Rare earths of the Murmansk Region, NW Russia: minerals, extraction technologies and value

ABSTRACT There are rich deposits of rare earth elements (REE) in the Murmansk region, Russia (approximately 14 194 kt of REE2O3). At the moment only one of REE deposits are being extracted and processed, the Lovozero Loparite deposit. The main purpose of this article is to estimate the expected value of existing REE resources in the Murmansk region and to make an overview on actual technologies for the extraction and processing of REE from ore minerals. Based on these data, the authors propose a direction for the development of REE industry in the region, namely extraction of REE from minerals already mined (apatite of the Khibiny deposits and baddeleyite of the Kovdor deposit); optimisation or development of mineral processing technologies of eudialyte (the Lovozero Eudialyte deposit) and perovskite (the Afrikanda deposit); carrying out exploration works at the Keivy Zr-REE ore occurrences and developing processing and technologies for these ores.