Warta Geologi, Vol. 51, No. 2, August 2025, pp. 86-97
Kribagiry Thamilarasan*, Mohd Suhaili bin Ismail
Geosciences Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
*Corresponding author email address: kriba.arasan96@gmail.com
Abstract: This study examines the effect of pre-treatment techniques of sieving and grinding on the concentration and extractable yield of rare earth elements (REEs) from ion adsorption clay (IAC) in Lumut, Perak. Three 3 kg samples were prepared: raw (untreated), sieved to <600 μm, and ground to <600 μm. The REE concentrations in the digested samples were analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), while the mineralogical composition was determined using X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The results showed that sieving significantly enriched light REEs (LREEs), with La and Nd up 38.7% and 40.1%, respectively, compared to the raw sample. However, only 1.65 kg of sample was retained post-sieving, resulting in a lower total recovery of La (76.3%). In contrast, grinding retained 2.92 kg and yielded a higher La recovery (84.5%) despite a lower concentration. These findings demonstrate a trade-off between concentration and mass yield: sieving is effective for enriching REEs in fine fractions, whereas grinding maximizes total extractable REEs. This study emphasizes the importance of integrating both concentration and mass balance in evaluating REE processing methods. It supports sieving as a selective enrichment technique and grinding as a superior alternative for maximizing total recovery from IAC.
Keywords: Ion adsorption clay, rare earth elements, sieving, grinding, minerals, Malaysia
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Manuscript received 8 January 2025;
Received in revised form 9 March 2025;
Accepted 8 August 2025
Available online 30 August 2025
DOI : https://doi.org/10.7186/wg512202503
0126-5539; 2682-7549 / Published by the Geological Society of Malaysia.
© 2025 by the Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License 4.0
