Development of a Rare Earth Element Resource Database Management System
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Development of a Rare Earth Element Resource Database Management System Von der Fakultät für Georessourcen und Materialtechnik der Rheinisch-Westfä- lischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften genehmigte Dissertation vorgelegt von M.Sc. Patrick Friedrichs aus Würselen Berichter: Univ.-Prof. (em) Dr. rer. Nat. Franz Michael Meyer Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ing. Hermann Wotruba Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 27. Januar 2017 Diese Dissertation ist auf den Internetseiten der Hochschulbibliothek online verfügbar. Declaration Declaration I declare that this dissertation was composed by myself. The work contained herein is my own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text, and that this work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification except as specified. -------------------------------------------- (Patrick Friedrichs) II Acknowledgement Acknowledgement First, I would like to thank Prof. F. Michael Meyer for giving me the opportunity to write this dissertation as well as being part of the Siemens research program (S-FB). Fur- ther, I would like to offer my sincerest appreciation for his constant guidance, valuable feedback, and mostly for the keen interest, he showed throughout this dissertation. It was a pleasure working with him. Second, I would like to thank Prof. Wotruba for being the second communicant and also for his special interest in the DBMS he showed during the four years of the project. In addition, I would like to thank my colleague Nicolas Stoltz for the wonderful four years and the comfortable environment of cooperation and companionship. I will al- ways miss the time we had during this project. Moreover, I want to thank Siemens AG for funding this interesting project as well as for the guidance throughout this project. Further, I am thankful for giving me the oppor- tunity to write invention disclosures as well as patents. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Peuker and Dr. Sonja Wolfrum (Siemens AG) for their continuous feedback and that they always had a sympathetic ear. I am highly indebted and grateful to my fiancée Amelie for days and weeks of proof- reading, discussions and the moods she had to stand during the last couple of years. Thank you for your patience, love and encouragement throughout all ups and downs. Finally, I want to acknowledge the contribution of my family and friends, who supported me in all difficulties I encountered in my efforts to accomplish this dissertation. My sin- cere gratitude goes to my parents for supporting and encouraging me during the years. III Publications Publications Friedrichs, P.T. & Meyer, F.M.: REE Database Management System: Evaluation of REE deposits and occurrences. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). Jour- nal of Sustainable Metallurgy, Springer, 2016. Friedrichs, P.T., Meyer, F.M. & Stoltz, N.B.: Evaluation of Rare Earth deposits using a dynamic Database Management System. 11th Rare Earth Conference, Singapore, No- vember 12th 2015. Friedrichs, P.T., Meyer, F.M. & Stoltz, N.B.: Evaluation of Rare Earth deposits using a dynamic Database Management System (Poster). 11th Rare Earth Conference, Singa- pore, November 12th 2015. Stoltz, N.B., Friedrichs, P.T. & Meyer, F.M.: Ion Adsorption Clays – A Geometallurgical Approach. 11th Rare Earth Conference, Singapore, November 12th 2015. Friedrichs, P.T., Stoltz, N.B. & Meyer, F.M.: Introducing a Rare Earth Resource Man- agement System. SGA 13th Biennal Meeting, Nancy, 24th – 26th August 2015. Friedrichs, P.T., Meyer, F.M. & Stoltz, N.B.: The economic potential of the global Heavy Rare Earth Element deposits in comparison to the high-class Chinese deposits. Joint Meeting GV and DMG, Tübingen, September 16th, 2013. Stoltz, N.B., Meyer, F.M. & Friedrichs, P.T.: Economic potential of Rare Earth Elements in apatite of the Khibina Complex, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Joint Meeting GV and DMG, Tübingen, September 16th, 2013. IV Patents of the S-FB Friedrichs, P.T., Meyer, F.M. & Stoltz, N.B.: The economic potential of global REE deposits. Rare Earth Elements and Compounds Conference, Munster, September 2015. Stoltz, N.B., Meyer, F.M. & Friedrichs, P.T.: No metal without mineral – geometallurgy of unconventional REE ores and minerals. Rare Earth Elements and Compounds Con- ference, Munster, September 2015. Patents of the S-FB DE 102014203171 A1 - Verfahren zur Abtrennung von Seltenerdverbindungen aus einem Feststoffgemisch. Veröffentlichungsdatum: 27.August, 2015. Erfinder. Patrick Friedrichs (RWTH), Marc Hanebuth (Siemens AG), Nicolas Stoltz (RWTH), Sonja Wolfrum (Siemens AG). DE 102014202792 A1 - Mobile Vorrichtung zur Behandlung von wertstoffhaltigem Ab- baugut. Veröffentlichungsdatum: 20. August 2015. Erfinder: Patrick Friedrichs (RWTH), F. Michael Meyer (RWTH), Nicolas Stoltz (RWTH), Sonja Wolfrum (Siemens AG). DE 102014201303 A1 - Verfahren zur Abtrennung von Seltenerd-Bestandteilen aus einem unterschiedliche Seltenerd-Bestandteile sowie wenigstens einen Nicht-Selten- erd-Bestandteil enthaltenden Gemengestrom. Veröffentlichungsdatum: 30. Juli, 2015. Erfinder: Sonja Wolfrum (Siemens AG), Patrick Friedrichs (RWTH), Marc Hanebuth (Siemens AG), Nicolas Stoltz (RWTH). V Table of Content Table of Content Declaration ................................................................................................................................. II Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................... III Publications .............................................................................................................................. IV Patents of the S-FB .................................................................................................................... V Table of Content ....................................................................................................................... VI List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... IX List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... XII List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. XIII Abstract ................................................................................................................................... XV Kurzfassung .......................................................................................................................... XVII 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Aim ................................................................................................................................... 2 2 Rare Earth Elements ............................................................................................................. 4 2.1 Definition and explanation of REE terms ........................................................................ 4 2.2 Applications and use of REE ........................................................................................... 5 2.3 Critical Elements of REE ................................................................................................. 8 2.3.1 Calculation of specific methods to evaluate CREE-deposits ............................. 10 2.3.2 Interpretation of CREO values in REE deposits ................................................ 12 3 Mineralogy & Geology ...................................................................................................... 17 3.1 REE Minerals and ores ................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Deposit Types ................................................................................................................. 19 3.3 Resources & Reserves .................................................................................................... 20 3.3.1 Terms .................................................................................................................. 20 3.4 REE Deposits ................................................................................................................. 25 3.4.1 LREE deposits .................................................................................................... 25 3.4.2 HREE+Y deposits .............................................................................................. 29 4 Economy ............................................................................................................................ 31 4.1 Market of the Rare Earth Elements ................................................................................ 31 4.1.1 Pricing ................................................................................................................ 36 4.1.2 Supply & Demand .............................................................................................. 38 4.1.3 Price Development ............................................................................................. 41 5 Development of the Database Management System (DBMS) ........................................... 51 VI Table of Content 5.1 Definition of parameters ................................................................................................