Research Article

Life Cycle Impact of Rare Earth Elements

Table 3

Life cycle inventory and impact of production stages for the production of 1 kg of RE oxide.

StageProcessEnergy consumption, MJWater consumption, kLEnvironmental impact
ElectricityHeat energyGHG emissions, kg CO2 eq.Resource depletion, MJ surplus

Stage 1Mining and beneficiation4.6410.113.243.955.46

Stage 2aREO extraction from bastnasite5.6090.0019.0910.513.9
REO extraction from monazite55.6011.9018.1518.319.6

Stage 2bLight REO separation12.6000.583.32.80
Medium REO separation5.2000.161.31.29
Heavy REO separation15.5008.525.55.57