Research Article
Life Cycle Impact of Rare Earth Elements
Table 1
Bayan Obo iron ore composition and relative economic value of coproducts.
| | Commodity | Fraction in Bayan Obo deposit, % | —Price per tone*, US$ | —Normalised fraction, % | —Share in economic value, % |
| | Iron ore (hematite) | 33 | 120.35 | 84.33 | 2.87 | | RE oxides () | 6 | 215400.00 | 15.33 | 93.31 | | Niobium ore (columbite) | 0.13 | 41000.00 | 0.33 | 3.82 | | Fluorite (CaF2) | 2 | — | — | 0 | | Thorium oxide (ThO2) | 0.16 | — | — | 0 | | Phosporus oxide (PO4) | 0.86 | — | — | 0 | | Rest | 57.85 | — | — | 0 |
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Prices are shown for the year 2009-2010. Prices estimated for iron ore [11], REO [12], and niobium ore [13].
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