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.
| Stage | Process | Energy consumption, MJ | Water consumption, kL | Environmental impact | Electricity | Heat energy | GHG emissions, kg CO2 eq. | Resource depletion, MJ surplus |
| Stage 1 | Mining and beneficiation | 4.64 | 10.11 | 3.24 | 3.95 | 5.46 |
| Stage 2a | REO extraction from bastnasite | 5.60 | 90.00 | 19.09 | 10.5 | 13.9 | REO extraction from monazite | 55.60 | 11.90 | 18.15 | 18.3 | 19.6 |
| Stage 2b | Light REO separation | 12.60 | 0 | 0.58 | 3.3 | 2.80 | Medium REO separation | 5.20 | 0 | 0.16 | 1.3 | 1.29 | Heavy REO separation | 15.50 | 0 | 8.52 | 5.5 | 5.57 |
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