
tobe
pres
ent
inta
iling
sbu
tth
eir
exac
tcon
cent
ratio
nsar
eye
tto
bede
term
ined
.
•Th
ene
xtst
epin
this
rese
arch
wou
ldbe
findi
ngsu
itabl
e,lo
w-c
ost
met
hods
toex
tract
RE
Esan
dtre
atto
xic
trace
met
als
inFT
T.
•R
esea
rch
one
step
furth
erco
uld
look
atca
ptur
ing
thes
em
iner
als
and
solv
ents
befo
reth
eyre
ach
taili
ngs
pond
s.C
ombi
ned,
thes
etw
oap
proa
ches
wou
ldre
duce
tota
lw
ater
usag
ew
hile
acce
lera
ting
the
recl
amat
ion
proc
ess.
Con
clus
ion
•R
are
Ear
thE
lem
ents
(RE
Es)
and
trace
met
als
are
conc
entra
ted
mos
tlyin
taili
ngs
com
pare
dto
othe
rpar
tsof
the
oils
ands
prod
uctio
npr
oces
s,th
ough
this
isst
illa
rela
tivel
ylo
wco
ncen
tratio
n.[1
]
•R
EEs
foun
din
taili
ngs
incl
ude
Cer
ium
,N
eody
miu
m,
and
Lant
hanu
met
c.Iro
n,Ti
tani
um,a
ndZi
rcon
ium
are
notc
onsi
dere
dR
EE
sbu
tare
still
valu
able
enou
ghto
beex
tract
ed.[2
]
•R
EEs
are
curr
ently
not
bein
gco
llect
edfro
mta
iling
s,bu
tif
they
wer
eth
isco
uld
supp
ort
Alb
erta
’spr
ecio
usm
iner
als
econ
omy
asw
ell
aspo
tent
ially
redu
ceth
eam
ount
ofta
iling
sbe
ing
dum
ped
inta
iling
spo
nds.
•Tr
ace
met
als
incl
ude
elem
ents
such
asLe
ad,
Cad
miu
m,
Mer
cury
,Va
nadi
um.M
any
are
toxi
cto
hum
ans
and
wild
life.
•Th
eob
ject
ive
ofth
isre
sear
chis
tode
term
ine
the
conc
entra
tion
ofR
EEs
and
trace
met
als
inbi
tum
enfro
thtre
atm
entt
ailin
gs.
Figu
re 2
.Muf
fle F
urna
ce
Pla
ce F
TT in
Cer
amic
Cru
cibl
es
Pla
ce F
TT in
Muf
fle F
urna
ce
Figu
re 1
.Cru
cibl
eH
eat a
t 10°C
/min
to 8
00°C
Res
iden
ce ti
me
of 2
hou
rs
Col
lect
ash
for a
naly
sis
Ash
pre
para
tion
from
taili
ngs
Met
hods
(co
nt’d
)
Ana
lysi
s fo
r met
als
Indu
ctiv
ely
coup
led
plas
ma
mas
ssp
ectro
scop
y an
alys
is (I
CP
-MS
)
Aci
d D
iges
tion
Ana
lysi
s fo
r REE
s
Thre
e st
ep a
cid
dige
stio
n
Figu
re 8
.Tra
ce E
lem
ents
in F
TT a
sh.
The
conc
entra
tion
is p
rese
nted
in lo
gsc
ale
Figu
re 3
.The
rmal
beh
avio
r of F
TT in
ther
mo
grav
imet
ric a
naly
zer
(TG
A)
App
licat
ion
•K
now
ing
the
exac
tco
ncen
tratio
nof
harm
ful
trace
met
als
inta
iling
sw
illal
low
rese
arch
ers
tode
term
ine
the
exte
ntof
taili
ngs
pond
sen
viro
nmen
tald
amag
ean
dto
xici
ty.
•La
ntha
num
and
Yttr
ium
are
both
expe
nsiv
em
etal
s.C
olle
ctin
gan
dse
lling
them
from
taili
ngs
coul
dbe
the
star
tofa
new
prec
ious
met
als
econ
omy
inA
lber
ta,
whi
chw
ould
prov
ide
new
inve
stm
ent
oppo
rtuni
ties
and
jobs
.
Indu
ctiv
ely
coup
led
plas
ma
mas
ssp
ectro
scop
yan
alys
is (I
CP
-MS
)
Figu
re 4
.The
rmo
grav
imet
rican
alyz
er
Figu
re7.
FTT
Ash
Figu
re 6
.Drie
dFT
T
Butler et al., 2019
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