The aim of the work was to draw attention to the usefulness of the alkaline thermal activation process with sodium hydroxide in the process of rare earth metal leaching (REE), from fly ash with hydrochloric acid and nitric acid(V). The work is a part of the authors’ own research aimed at optimizing the REE recovery process coming from fly ash from hard coal combustion.

The article contains an assessment of the possibility of leaching rare earth metals (REE) from fly ash originating from the combustion of hard coal in one of the Polish power plants. The process was carried out for various samples consisting of fly ash and sodium hydroxide and for different temperatures and reaction times. The process was carried out for samples consisting of fly ash and sodium hydroxide containing respectively 10, 20 and 30% on NaOH by weight in relation to the weight of fly ash. Homogenization of these mixtures was carried out wet, and then they were baked at 408K, 433K and 473K, for a period of three hours. The mixture thus obtained was ground to a particle size of less than 0.1 mm and washed with hot water to remove excessive NaOH. The solid post-reaction residue was digested in concentrated HCl at 373K for 1 hour at a weight ratio fs/fc of 1:10. The results of chemical analysis and scanning microscopic analysis along with EDS analysis and X-ray analysis were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of the tested material.

The results indicated that REE recovery from fly ash strictly depends on heat treatment temperature with NaOH, and an increase in REE recovery from alkaline-activated fly ash along with increasing the amount of NaOH in relation to fly ash mass.

During the geological prospecting works conducted in 2013 on Bangka Island (Indonesia), high monazite content was identified in the wastes produced during processing of cassiterite deposits. Monazite, among 250 known minerals containing REE , is one of the most important minerals as primary source of REE .The monazite content in this waste is up to 90.60%. The phase composition of the investigated tailing proves that the sources of minerals accompanying the placer sediments tin mineralization are granitoids. The tailing is composed of numerous ore minerals, including monazite, xenotime, zircon, cassiterite, malayaite, struverite, aeschynite-(Y), ilmenite, rutile, pseudorutile and anatase. Monazite grains belong to the group of cerium monazite. Its grains are characterized by high content of Ce2O3 27.12–33.50 w t.%, La2O3 up to 15.46 w t.%, Nd2O3 up to 12.87%. The total REE 2O3 + Y content ranges from 58.18 to 65.90 wt.%. Monazite grains observations (SEM -BSE) revealed the presence of porous zones filled with fine phases of minerals with U and Th content. The radiation intensity of 232Th is ATh = 340 ± 10 Bq and 238AU = 114 ± 2 Bq. High content of monazite and other REE minerals indicates that tailing is a very rich, potential source of REE s, although the presence of radioactive elements at the moment is a technological obstacle in their processing and use. The utilization of monazite bearing waste in the Indonesian Islands can be an important factor for development and economic activation of this region and an example of the good practice of circular economy rules.