You have to be careful posting logical, reasoned comments here. The natives will get upset.
Below is further research on Eudialyte. Conclusions are positive. Note a pilot plant was established to test the outcomes. This is not just tests being carried out on a lab bench.
Shenghe have also stated that Eudialyte is worth further investigation.
More than likely the company will have to commence exploration for Eudialyte to keep their exploration license. IMHO.
5. Conclusion.
In this study, a complete hydrometallurgical treatment of a eudialyte concentrate from TANBREEZ was successfully carried out. The flowchart proposed was capable of achieving high REE recovery, avoiding silica gel formation and lowering operation costs (no external heating).The optimal parameters in Stages I and II were: HCl:concentrate ratio of 1.25:1 (l:kg), water:concentrate ratio of 2:1 (l:kg), dry digestion time 40 min, leaching temperature 20–25°C (room temperature) and leaching time 30 min. Under these conditions, a high REE extraction efficiency of 88.8% was obtained. By taking advantage of the dry digestion process with high concentrated acid, the leaching time and leaching temperature were found to have no significant influence on REE extraction. In Stage III, pH was adjusted to the optimum (~4.0) with CaCO3, which led to a preliminary impurity removal and met the requirement of filter pressing at the demonstration plant when scaling up.Using the opitimal parameters the upscaling test, preceding future industrial application, was conducted to verify the feasibility and efficiency of this REE extraction process. Some operational considerations were also recognised in the upscaling test. The final product, REE carbonate (up to 30.0 wt% total REE) was produced from the REE enriched solution by adding Na2CO3. The duration of this treatment was short and no external heating required. The overall efficiency of REE recovery reached 85.5%, which confirmed the feasibility and good performance of this process.
https://technology.matthey.com/content/journals/10.1595/205651318X15270000571362
