Rumour mill - potentially huge news, page-12

The LAMP was certainly involved in this research. The Nature paper (published 8Jun23) is very comprehensive:

‘….. The radioactive residue that was used in the current research was acquired from rare earth extraction industry situated in Malaysia. The residue was dried at 105 °C for 3 days to make sure that the most amount of moisture content was eliminated. After that, the residue was left to cool at room temperature (25 °C) for sufficient time. Then, it was ground and sieved with a mesh size of 500 μm to obtain a homogeneous fine powder….’

Conclusion: ‘….. Our results demonstrated that PZ exhibited the highest selectivity for thorium and achieved nearly complete removal of thorium ions. As a result, the use of PZ in thorium removal from rare earth residue is expected to reduce the waste volume for disposal by 95%. Overall, the successful removal of thorium and the potential reduction in rare-earth residue volume have positive implications for the rare earth sector in Malaysia. These findings are likely to foster favorable perceptions and attitudes towards the industry, ultimately contributing to its further development in the near future….’

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-36487-5#Sec1