Optimization of Nitric Acid Leaching of Rare Earth Elements From Moroccan Natural Phosphate

Phosphate is a very important natural resource in Morocco and one of the secondary resources of rare earth elements. Our study is particularly interested in Youssoufia phosphate, which contains 228.77 ppm of rare earth elements (ΣREEs). The purpose of our work is to study the influence of different parameters (acid concentration, solid/liquid ratio and temperature) in order to determine the optimal conditions for the leaching of rare earths. An experimental design (Doehlert matrix) has been drawn up to optimize the experimental conditions of the leaching. All tests were made with nitric acid at different concentrations varying between 1.5M and 4.5M with a solid/liquid ratio of 1/12 to 1/6; reaction temperature and duration are respectively 20°C to 80 °C and 60 min. The optimal conditions are obtained when using 69 °C as temperature, 4.1 M as acid concentration and 1/9 as solid/liquid ratio.