Author 1:
Name & Surname: Kalugin A. I.
Company: Apatit JSC (Kirovsk, Russia)
Work Position: Technical Director—Chief Engineer
Scientific Degree: Candidate of Engineering Sciences
Contacts: e-mail: AKalugin@phosagro.ru

Author 2:
Name & Surname: Levin B. V.
Company: Research Institute for Fertilizers and Insectofungicides (NIUIF) (Moscow, Russia)
Work Position: General Director
Scientific Degree: Candidate of Engineering Sciences

Apatite concentrate (AC) is a compound mineral material that can yield such by-products as fluorine, rare earth elements (REE) and strontium under certain acid treatment. For strontium and REE, the most efficient treatment is possible with nitric acid; for fluorine recovery, sulfuric acid treatment is the best. All plants within PhosAgro use the sulfuric acid treatment method for AC dissociation. In this context, the article focuses on particular issues of the sulfuric acid treatment technology for fluorine recovery and processing. The Khibiny AC contains close to 1% of total REE oxides, where light elements (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium) prevail. The economic efficiency of REE recovery from the AC acid conversion product depends on the dissociation method, REE recovery technology and the light/medium-weight elements ratio. Until 2011, REE extraction from the conversion product of the AC acid treatment was unprofitable, even at maximized REE recovery, due to the low price of the light-group REE. So, the integrated and sound approach to REE recovery from AC should be elaborated from the standpoints of the technology, industry, economy, investment and market. This article considers the state-of-the-art and trends of advance in production and expansion of the range of prime concentrates and individual REE, production and consumption balance, technologies of REE recovery from special and multicomponent materials; besides, the applications of the technology of REE recovery from AC after acid treatment are presented. The all-embracing analysis of the current production situation and new projects in the sphere of rare earth elements will define the implication of AC as a feedstock for REE recovery. Apatite JSC and the Kola Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences continue the teamwork on creating the technological basic for the production of titanium dioxide pigment (titanium white), various purpose sorbents, chemically pure sphene concentrate, titanium hardener, mineral wool and chemically stable coatings made of aegirine concentrates. Production of coagulation and flocculation agents from nepheline concentrate after nitric acid treatment is under development.

1. Brylyakov Yu. E., Nikolaev A. I., Gerasimova L. G. Perspektivnye napravleniya v tekhnologii pererabotki kontsentratov kompleksnogo obogashcheniya apatit-nefelinovykh rud (Prospective ways in technology of processing of concentrates of complex apatite-nepheline ores dressing). Gornyi Zhurnal = Mining Journal. No. 9. pp. 62–65.