Process Development for the Hicks Dome Regolith Sources

The supply chain for critical materials is currently a major issue nationally and internationally due to their need for the manufacturing of renewable energy technologies, electric vehicles (EVs), advanced military technologies and common electronic commodities. The Hicks Dome geologic formation located in Rosiclare, Illinois contains enrichment of rare earth elements, niobium and other critical elements and, thus, represents a national strategic interest for addressing the supply chain issues. The proposed project will focus on the development of a process flowsheet for the extraction, concentration and purification of the valuable elements from the Cox regolith deposit associated with the Hicks Dome geologic formation. Project activities in Phase 1 will include characterization of the regolith material and evaluation of various physical concentration technologies to upgrade the valuable minerals prior to leaching. In Phase 2, laboratory leaching characterization tests will be performed on the concentrate or concentrates from the physical separation processed in Phase 1. Recovery of the valuable elements from the leachate(s) will be investigated by solvent extraction and selective crystallization as well as other advanced hydrometallurgical processes. The total project duration is anticipated to be 18 months. 1