Study on Spectroscopic Determination and Electrical Properties of Rare Earth Minerals

Abstract

The applications of the rare earth elements (REE's) become increasingly important in different fields. The extremely unusual physical properties of REE's are the reason for a number of applications. Monazite mineral can be found in some Egyptian ores especially Black-sand which is present in the northern coast of Egypt. The monazite mineral can be considered as a major source for thoria and urania in Egypt, it also contains a high ratio of REE. The study follows the upgrading of monazite from black sand ore using physical separation methods. Monazite samples were then separated chemically into highly REE content cake and uranium-thorium cake. The aim of the present work is to elaborate and develop a technique for the quantitative analysis of rare earth elements in ores. This study tried also through the measurements of the electrical properties to give a quantified explanation for the behaviour of monazite mineral during its separation. The present thesis is divided into introduction and three chapters: The introduction contains the applications of REE's in different fields, their physical properties of REE and the physical techniques used during the two parts of the thesis (spectroscopic and electrical properties study) on REE minerals. Chapter I is devoted to review briefly the fundamental theories related to the analytical and electrical techniques used in this study. The black sand ore and its constituent minerals are described; also, the physical separation methods (gravitational, magnetic and electrostatic) of monazite from the black sand are explained.