JNARDDC to extract rare earth elements from red mud

Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), Nagpur is working to develop cheaper methods to extract rare earth elements (REE) from the waste generated from aluminium industry. The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and JNARDDC have started a project on this.

The project aims at developing a process to extract REE from red mud which can be easily available from aluminium industries and are considered as a hazardous waste.

Dr Upendra Kumar Singh, Senior Scientist, JNARDDC and Principal Investigator of the project said, “In India, Monazite is the principal source of rare earths minerals through mining. For other REE, India was a major importer from China, but after the restriction, Government of India is planning to get it locally and Red Mud is a best option to get it.”

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“About 35 to 40 per cent of the processed bauxite ore goes into the waste in the form of red mud and aluminium industry in India produces 5 million tonnes of red mud annually. The red mud contains about 0.5-0.8 per cent of REEs which can be recovered through scientific process and JNARDDC is working to develop cheaper methods for it.”

He further added, “This process can reduce the extraction cost of REE which is a big concern for the Government of India. Currently we are producing 1,700 MT rare earth every year but this process can doubled the production and India can also export rare earth to other countries.”

Apart from modern devices, REE are significant for defence applications like fighter jet engines, missile guidance systems, anti-missile system, satellites, nuclear reactors and defence communication system etc.