Process of recovering rare earth elements from a waste product using kinetic pulverization

Abstract

The present document related to the processing of materials, such as ash waste, mining waste, consumer waste, or industrial waste, to separate valuable components. There is provided a process and system for extracting a valuable component, such as rare earth elements (REE) from a feedstock comprising REE-embedded material. The process can comprise subjecting the feedstock to a kinetic pulverization stage wherein the feedstock is subjected to self-collisions created by vortices within the kinetic pulverizer to produce a pulverized material; and subjecting the pulverized material to an extraction stage to produce a valuable component-rich stream and a valuable component-depleted stream. There is also provided processes for separating REEs from fossil fuel ash and municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) ash to produce an REE-enriched component, which can be separated into individual REE components, and a REE-depleted material.

Description

PROCESS OF RECOVERING RARE EARTH ELEMENTS FROM A WASTE PRODUCT USING KINETIC PULVERIZATIONPRIOR APPLICATIONThe present application claims priority from Canadian patent application no. 3,210,082, filed on August 24, 2023 and entitled “PROCESS OF RECOVERING RARE EARTH ELEMENTS FROM A WASTE PRODUCT USING KINETIC PULVERIZATION”, the disclosure of which being hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.TECHNICAL FIELDThe technical field generally relates to the processing of waste materials, such as ash waste, industrial waste, consumer waste, or mining waste to separate valuable components. More specifically, the technical field generally relates to the processing of waste materials to separate rare earth elements (REE).BACKGROUND

[0001] Fossil fuel burning plants produce hundreds of millions of tonnes of ash per year, which is sometimes referred to as coal ash, fly ash, bottom ash, or boiler slag (herein collectively referred to as fossil fuel ash). Similarly, waste streams can be incinerated to produce incinerator ash, such as municipal solid waste being incinerated to produce municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ash. These types of ash include various rare earth elements, some of which are toxic, which prevents the ash from being used in as a secondary product, such as fertilizer or filler. Fossil fuel and MSWI ash can also include arsenic, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals that make recycling the material difficult.

[0002] Conventional producers of ash waste store the ash waste, for example in toxic ash ponds, which can break and cause the toxic sludge to spread over land or into water sources. Some types of ash, for example fly ash, can be recycled into building products, such as concrete and wallboard, which renders the toxic materials within the ash safe for use. However, recycling the entire ash waste product also renders the rare earth elements unusable and prevents their isolation and reuse.

[0003] Some of the rare earth elements have a very high value in part due to the difficulty in separating individual elements from other rare earth elements. The atomic structures of the various types of rare earth elements have valence or bonding electrons on their outermost electron shell, causing the elements to react in similar ways, such that their separation from each other can be difficult. There are various challenges involved in processing materials, such as waste materials including ash, to isolate rare earth elements and there is a need for technologies that overcome at least some of such challenges.SUMMARY

[0004] It is therefore an aim of the present technology to address the above mentioned issues.

[0005] According to a general aspect, there is provided a process for extracting one or more valuable components from a feedstock comprising material embedded with the one or more valuable components, the process comprising: subjecting the feedstock to a kinetic pulverization stage wherein the feedstock is fed into a kinetic pulverizer and subjected to self-collisions created by vortices within the kinetic pulverizer to produce a pulverized material; and subjecting the pulverized material to an extraction stage to produce a valuable component-rich stream and a valuable component-depleted stream; wherein the extraction stage comprises a leaching stage and a recovery stage.

[0006] According to another aspect, there is provided a process for extracting one or more valuable components from a feedstock comprising material embedded with the one or more valuable components, the process comprising: providing a kinetic pulverizer comprising a pulverizing rotor assembly disposed within an interior chamber, wherein the pulverizing rotor assembly is configured to rotate to form vortices that subject the feedstock to self-collisions within the interior chamber; subjecting the feedstock to a kinetic pulverization stage wherein the feedstock is fed into the kinetic pulverizer to produce a pulverized material; and subjecting the pulverized material to an extraction stage to produce a valuable component-rich stream and a valuable component-depleted stream; wherein the extraction stage comprises a leaching stage and a recovery stage.

[0007] In some embodiments, the recovery stage comprises a magnetic separation stage.

[0008] In some embodiments, the magnetic separation stage is a wet magnetic separation stage.

[0009] In some embodiments, the recovery stage comprises a density separation stage.

[0010] In some embodiments, the density separation stage comprises one or more flotation separation stages.

[0011] In some embodiments, the leaching stage comprises leaching with a leaching liquid and the flotation separation stage comprises introducing an aqueous solution comprising the leaching liquid and the pulverized material to a float sink tank and selectively removing at least one of the one or more valuable components based on density.

[0012] In some embodiments, the leaching liquid is introduced to at least one of: the feedstock, the kinetic pulverizer, and the pulverized material.

[0013] In some embodiments, the leaching liquid is introduced to at least one of the kinetic pulverizer and the feedstock at least one of: concurrently with and before the feedstock is subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage.

[0014] In some embodiments, the leaching liquid is introduced directly into the kinetic pulverizer concurrently with the feedstock and as a separate leach stream from the feedstock.

[0015] In some embodiments, the leaching liquid is introduced to the pulverized material after the feedstock is subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage.

[0016] In some embodiments, the feedstock comprises at least one of ash waste, mining waste, industrial waste, and consumer waste.

[0017] In some embodiments, the ash waste is at least one of fossil fuel ash and municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) ash.

[0018] In some embodiments, the valuable component comprises at least one of silica, calcite, and gypsum.

[0019] In some embodiments, the valuable component comprises rare earth elements.

[0020] In some embodiments, the rare earth elements comprise at least one of neodymium, yttrium, cerium, scandium, lanthanum, praseodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium.

[0021] In some embodiments, the kinetic pulverizer is operated such that the pulverized material is less than about 2 mm in diameter.

[0022] In some embodiments, the kinetic pulverizer is operated such that the pulverized material is less than about 500 microns in diameter.

[0023] In some embodiments, the kinetic pulverizer is operated such that the pulverized material is less than 297 microns in diameter.

[0024] In some embodiments, the pulverized material is a homogeneous mixture in a pulverized output stream.

[0025] In some embodiments, the process further comprises subjecting the feedstock to a pre-treatment stage prior to the kinetic pulverization stage.

[0026] In some embodiments, the pre-treatment stage is a magnetic separation stage that separates ferrous material from the feedstock before the feedstock is subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage.

[0027] In some embodiments, the magnetic separation stage is performed by one or more magnetic separators configured relative to a feed of the feedstock.

[0028] In some embodiments, the pre-treatment stage comprises at least one of: a coarse sizing stage, a chemical addition stage, a drying stage, a cooling stage, and a debris separation stage.

[0029] In some embodiments, the process further comprises subjecting the pulverized material to a post-treatment stage.

[0030] In some embodiments, the post- treatment stage comprises at least one of: a chemical addition stage, a heating stage, a debris separation stage, an electrostatic separation stage, a dust collection stage, and a secondary size-reduction stage.

[0031] In some embodiments, the dust collection stage comprises recovering a dust fraction therefrom and producing a dust reduced pulverized stream.

[0032] In some embodiments, the dust reduced pulverized stream is subjected to the extraction stage, and optionally the dust fraction is also recovered and fed to the extraction stage.

[0033] In some embodiments, the electrostatic separation stage comprises electrostatically separating particulate material from the pulverized material.

[0034] In some embodiments, the process further comprises: monitoring at least one of: at least one feed parameter of the feedstock; and at least one output parameter of the pulverized material; and adjusting the kinetic pulverization stage based on at least one of: the at least one feed parameter and the at least one output parameter.

[0035] In some embodiments, the at least one feed parameter comprises at least one of a feed rate of the feedstock, a moisture content of the feedstock, and a composition of the feedstock.

[0036] In some embodiments, the at least one output parameter comprises at least one of: size properties of the pulverized material, a composition of the pulverized material, a moisture content of the pulverized material, a flow rate of the pulverized material, and a composition of the pulverized material.

[0037] In some embodiments, the adjusting of the kinetic pulverization stage comprises adjusting a rotation speed of the kinetic pulverizer.

[0038] In some embodiments, the adjusting of the kinetic pulverization stage comprises adjusting an infeed rate of the feedstock into the kinetic pulverizer.

[0039] In some embodiments, the process further comprises admixing the feedstock or the pulverized material with a chemical additive configured to selectively liberate the one or more valuable components from the material.

[0040] In some embodiments, the chemical additive comprises an ion source configured to undergo ion-exchange with the one or more valuable components.

[0041] In some embodiments, the chemical additive is selected from the group consisting of NaCI, PCI3, KCI, Na2SO4, K2SO4, MgSO4, CaSO4, NaNO3, KNO3, CaCI2, MgCI2, Ca(NC>3)2, and Mg(NC>3)2.

[0042] According to another aspect, there is provided a process for extracting one or more rare earth elements (REE) from a feedstock, the process comprising: subjecting the feedstock to a kinetic pulverization stage wherein the feedstock is fed into a kinetic pulverizer and subjected to self-collisions created by vortices within the kinetic pulverizer to produce a pulverized material; and admixing the pulverized material with a leaching liquid to produce a REE-enriched component and an REE-depleted component; and isolating the REE-enriched component from the REE-depleted component to produce one or more REE streams and an REE-depleted material.

[0043] According to another aspect, there is provided a process for extracting one or more rare earth elements (REE) from a feedstock, the process comprising: providing a kinetic pulverizer comprising a pulverizing rotor assembly disposed within an interior chamber, wherein the pulverizing rotor assembly is configured to rotate to form vortices that subject the feedstock to self-collisions within the interior chamber; subjecting the feedstock to a kinetic pulverization stage wherein the feedstock is fed into the kinetic pulverizer and subjected to self-collisions created by vortices within the kinetic pulverizer to produce a pulverized material; and admixing the pulverized material with a leaching liquid to produce a REE-enriched component and an REE-depleted component; and isolating the REE- enriched component from the REE-depleted component to produce one or more REE streams and an REE-depleted material.

[0044] In some embodiments, the feedstock comprises ash waste.

[0045] In some embodiments, the ash waste comprises at least one of fossil fuel ash and municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ash.

[0046] In some embodiments, the feedstock comprises consumer waste.

[0047] In some embodiments, the consumer waste is electronic waste.

[0048] In some embodiments, the feedstock comprises industrial waste.

[0049] In some embodiments, the industrial waste is at least one of phosphogypsum and bauxite residue.

[0050] In some embodiments, isolating the REE-enriched component comprises leaching the pulverized material with the leaching liquid to produce a leachate and recovering the REE-enriched component from the leachate.

[0051] In some embodiments, recovering the REE-enriched component from the leachate comprises magnetic separation.

[0052] In some embodiments, recovering the REE-enriched component from the leachate comprises separation based on density.

[0053] In some embodiments, recovering the REE-enriched component from the leachate comprises introducing the leachate to an ion exchange resin and eluting the REE stream.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0054] FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram for extracting a valuable REE component from a waste feedstock including a kinetic pulverization stage.

[0055] FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram for extracting a valuable REE component from a feedstock including a pre-treatment stage, a kinetic pulverization stage, a post-treatment stage and an extraction stage.

[0056] FIG. 3A is a process flow diagram for extracting a valuable REE component from a feedstock including a kinetic pulverization stage.

[0057] FIG. 3B is a process flow diagram for size reducing a feedstock and homogenizing with an additive to make an end product.

[0058] FIG. 3C is a process flow diagram for size reducing a feedstock and to produce a raw material stream comprising a raw material, including a kinetic pulverization stage.

[0059] FIG. 4 is a left-side perspective view of a pulverizing apparatus, showing a motor and a housing for the pulverizing apparatus, according to an embodiment.

[0060] FIG. 5 is a right-side perspective view of the pulverizing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2, showing an outlet proximate the bottom end of the housing.

[0061] FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the pulverizing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2, showing a belt connection connecting the motor and a rotatable shaft.

[0062] FIG. 7 is a section view of the housing illustrated in FIG. 5, showing the rotatable shaft and rotors positioned within the housing.

[0063] FIG. 8 is a partially exploded view of the housing for the pulverizing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4.

[0064] FIG. 9 is a top sectional view of the housing for the pulverizing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4, showing a plurality of deflectors spaced about the rotatable shaft along the housing sidewall.

[0065] FIG. 10 is a section view of the housing shown in FIG. 7 with the rotatable shaft and rotors removed therefrom, showing shelves positioned along the sidewall at different levels within the housing.

[0066] FIG. 11 is a partially sectioned view of a pulverizing rotor mounted within the housing for the pulverizing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4, showing the vortices created within the housing.

[0067] FIG. 12 is a schematic top view of the housing according to an embodiment, showing overlapping vortices within the interior chamber of the housing.

[0068] FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a kinetic pulverizer system that includes multiple units for treating the feedstock.

[0069] FIG 14. is a process flow diagram for treating a feedstock using kinetic pulverization followed by screening, and also including a magnetic separation stage and a dust collection stage.

[0070] FIG. 15 is a process flow diagram for treating a feedstock using kinetic pulverization followed by screening, and also including a dust collection stage.

[0071] FIG. 16 is a side view schematic of an example magnetic separation stage.

[0072] FIG. 17 is a side view schematic of another example of a magnetic separation stage.

[0073] FIG. 18 is process flow diagram for extracting valuable REE components from an ash waste feedstock produced at a coal-fired power station, including a kinetic pulverization stage.

[0074] FIG. 19A is a photographic representation of a pre-processed bottom ash feedstock.

[0075] FIG. 19B is a photographic representation of a portion of the pre-processed bottom ash feedstock shown in FIG. 19A after having undergone a pre-treatment stage.

[0076] FIG. 19C is a photographic representation of a portion of the pre-processed bottom ash feedstock shown in FIG. 19A after having undergone a pre-treatment stage.

[0077] FIG. 19D a photographic representation of a portion of the pre-processed bottom ash feedstock shown in FIG. 19A after having undergone a pre-treatment stage.

[0078] FIG. 20 is a photographic representation of the portion of the pre-processed bottom ash feedstock shown in FIG. 19B after having undergone a kinetic pulverization stage and a post-treatment separation stage.

[0079] FIG. 21A is a photographic representation of the portion of the pre-processed bottom ash feedstock shown in FIG. 19B after having undergone a kinetic pulverization stage and a post-treatment separation stage.

[0080] FIG. 21 B is a photographic representation of the portion of the pre-processed bottom ash feedstock shown in FIG. 19D after having undergone a kinetic pulverization stage and a post-treatment separation stage.

[0081] FIG. 22A is a photographic representation of the portion of the pre-processed bottom ash feedstock shown in FIG. 19C after having undergone a kinetic pulverization stage and a post-treatment separation stage.

[0082] FIG. 22B is a photographic representation of the portion of the pre-processed bottom ash feedstock shown in FIG. 19D after having undergone a kinetic pulverization stage and a post-treatment separation stage.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0083] Processing and extraction of valuable rare earth element (REE) components from a waste feedstock can be enhanced by the use of a kinetic pulverization stage to facilitate size reduction of and, in some implementations, energy input to the feedstock. The kinetic pulverization stage can be one-pass where the feed material passes through a kinetic pulverizer to produce a pulverized output stream that is then processed downstream to extract the valuable REE components. In some embodiments, the pulverized output stream can be classified by size with larger particle sizes being optionally re-introduced to the kinetic pulverization stage and the smaller sized material being subjected to extraction to recover the valuable components. It is also possible to subject the material to multiple passes through one or more kinetic pulverizers. The high-energy, self-collision mechanisms of kinetic pulverization can enable collisions of feedstock lumps and particles to facilitate efficient size reduction and energy input notably greater than conventional mills, to produce a pulverized material with properties including particle size distribution suitable for subsequent extraction of valuable components.

[0084] In one example, the feedstock is an ash waste product, such as fossil fuel ash, incinerator ash (for example, from burning other fuel sources, such as wood, or other waste streams), or municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ash, that is subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage followed by extraction of rare earth elements (REE) and, optionally other value-added components, such as metals or trace elements (for example, gold, silver, iron, chromium, nickel, zinc, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, antimony, mercury, lead, barium, etc.) or minerals (calcite, gypsum, silica, etc.) from the size-reduced pulverized material. The extraction can include a leaching stage using solvents, such as acid or water, to produce an REE enriched leachate, which is then subjected to REE recovery to produce the REE product. In some embodiments, the REE enriched leachate undergoes multiple recovery stages to individual isolate different REEs in the REE enriched leachate. Various extraction methods can be used to extract the REE from the pulverized material.

[0085] In terms of the REE compounds that are separated from the waste material, in the context of the present description, REEs include the lanthanides as well as yttrium and scandium. In addition, it is noted that the REE compounds can be present in various forms, such as oxides and other complexes.

[0086] However, it is noted that various feedstocks can be subjected to kinetic pulverization followed by tailored extraction methods depending on the valuable component of interest, the properties of the feedstock matrix, and process design considerations. The kinetic pulverization stage can be operated to facilitate efficient energy input, rapid and efficient size reduction, mechanochemical processing of the feedstock, and enhanced extraction of the resulting pulverized material. It is noted that techniques described herein can be used in association with processes and systems described in patent application published as WO2021138345, which is incorporated herein by reference. For example, a kinetic pulverizer as described herein can be used for processing waste products instead of or in addition to size-reduction and / or milling units described in WO2021138345.

[0087] Referring now to Figure 1 , in some implementation, a feedstock 10 that is derived from an ash-generating operation 12 is provided to a kinetic pulverizer 16 for a kinetic pulverization stage 13 to produce a pulverized output material 18. In some embodiments, the feedstock 10 can be fossil fuel ash waste derived from a fossil fuel burning operation 12 and / or incinerator ash, such as MSWI ash derived from a municipal waste processing operation 12. Fossil fuel ash waste can be, for example, coal ash, fly ash, bottom ash, incinerator ash, and / or boiler slag, or a combination of other waste materials and the fossil fuel waste. In other embodiments, the feedstock 10 can include mining waste, such as waste rock, tailings, and / or mine water, or mining ore derived from a mining operation 12 or industrial waste from an industrial operation 12, such as phosphogypsum or phosphate rock produced during the production of phosphoric acid or bauxite residue produced during the processing of bauxite into alumina. In some embodiments, the feedstock 10 can be consumer waste derived from municipal waste operations 12, such as electronic waste.

[0088] Once the feedstock 10 is subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage 13, the pulverized output material 18 can then be further handled and processed, as will bedescribe in detail below. In general, at least a portion of the pulverized output material 18 is subjected to an extraction stage 20 to recover one or more valuable components 22 present in a valuable component enriched stream and a reject material 24 in a valuable component-depleted stream. The extraction stage 20 can include various steps and treatments depending on the nature of the feedstock 10 and the components to be extracted. In some implementations, the extraction stage 20 can include a leaching stage 26 where a leaching liquid 27 is added to the pulverized material 18 (or is admixed with the feedstock 10 before or concurrently with the feedstock 10 entering the kinetic pulverizer 16) to produce a leachate 28 that is enriched in the target valuable component, followed by a recovery stage 30 where the leachate 28 is processed to recover the valuable component 22 from the liquid, which can be recycled as leaching liquid 27. In other embodiments, the extraction stage 20 can include multiple separation stages, such as a floatation separation stage (for example, using float sink tanks) and / or other density separation stages. In some embodiments, the extraction stage 20 can include a magnetic separation stage to remove valuable metal or ferrous components from the pulverized output material 18.

[0089] Turning to Figure 2, the process can also include one or more pre-treatment stages 32 as well as one or more post-treatment stages 34 with respect to the kinetic pulverization stage 13. For example, the pre-treatment stage 32 can include a pre-sorting stage, such as, manually sorting based on material type or size or using known size separating methods (e.g., screening), a coarse size-reduction stage (e.g., using a crusher), a chemical addition stage, a drying stage, dust collection stage, and / or debris separation stage, to produce a pre-treated feedstock 36. When the feedstock 10 material includes larger pieces, it may be desirable to perform a coarse size-reduction stage to rapidly reduce the size of larger pieces down to smaller pieces that can be easily transported by solid handling equipment, such as conveyors, to the pulverizer. For example, the coarse sizing stage can include size reducing the feedstock 10 with a secondary size reduction machine, such as a crusher.

[0090] In some embodiments, the feedstock 10 can include undesirable debris, such as organic materials or metals. Debris that is has higher flexibility and lower friability can be removed as it may not be size reduced and / or may not be desired in the main process stream. In addition, debris such as metal chunks could cause issues in the kineticpulverizer and thus can be removed upstream of the kinetic pulverization stage 13. This pre-separation can include one or more methods, such as magnetic separation, manual separation, and other techniques.

[0091] In terms of chemical addition, in some embodiments, the feedstock can be contacted with various additives designed to liberate the valuable component 22. The pretreatment stage 32 can also include drying or dewatering if the feedstock has a certain moisture content. A dewatering stage can be suitable for feedstocks that are initially in paste or slurry form, such as byproduct streams (e.g., phosphogypsum or bauxite reside), to remove water and produce a solid or near-solid enriched feedstock 10 that is supplied into the kinetic pulverizer 16. In a preferred embodiment, the moisture content of the feedstock 10 is not more than 50%, 40%, 30% or 20%. The feedstock 10 entering the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be provided with a water content of between about 10% and 35%, and the water content can be controlled using the addition of water and / or drying of the feedstock 10 depending on its initial moisture content.

[0092] Still referring to Figure 2, the post-treatment stage 34 can include a dust collection stage, a chemical addition stage, a heating stage, a debris separation stage, and / or a secondary size-reduction stage to produce a treated sized material 38 that is supplied to the extraction stage 20. The dust collection stage is also illustrated in further detail in Figures 13 and 14 and will be discussed below. The dust collection stage (as a pretreatment stage 32 or a post-treatment stage 34) can be particularly useful for feedstocks 10 that are dry and tend to generate fine dust particles, such as ash waste.

[0093] The debris separation stage can be performed to remove larger material, which is dependent on the feedstock 10. For example, when the feedstock 10 is fossil fuel ash or MSWI ash, the debris separation stage can be used to remove oversized aggregates of ash and / or incombustible materials such as glass. The debris separation stage can be performed using a screen, such as a vibrating screen, a tumbler screen, a trommel screen, a gyratory screen, or a high frequency screen. Oversized material that does not include the target valuable component 22 can be preferentially removed prior to extraction as the reject material 24. In some implementations, the debris separation stage can include flotation separation or a flotation process. For example, when the pulverized output material 18 is a homogenized output material and / or is effectively size reduced such thatmechanical screening based on size is impractical or challenging, flotation separation or a flotation process can be used to separate or sort size-reduced particles in the pulverized output material 18 based on the particle’s density. For example, a waste material 35 can be separated from the pulverized output material 18 that includes the valuable component 22 to produce the treated sized material 38.

[0094] Another optional post-treatment stage 34 is a heating stage for pre-heating the pulverized output material 18 in preparation for the extraction stage 20, which can apply particularly for extraction methods that are operated at higher temperatures. Furthermore, the post- treatment stage can include chemical addition, which can be tailored for the extraction methods to be used. For example, the pulverized output material 18 can be contacted with various additives designed to liberate the valuable component 22.

[0095] The post- treatment stage 34 can also include one or more secondary sizereduction stages to further size reduce or pulverize the pulverized output material 18 prior to or concurrently with the extraction stage 20. The secondary size-reduction stage can be performed in a kinetic pulverizer 16, in a secondary size-reduction machine, or in a combination of both. For example, in some implementations, the pulverized output material 18 can undergo a debris separation stage to categorize the materials in the pulverized output material 18 by size. Any oversized material ( / .e., material not having the desired particle size for the extraction stage 20 used on the feedstock 10) can be separated into an oversized fraction. The oversized fraction can then undergo a secondary size-reduction stage to size reduce the oversized fraction to the desired particle size for the extraction stage 20 and produce the treated sized material 38. In some implementations, the entire pulverized output material 18 can be treated with one or more secondary size-reduction stages. Conventional size reduction machines can be used in the secondary size-reduction stage, such as a ball mill, an oscillating motion mill, a hammer mill, a high shear energy mill, a vibratory mill, an attritor mill, a crusher, a grinding mill, etc. Alternatively, the oversized fraction and / or the pulverized material can undergo a secondary size-reduction stage in the same kinetic pulverizer 16 as the kinetic pulverization stage 13 or in a second or a series of kinetic pulverizers 16.

[0096] Turning now to Figure 3A, as mentioned above, a chemical additive 40 can be used in the process upstream of the extraction stage 20. The chemical additive 40 can beselected and provided in an amount with respect to the main process stream based on various factors. In addition, the chemical additive 40 can be added before or during the kinetic pulverization stage 13 in a pre-treatment stage 32 or after the kinetic pulverization stage 13 in a post-treatment stage 34. The chemical additive 40 can be added to the feedstock 10 (see additive stream 40-B), to the kinetic pulverizer 16 (see additive stream 40-A), to the pulverized output material 18 before a post-treatment stage 34 (see additive stream 40-C), to the secondary size-reduction machine during a secondary size-reduction post-treatment stage 34 (see additive stream 40-D), and / or to the treated sized material 38 after the post-treatment stage 34 (see additive stream 40-E).

[0097] The additive streams can be provided in various forms depending on the nature of the chemical, the main process stream into which the chemical additive 40 is contacted, and other factors. For example, the additive stream can be in the form of a particulate solid, liquid, slurry or emulsion; and it can be sprayed, dripped, pump-fed or gravity-fed into the process. For example, the feedstock 10 can be supplied to the kinetic pulverizer 16 via as a solid material provided on a feed conveyor and the chemical additive 40 can be sprayed as a liquid over the top surface of the feedstock 10 during conveyance or can be added as a solid powder or particulate material that is deposited or spread on top of the feedstock 10. In such scenarios, the feedstock 10 and the chemical additive 40 would be co-fed into the kinetic pulverizer 16 for processing.

[0098] The feedstock 10 can include one or more materials from various sources, such as fuel production byproducts, consumer waste byproducts, industrial waste byproducts, geological sources, and / or consumer waste byproducts, and includes one or more valuable components 22 targeted for extraction. In some embodiments, the feedstock 10 can also be a mixture of several materials from different sources and having different properties. The process parameters can be adapted based on the nature of the feedstock 10 and the valuable components being extracted.

[0099] In some embodiments, the valuable component 22 includes one or more rare earth elements (REE). REEs include yttrium (Y), scandium (Sc), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), erbium (Er), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), lanthanum (La), dysprosium (Dy), ytterbium (Yb), thulium (Tm), promethium (Pm), praseodymium (Pr), terbium (Tb), cerium (Ce), gadolinium (Gd), and holmium (Ho). The REEs, in their isolated form, are very valuableand have a huge potential for waste valorization when purified and sold as a byproduct. Some REEs, including gadolinium (Gd), praseodymium (Pr), samarium (Sm), and dysprosium (Dy), are toxic to humans and animals. As such, the process described herein can be used to remove the REEs from the feedstock 10, such that the reject material 24 is free of REEs and can be reused. For example, when the feedstock 10 is ash waste (such as MSWI ash or fossil fuel ash), the processed described herein can be used to remove the REEs, either in their isolated form or as an REE-rich leachate, to produce a non-toxic ash as the reject material 24 that can be used to make other materials, such as concrete or fertilizers, or can be used as a non-structural fill without risk of the toxic or nontoxic REEs leaching out. The REE-rich leachate can then be further processed to isolate individual REEs or can be a waste byproduct.

[0100] In some embodiments, when the feedstock 10 is an REE-bearing material, the feedstock 10 can be contacted with a high concentrated strong mineral acid (e.g., phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, gluconic acid, etc.) or organic acids (e.g., carboxylic acids such as tartaric acid, malonic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, succinic acid, etc.), concurrently with or after the kinetic pulverization stage 13, and then followed by a leaching stage 26 to obtain a REE-rich leachate. In other scenarios, such as when the valuable component is at least one metal, the feedstock is processed in a similar manner with the addition of an ion source, kinetic pulverization, and leaching. The valuable component can be present within a matrix of the waste material making up the feedstock depending on the composition and crystal structures of the material, such that the kinetic pulverization stage liberates the valuable component from the material matrix and the leaching stage extracts the valuable component into the leaching liquid to form the valuable component-rich leachate.

[0101] It is also noted that the feedstock 10 can be obtained from various fuel or waste processing operations, such as fossil fuel burning energy plants, coal processing plants, municipal waste processing plants, mining operations, such as coal mining, metal ore mining, non-metallic mineral mining, oil sands mining, quarrying, etc. The feedstock 10 can include hard, brittle, friable lumps or particles, such that the kinetic pulverization stage 13 facilitates breakage and notable size reduction, converting the feedstock 10 into a homogenized pulverized material that includes a sized reduced fraction. In some embodiments, the pulverized material includes an oversized fraction. For instance, if thefeedstock 10 includes materials that are non-friable, ductile, and / or flexible (for example, plastic films or residue in MSWI ash or electronic waste), these may not be sized reduced and can make up the oversized fraction of the pulverized material withdrawn from the pulverizer. The oversized fraction can be separated from the sized reduced fraction by screening prior to extraction, if desired. The feedstock 10 can include a mixed material that includes material containing valuable components but also debris or unwanted material that can be handled by the kinetic pulverizer 16 and be either size reduced or separated depending on the nature of the debris. The versatility of the kinetic pulverizer 16 within the overall process for processing feedstocks and extracting valuable components, such as rare earth elements, is notable as it can receive multiple types and mixtures of feed materials.

[0102] In the kinetic pulverizer 16, the feedstock 10 can be size-reduced, for example to sand or silt sized particles (e.g., having a diameter of less than 2 mm) or even smaller (e.g. passing through a 35, 40, 45, or 50 US mesh screen having 35, 40, 45, or 50 openings per inch corresponding to openings having a diameter of about 500 pm, 400 pm, 354 pm, and 297 pm, respectively), and can optionally be homogenized with any additives that were added upstream or co-fed into the kinetic pulverizer 16 with the feedstock 10. Thus, the pulverized output material 18 can include the sized reduced fraction and, optionally, one or more chemical additives 40. In some embodiments, the ultra-high impact energy of the kinetic pulverizer 16 produces a finer particle size than a conventional ball mill or other conventional size-reduction machines and imparts higher energy to the material, which can have mechanochemical effects that assist in the liberation of the valuable component 22. In other embodiments, the pulverized output material 18 can be further size reduced in a secondary size-reduction machine, such as a conventional ball mill.

[0103] In an example implementation, the feedstock 10 is a REE-containing material, such as ash waste, electronic waste, industrial waste, etc. The REEs have atomic structures with an outermost electron shell with valence or bonding electrons. These valence electrons cause the REEs to react in similar ways, such that separating REEs from other components of the waste material or separating one REE from another REE can be difficult. By subjecting the REE-containing waste product to a kinetic pulverization stage 13, mechanochemical activation can be introduced to assist or contribute to therelease of the REEs or other valuable component from the feedstock 10 and / or one type of valuable component (such as an REE) from another type of valuable component (such as an REE). The mechanochemical activation by the kinetic pulverizer 16 can increase or activate the extraction of the REEs. It is theorized that the activation of or increase in extraction of REEs can be attributed to the energy input by the self-collisions induced by the kinetic pulverizer 16, a loosened surface structure of the material the REEs are embedded in, and / or an increased reactive area for the chemical additive 40 and / or leaching liquid to interact with.

[0104] Depending on the type of extraction stage being utilized, the pulverization- induced mechanochemical activation by the kinetic pulverizer stage 13 can then be followed by a leaching step using a leaching liquid, such as a dilute acid, to facilitate separation of the valuable component, including rare earth elements. While mechanochemical treatments have been used in some contexts for activating materials to enhance extraction, it has typically involved an exclusive step of ball milling, which can have drawbacks. Kinetic pulverization provides very high energy collisions between particles of the material and can facilitate enhanced mechanochemical activation by leveraging a relative impact energy of particle collisions that can be two to three orders of magnitude greater than a large conventional ball mill used in conventional operations at scale. For example, as shown in Table 1 below, the maximum linear speed at vortex collisions can reach 41% to 54% of the speed of sound when the kinetic pulverizer 16 is operated at between 850 and 1100 RPM. The kinetic pulverizer 16 can be operated to provide certain target levels of mechanochemical activation depending on the feedstock 10, by modifying operating conditions, such as rotation speed and the quantity, quality, type, and timing of the chemical additive 40 and / or leaching liquid being added.

[0105] In some implementations, the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be operated to size reduce the feedstock 10 such that the pulverized material includes micron sized and / or sub-micron sized particles in the size reduced fraction, which in turn can provide a greater total surface area that is exposed to the chemical additives 40 and enhance the extraction stage 20. The performance enhancements of the extraction stage 20 can include increased total yield of the recovered valuable components, increased efficiency, and / or increased throughput of the extraction process. In some embodiments, the kinetic pulverization stage 13 generates a pulverized material 18 that has granulometricproperties ranging from dust-sized particles to larger particles, with the majority (e.g., over 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, or 90%; or between 50% and 95%, 60% and 90%, or 65% and 85%) passing through a 3 / 8 inch sieve (9.5 mm), or smaller, such as passing through a 10 US mesh (2 mm or 0.0787 inches). In some implementations, such as when the feedstock 10 is ash waste, the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be operated such that up to 80%, 90%, 95%, 99%, or even 100% of the pulverized output material 18 can pass through a 50 US mesh (297 microns). The particle size distribution can vary depending on the size and physical characteristics of the feed material as well as the processing rotation speed of the kinetic pulverizer 16. It is also noted that the pulverized output stream can be screened to produce at least two fractions, with the larger fraction being recycled back into the feed and / or being sent to a secondary size reducing device and the smaller fraction being supplied to the extraction stage.

[0106] Once the feedstock 10 has been pulverized and the chemical additive 40 has optionally been admixed, the valuable component 22 can be extracted from the mixture in the extraction stage 20 that can include a leaching stage 26 using the leaching liquid 27, as generally shown in Figure 1. The leaching stage 26 can include acid leaching, water leaching, solvent assisted leaching, or another type of leaching depending on the materials and valuable component involved. The leaching stage 26 can also be performed in conjunction with heating activation, if desired. The leachate 28 can then be fed to the recovery stage 30, which recovers the valuable component 22 from the leachate 28. The recovery stage 30 can utilize various methods, such as crystallization, purification, ion exchange resins, density separation, magnetic separation, among others. It is noted that one target component can be obtained as the final product of the valuable component 22 (e.g. a single purified REE), or multiple components can be recovered from the leachate 28 (e.g., a concentrated REE-component mixture of all REEs that were present in the feedstock 10). For example, a first REE could be crystallized out of solution from the leachate 28 in a first recovery stage, and then the remaining liquid could be subjected to a second recovery stage to recover a second REE, a third recovery stage to recover a third REE, etc. In other embodiments, the recovery stage 30 can include solvent extraction and / or ion exchange to isolate individual REEs from the leachate 28.

[0107] The valuable component can include various elements or compound present in the feedstock 10. For example, in some embodiments, the valuable componentcan include rare earth elements, such as neodymium, yttrium, cerium, scandium, lanthanum, praseodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and / or lutetium. In other embodiments, the valuable component can include carbon-based compounds such as graphene; or elements such as, lithium, sodium, potassium, aluminum, silicon, magnesium, calcium, iron, nickel, gold, silver, and / or oxygen. In some embodiments, the valuable component can include minerals such as calcite, gypsum, and silica.

[0108] Referring to Figure 3A, the leaching liquid 27 can be introduced directly to the feedstock 10 prior to the pulverization stage 13 (stream 27-A). The leaching liquid 27 and the chemical additive 40 can be admixed with the feedstock 10 concurrently, before (stream 27-B) and / or after (stream 27-C) the pulverization stage 13. In some embodiments, the leaching liquid 27 can be introduced into the kinetic pulverizer 16 directly as an independent stream (stream 27-D) or mixed with the pulverized output material 18 after the kinetic pulverization stage 13 (stream 27-E). In some embodiments, the leaching liquid 27 can be introduced during the post- treatment stage 34 (stream 27- F), such as into a secondary size reduction machine, or admixed directly with the treated sized material 38 prior to the extraction stage 20 (stream 27-G). In other words, the leaching liquid 27 can be admixed with the feedstock 10 (see stream 27-A), the chemical additive 40 prior to being provided to feedstock 10 (see stream 27-B) and / or when being admixed with the pulverized output stream 18 (see stream 27-C), directly to the kinetic pulverizer 16 (see stream 27-D), with the pulverized output stream 18 (see stream 27-E), directly to a secondary treatment device (see stream 27-F), and / or admixed with the treated sized material 38 (see stream 27-G).

[0109] The leaching liquid 27 can include various liquids selected to extract the valuable component from the matrix material of the pulverized material. The extraction mechanisms can vary (for example, they may vary depending on the rare earth element(s) being isolated). Some extraction stages 20 can include dissolution of the component or dissolution of a solute facilitated by interaction of the component with ions, for example, to form an enriched leachate solution. In some embodiments, the leaching liquid 27 can include, consist essentially of, or consist of water, and the water based leaching liquid could include water obtained from a process operation, fresh water sources, recycled water from the recovery stage, and so on. In some embodiments, the leaching liquid 27can make up between about 20%wt and about 25%wt of the mixture when the leaching liquid 27 is added in stream 27-A or stream 27-B ( / .e., added prior to the kinetic pulverization stage 13). For example, 1 part water can be added in stream 27-A or 27-B for every 3 to 4 parts of feedstock 10. In other embodiments, for example, when the leaching liquid 27 is added after the kinetic pulverization stage 13 in streams 27-E, 27-F, 27-G, a larger amount of leaching liquid can be used, such as between 5%wt and 80%wt, or between 20%wt and 65%wt.

[0110] In some embodiments, when the leaching liquid 27 is mixed with the chemical additive 40 prior to being introduced into the feedstock 10 (stream 27-B) or the pulverized output stream 18 (stream 27-C), the chemical additive 40 solute dissolves in the leaching liquid 27 to form an aqueous solution. When the chemical additive 40 in the chemical additive-solvent solution comes into contact with the valuable component 22 in the feedstock and undergoes ion exchange, solvent-induced precipitation, or other method of recovery, a valuable component rich leachate 28 is produced. The valuable component rich leachate 28 can then be isolated from the feedstock material in the feedstock 10 via an extraction stage 20. In some embodiments, the extraction stage 20 can include a leaching stage 26 to produce a valuable component-rich stream 29a and a valuable component-depleted stream 29b. The valuable component-rich stream 29a can then be subjected to a recovery stage 30 to isolate the valuable component 22.

[0111] The extraction stage 20 can be performed in one or more stages, and can use a variety of separation equipment. For example, the leaching liquid 27 can be admixed in one or more of the streams 27-A to 27-G, to leach the valuable component rich leachate 28 out of the material in the feedstock 10. In some embodiments, the leaching liquid 27 can be admixed in all of the streams 27-A to 27-G. In some embodiments, the last solvent wash, such as at streams 27-E, 27-F, and / or 27-G, can include one or more agitation stages. The agitation stage can comprise the mixture of pulverized output stream 18 or the treated sized material 38, the chemical additive 40, and the leaching liquid 27 being agitated to increase the liberation of the valuable component 22 into the valuable component rich leachate 28. In some embodiments, the agitation can be at a higher temperature than room temperature, such as between about 60°C and about 200°C, or about 90°C. In some embodiments, the agitation can be conducted in a conventionalagitator, such as a mechanical agitator or magnetic agitator, operated at between about800 rpm and about 1200 rpm, or about 1000 rpm for a predetermined time period.

[0112] To filter or leach the pulverized output stream 18, various types of filters or screens can be used, such as a liquid filtration screen, a vibrating screen, a tumbler screen, a trommel screen, a gyratory screen, a high frequency screen, etc. In some embodiments, the mechanical screening can be performed using classification equipment, such as classifiers that sort materials according to their size, shape, and / or density, including, without limitation, air classifiers, hydrocyclones, a gravity separator, such as mineral jig concentrators, heavy-media baths, washing tables, spiral separators, or cyclone separators, and / or a flotation process, for example using a float sink tank. Other types of separation or filtration equipment can also be used. Valuable component rich leachate 28 is separated or filtered from the valuable component-depleted material in the feedstock 10, the valuable component 22 can be isolated from the valuable component rich leachate 28 with a recovery stage 30.

[0113] When a chemical additive 40 is used to liberate a valuable component 22 from the material in the feedstock 10, the pulverized output stream 18 can comprise the material deprived of the valuable component 22 and a valuable component rich leachate 28. In some embodiments, the pulverized output stream 18 can undergo additional leaching stages 26 or agitation stages to separate the valuable component rich leachate 28 from the valuable component depleted material.

[0114] In some embodiments, a friable additive 17 can be introduced into the feedstock 10 concurrently with (stream 17-A) or prior to (stream 17-B) the kinetic pulverization stage 13 such that the friable additive 17 is size reduced and is homogenized with the material in the feedstock 10 to form part of the pulverized output stream 18. In some embodiments, the friable additive 17 can be introduced directly into the kinetic pulverizer 16 as a separate stream from the feedstock 10 (stream 17-A).

[0115] Accordingly, the feedstock 10 can be fed directly to the kinetic pulverization stage 13 after being admixed with the chemical additive 40, the friable additive 17 and / or the leaching liquid 27. The leaching liquid 27 can be admixed with the feedstock 10 prior to the kinetic pulverization stage 13 because the kinetic pulverizer 16 is capable of effectively handling wet feed material. For example, the feedstock 10 can have a moisturecontent of up to 50% or between 10% and 40%, and can be fed directly into the kinetic pulverizer 16 to produce a pulverized output stream 18 comprising the feedstock 10 and the leaching liquid 27.

[0116] Referring now to Figure 3B, a feedstock 10 comprising a valuable component-containing material can be size reduced and homogenized with an additive 15 to produce an end product 25 and a reject material 24. The feedstock 10 can be admixed with the additive 15 concurrently with (stream 15-A) or before (stream 15-B) the feedstock 10 is introduced into the kinetic pulverizer 16. In some embodiments, the additive 15 can be introduced directly into the kinetic pulverizer 16 as a separate stream from the feedstock 10 (stream 15-A). In this embodiment, the pulverized output stream 18 can comprise a homogenized mixture of the pulverized material in the feedstock 10 and the additive 15. The kinetic pulverizer 16 substantially reduces the size of the material and homogenizes the mixture of pulverized material and the additive 15.

[0117] In some embodiments, the pulverized output stream 18 can undergo an extraction stage 20 to isolate the end product 25 from reject materials 24 in the pulverized output stream 18, such as particles that are too large and / or too small. During the extraction stage 20, one or more mechanical screens 21 can be provided to favour or maximize high purity or high yield of a particular desired size of the end product 25.

[0118] In some embodiments, the end product 25 can comprise a construction material, such as a cement mixture. The cement mixture can be processed using the kinetic pulverizer 16 by pulverizing clinker as the feedstock 10 and homogenizing with gypsum as an additive 15. In some embodiments, the gypsum can be isolated from an ash waste material using the process described herein. The kinetic pulverizer 16 can therefore simultaneously pulverize and homogenize the clinker and gypsum mixture to produce a cement mixture end product. In some embodiments, the feedstock 10 can be mixed with a friable additive 17 to assist with pulverizing and creating a homogenous end product 25 that includes the friable additive 17.

[0119] In some implementations, the pulverized output stream 18 comprising size- reduced ash can be subjected to the extraction stage or another post-kinetic pulverization stage (such as mechanical screening) to isolate the size reduced ash product. The size reduced ash product, optionally with one or more valuable components removedtherefrom, can be used to make a cement mixture. In some implementations, the cement mixture can be processed using the kinetic pulverizer 16 by pulverizing an ash feedstock and homogenizing the ash with an aggregate and optionally with additional cement material, such as Portland cement.

[0120] In some implementations, the end product 25 can be used in various industries, such as in road construction, re-use of any metal materials (ferrous and nonferrous), cement production, concrete production, copper and / or zinc material production, etc.

[0121] Referring now to Figure 3C, the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be used to produce a raw material stream 120 that comprises a raw material. The feedstock 10 comprising a is introduced to the kinetic pulverizer 16 to undergo a kinetic pulverization stage 13 to pulverize and size-reduce the material to produce a pulverized output stream 18 that comprises a raw material fraction and an impurities fraction. For example, in some implementations, ash waste or industrial waste can be treated with the process described herein to remove toxic REEs, heavy metals, and / or other toxic components to produce a non-toxic raw material fraction and an impurities fraction that includes the toxic components. The pulverized output stream 18 can then be subjected to an extraction stage 20 to produce a raw material stream 120 and an impurities stream 122. In some embodiments, the feedstock 10 comprises ash waste. The pulverized coal output can then undergo an extraction stage 20 to isolate the REEs ( / .e., the impurities stream 122) from the purified ash comprising silica, gypsum, and / or calcite ( / .e. the raw material stream 120). During the extraction stage 20, the impurities stream 122 can be separated from the raw material stream 120 based on size and / or weight. For example, when the feedstock 10 comprises ash waste, the impurities stream 122 comprises REEs, heavy metals, and other toxic components. This can be done based on density, such as with a gravity separator, such as mineral jig concentrators, heavy-media baths, washing tables, spiral separators, or cyclone separators can be used to separate the impurities stream 122 from the raw material stream 120. In some embodiments, a flotation process can be used to separate finer particles in the raw materials stream 120 from the impurities stream 122. In some embodiments, the raw material stream 120 and / or impurities stream 122 can be sorted and classified by size, with particle sizes that are larger than desired can be redirected to the kinetic pulverization stage 13. In some embodiments, the impuritiesstream 122 can be separated from the raw material stream 120 via a magnetic separation stage.

[0122] In some embodiments, the feedstock 10 can be admixed with an additive15 and / or a friable additive 17 in any of streams 15-A or 15B and streams 17-A and 17-B, respectively. In these embodiments, the pulverized output stream 18 would comprise a homogenized mixture of the pulverized material, which comprises a raw material fraction and an impurities fraction, and the additive 15 and / or the friable additive 17.

[0123] In some embodiments, the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be used to mechanochemically process a material to produce a product, such as metallic nanoparticles, catalysts, magnets, y-graphyne, metal iodates, nickel-vanadium carbide and molybdenum-vanadium carbide nanocomposite powders.

[0124] Regarding the kinetic pulverization stage 13, a single kinetic pulverizer 16 can be implemented and operated as a one-pass kinetic pulverization stage. For example, the feedstock 10 and optionally, the chemical additive 40, the additive 15, the friable additive 17, and / or the leaching liquid 27 can be fed into an upper part of the kinetic pulverizer 16, which includes a drum with baffles and an internal rotating stem with multiple arms that create vortexes within the drum chamber. The feedstock 10 passes into the vortices and experience self-collision for pulverization and size reduction of the material. The material passes to a bottom region of the kinetic pulverizer 16 and is expelled via a lower outlet as the pulverized output stream 18. The rotation speed can be operated between 500 RPM to 1 ,200 RPM, between 500 RPM and 1 ,300 RPM, between 500 RPM and 1 ,500 RPM, between 600 RPM and 1 ,100 RPM, or between 700 RPM and 1 ,000 RPM, and can be adjusted in response to other process parameters or maintained relatively constant.

[0125] In some embodiments, the rotation speed is adjusted to control the size and quality of the output material. As shown below in Table 1 , the maximum linear speed at the pad tip of the baffles can range between 71.1 and 92.1 m / s when the kinetic pulverizer16 is operated with a rotational speed of 850 to 1100 RPM, respectively. It is noted that these observed maximum linear speeds at the pad tips of the kinetic pulverizer 16 and at the vortices collisions are dependent on the size and interior geometry of the assessed kinetic pulverizer and thus are non-limiting. In some embodiments, the linear speed at thepad tips and vortices collision can be greater than or less than the observed speeds inTable 1.Table 1

[0126] In addition to the kinetic pulverization stage 13 enabling targeted size reduction of the material, the kinetic pulverization stage 13 can also facilitate the mechanochemical breakage of the material which can liberate the valuable component 22. In some embodiments, the chemical additive 40 is admixed with the feedstock 10 concurrently with or before the kinetic pulverization stage 13 and the kinetic pulverizer 16 provides additional energy to increase the selective liberation of the valuable component 22. For example, the chemical additive 40 can be an ion source, such as a salt compound, configured to undergo ion-exchange with the valuable component 22 being isolated. In some embodiments, the chemical additive 40 can comprise an ion source that includes a cation and an anion. In some embodiments, the cation in the ion source can comprise an alkaline metal and / or an alkaline-earth metal. The ion source can comprise halide, SOT and / or NOs'. In some embodiments, the ion source comprises at least one of NaCI, PCh,KOI, Na2SO4, K2SO4, MgSO4, CaSO4, NaNO3, KNO3, CaCI2, MgCI2, Ca(NO3)2, and Mg(NO3)2. The chemical additive 40 can be in a dry and / or powdered form and allow separation of the valuable component 22 in an aqueous solution with the leaching liquid 27 after the kinetic pulverization stage 13. In some embodiments, the chemical additive 40 can be mixed in solution with the leaching liquid 27 prior to being introduced to the feedstock 10, the pulverized output stream 18, and / or the treated sized material 38. Depending on the nature of the chemical additive 40 and the method of introduction into the process stream, the chemical additive 40 can be added in dry form, as a solution, as an emulsion or as a dispersion, for example.

[0127] When the chemical additive 40 and the feedstock 10 comprising the material are introduced into the kinetic pulverizer 16 together, energy from the kinetic pulverizer 16 can enhance the rate and extent of the ion exchange between the cation or anion in the chemical additive 40 and the valuable component 22 embedded or held within the material in the feedstock 10. Furthermore, when the kinetic pulverization stage 13 is conducted in an inert environment, such as in nitrogen gas, the rate and extent of the ion exchange between the ions in the chemical additive 40 and the valuable component 22 in the feedstock 10 can increase. An inert environment can be achieved with an inert chamber (not shown) operatively surrounding at least one of: the kinetic pulverizer 16, a pulverizer conveyor system operatively connected to the kinetic pulverizer 16, and a screen used during the extraction stage 20. The inert environment can comprise a hypoxic environment that is devoid or substantially devoid of oxygen. In some embodiments, the inert environment can comprise, consist of, or essentially consist of nitrogen gas.

[0128] When the feedstock 10 is introduced into the kinetic pulverizer 16, the kinetic pulverization stage 13 can facilitate the use of kinetic energy, vortices and matter- on-matter collisions to achieve size reduction of the material, homogenization of the pulverized output stream 18, liberation of the valuable component 22, and / or blend or homogenize the chemical additive 40, the additive 15, the friable additive 17, and / or the leaching liquid 27 that may be incorporated with the feedstock 10.

[0129] Once the pulverized output stream 18 is expelled from the lower outlet, the pulverized output stream 18 can be further processed to separate the size-reduced particles or to leach and / or isolate the valuable component 22 from the material in thefeedstock 10. For example, the material can be separated from the valuable component rich leachate 28 during the extraction stage 20 using filtration or size-based separation techniques, such as screening. The screening can be performed using various types of mechanical screens, such as a liquid filtration screen, a vibrating screen, a tumbler screen, a trommel screen, a gyratory screen, a high frequency screen, a membrane, an ion exchange resin, etc. Alternatively, the mechanical screening can be performed using classification equipment, such as classifiers that sort materials according to their size, shape, and / or density, including, without limitation, air classifiers and hydrocyclones. The mechanical screen can be configured or operated based on the composition and size distribution of the pulverized output stream 18 to filter the valuable component rich leachate 28 from the pulverized material. In other embodiments, the screens can operate to sort the pulverized output stream 18 by size into multiple sized-based streams. Depending on the sized product to be produced, the screen and the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be operated and designed in certain ways to generate a product having a maximum or minimum size, for example. However, it is noted that the screen design can be market driven to provide various size distributions of the size-reduced material.

[0130] In some embodiments, the extraction stage 20 for REEs from a feedstock 10 can include, for example, chemical separation steps, such as chemical precipitation, solvent extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, and / or ion exchange. For example, when a chemical precipitation process is used, the feedstock 10 can be homogenized and size reduced with a chemical additive 40 and / or leaching liquid 27 that increases the pH of the leachate to form a precipitate with a high level of REEs. Alternatively, solvent extraction can be used to remove the REEs, such that the chemical additive 40 and / or the leaching liquid 27 is a solvent, or ion exchange, such that the chemical additive 40 is an ion source. Other extraction techniques include mechanical separation, such as membrane separation or using an ion exchange resin.

[0131] In some embodiments, the extraction stage 20 can include the addition of the leaching liquid 27 in various ways. For example, the leaching liquid 27 can be added at least in part to the feed and / or to the leaching vessel separately from the pulverized material. In some embodiments, the extracted valuable component (e.g., REEs) is one that has undergone ion-exchange or solvent-induced precipitation with the chemical additive 40 to create a solute or aqueous solution with the leaching liquid 27. In someembodiments, the REE-rich component can be mixed with the leaching liquid 27 to create an aqueous solution that is passed through a membrane for membrane separation based on pore size or through an ion exchange resin. The ion exchange resins can vary depending on the REE being targeted, such as a chelating resin (CR) to isolate Nd, Sc, Er, La, Sm, and Ho; a strong acidic cation (SAC) exchanger to isolate Nd, Ce, La, Sm, Ho, Y, Dy, Gd, Lu, and Sc; a strong base anion (SBA) exchanger to isolate Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, Sm, Lu, Yb, Er, Ho, Dy, and Gd; a solvent impregnated resin (SIR) to isolate Sc, La, Nd, and Dy; and / or a weak-base anion (WBA) exchange resin to isolate Sc. In some embodiments, multiple extraction stages 20 and / or multiple separation stages 30 can be used sequentially or simultaneously to isolate two or more REEs.

[0132] Other mechanisms for liberating the valuable component may be used, such as separation or flotation techniques to remove at least a portion of the REE-free or REE-depleted components based on density. The REE-free or REE-depleted components can be discarded or used as a byproduct to be valorized (such as a non-structural fill, as a filler in concrete, in fertilizer, etc.) and the remaining REE-rich component can undergo the extraction stage 20.

[0133] In some embodiments, the extraction stage 20 and the pulverization stage 13 are coordinated such that the operation of one can influence the other. For example, the screen or filter and the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be monitored and controlled via a controller 226 to achieve a desired parameter, such as certain properties of the pulverized output stream 18, the valuable component rich leachate 28, or the end product 25. For example, if a change in the feedstock 10 results in the kinetic pulverizer 16 generating a larger sized fraction in the pulverized output stream 18, the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be controlled, e.g., to increase the rotation speed by controlling the motor 228, to bring the sized fraction back to within a target range, such as a range to facilitate a desired liberation of the valuable component 22 or a desired range for the end product 25. Monitoring units or instrumentation, such as an inlet detector Di 230 and an outlet detector Do 232, can be provided to monitor properties of the incoming and outgoing streams, respectively, such as maximum or minimum size, size distribution, composition, mass, moisture content, and / or volume flow rates.

[0134] In some embodiments, the various streams are transported between the various stages using conveyor systems to facilitate continuous operation, although other transport methods can be used. The process can be continuous, batch feed, or operated according to other schemes depending on the facility and other factors.

[0135] Regarding the kinetic pulverizer 16, it is noted that the unit can have various structural and operational features. It some embodiments, the kinetic pulverizer can have one or more features as described in PCT / CA2019 / 050967, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0136] Referring now to Figures 4 to 11 , there is shown a pulverizer 50, in accordance with one embodiment. The pulverizer 50 is adapted to receive an input material as described herein, such as the feedstock 10, and to pulverize or comminute the input material.

[0137] In the illustrated embodiment, the pulverizer 50 includes a base 52 and a housing 60 mounted over the base 52. Specifically, the housing 60 includes a bottom end 62 connected to the base 52 and a top end 64 opposite the bottom end 62. The housing 60 is hollow and includes a housing sidewall 66 extending between the top and bottom ends 64, 62 to define an interior chamber 68 in which the pulverization occurs. Specifically, the housing 60 includes an inlet 70 located at the top end 64 to receive the input material and an outlet 72 located at the bottom end 62 through which the pulverized material may be discharged once having been pulverized in the interior chamber 66. In the illustrated embodiment, the outlet 72 allows pulverized material to be discharged in a tangential direction to the housing sidewall 66. It will be understood that the outlet 72 may be configured differently. For example, the outlet 72 may be located in a bottom face of the housing 60 such that the pulverized material may be discharged in an axial direction downwardly from the housing 60. It will also be understood that alternatively, the outlet 72 may be positioned substantially towards the bottom end 62 but may not be positioned exactly at the bottom end 62 of the housing 60. Similarly, the inlet 70 may not be positioned exactly at the upper end 64 of the housing 60 and may instead be located generally towards the upper end 64.

[0138] In the illustrated embodiment, the housing 60 is generally cylindrical and defines a central housing axis H extending between the top and bottom ends 64, 62 of thehousing 60. The housing 60 is adapted to be disposed such that the central housing axis H extends substantially vertically when the pulverizer 50 is in operation. In this configuration, the input material fed into the inlet 70 will ultimately tend to fall down towards the outlet 72 by gravity.

[0139] In the illustrated embodiment, the airflow generator 100 includes a pulverizing rotor assembly disposed within the interior chamber 68 and a rotary actuator 104 operatively coupled to the pulverizing rotor assembly for rotating the pulverizing rotor assembly to generate the airflow. Specifically, the pulverizing rotor assembly includes a rotatable shaft 106 located in the interior chamber 68 and extending between the top and bottom ends 64, 62 of the housing 60, along the central housing axis H, and a plurality of pulverizing rotors 108a, 108b, 108c secured to the rotatable shaft 106 so as to rotate about the central housing axis H when the rotatable shaft 106 is rotated.

[0140] Each pulverizing rotor 108a, 108b, 108c includes a rotor hub and a plurality of rotor arms 122 extending outwardly from the rotor hub and towards the housing sidewall 66. The rotatable shaft 106 extends through the rotor hub such that the rotor arms 122 are disposed in a rotation plane, which extends orthogonally through the central housing axis H. In this configuration, when the rotatable shaft 106 is rotated, the rotor arms 122 therefore remain in the rotation plane and move along the rotation plane. Alternatively, instead of all being disposed in a rotation plane, the rotor arms 122 could instead be angled upwardly or downwardly relative to the rotatable shaft 106. In yet another embodiment, the rotor arms 122 could instead be pivotably connected to the rotatable shaft 106 such that the rotor arms 122 could selectively be angled upwardly and downwardly as desired, either manually or automatically using one or more arm actuators.

[0141] In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of airflow deflectors 200 includes six deflectors 200 which are substantially similar to each other and which are substantially evenly spaced from each other in an azimuthal direction (i.e. along a circumference of the housing sidewall 66) around the central housing axis H. Alternatively, all the deflectors 200 may not be similar to each other, may not be spaced from each other evenly and / or the pulverizer 50 may include more or less than six deflectors 202. For example, the pulverizer 50 may include between two and eight deflectors 200.

[0142] In the illustrated embodiment, each deflector 200 is elongated and extends substantially parallel to the housing axis H. Specifically, since the housing 60 is positioned such that the central housing axis H extends substantially vertically, the deflectors 200 also extend substantially vertically.

[0143] As best shown in Figures 8 to 10, each deflector 200 includes a top end 202 located towards the top end 64 of the housing 60 and a bottom end 204 located towards the bottom end 62 of the housing 60. In the illustrated embodiment, each deflector 200 is positioned so as to intersect the rotation plane of the upper pulverizing rotor 108a and of the intermediate pulverizing rotor 108c. More specifically, the top end 202 of the deflectors 200 is located above the upper pulverizing rotor 108a while the bottom end 204 of the deflectors 200 is located below the intermediate pulverizing rotor 108b and the deflector 200 extends continuously between its top and bottom ends 202, 204.

[0144] It will be understood that rotation of the rotor arms 122 will cause the air within the interior chamber 68 to move outwardly towards the housing sidewall 66. In the above configuration, since the deflectors 200 are horizontally aligned with the upper and intermediate pulverizing rotors 108a, 108b, the air will be moved outwardly by the upper pulverizing rotor 108a and intermediate pulverizing rotor 108b against the deflectors 200 to be deflected by the deflectors 200 to form the vortices V, best shown in Figures 11 and 12.

[0145] In the illustrated embodiment, each deflector 200 is generally wedge- shaped. Specifically, each deflector 200 has a generally triangular cross-section and includes a flow facing deflecting surface 206 which faces towards the airflow when the rotatable shaft 106 is rotated and an opposite deflecting surface 208 which faces away from the airflow. The flow facing deflecting surface 206 and the opposite deflecting surface 208 extend away from the housing sidewall 126 and converge towards each other to meet at an apex 210 which points towards the housing central axis H. The flow facing deflecting surface 206 is angled relative to an inner face of the housing sidewall 126 at a first deflection angle 01 and the opposite deflecting surface 208 is angled relative to the inner face 74 of the housing sidewall 76 at a second deflection angle 02.

[0146] In the illustrated embodiment, each deflector 200 is symmetrical about a symmetry axis S, which extends along a radius of the housing 60. In this embodiment, thefirst deflection angle 01 is therefore substantially equal to the second deflection angle 02. In one embodiment, the first and second deflection angles 01 , 02 may be equal to about 1 degree to 89 degrees, and more specifically to about 30 degrees to 60 degrees. Alternatively, the deflector 200 may not be symmetrical and the first and second deflection angles 01 , 02 may be different from each other.

[0147] In the illustrated embodiment, the apex 210 of each deflector 200 is spaced radially inwardly from the inner face 74 of the housing sidewall by a radial distance of about 7 % inches or about 20 cm. Still in the illustrated embodiment, the apex 210 is further spaced radially outwardly from a tip 130 of the rotor arms 122 by a radial distance of between about 1 inch or about 1 cm and about 2 inches or about 5 cm. In one embodiment, the radial distance or “clearance space” between the tip 130 of the rotor arms 122 and the apex 210 may be selected such that the vortices V may be formed as desired when the rotatable shaft 106 is rotated.

[0148] Alternatively, the deflectors 200 could be differently shaped and / or sized. For example, the flow facing deflecting surface 206 and the opposite deflecting surface 208 may not be planar, but may instead be curved. In another embodiment, the deflectors 200 may not comprise an opposite deflecting surface 208. In yet another embodiment, instead of being wedge-shaped, the deflectors 200 may instead have a rectangular cross-section, or may have any other shape and size which a skilled person would consider suitable.

[0149] Figure 12 is a schematic representation of the vortices V generated within the interior chamber 68 when the pulverizer 50 is in operation.

[0150] During operation of the pulverizer 10, the rotatable shaft 106 is rotated about the housing axis H such that the rotor arms 122 form the circular airflow revolving about the housing axis H. In the example illustrated in Figure 12, the rotatable shaft 106 is rotated in a clockwise direction when viewed from above to form a counterclockwise airflow in the interior chamber 68.

[0151] The rotatable shaft 106 may be rotated at relatively high speed to provide the desired pulverizing effect in the pulverizer. In one embodiment, the rotatable shaft 106 is rotated at a rotation speed of between about 700 rpm and about 1500 rpm, or betweenabout 700 rpm and about 1100 rpm, or more specifically at a rotation speed of between about 1000 rpm and about 1100 rpm. Alternatively, the rotatable shaft 106 may be rotated at a different rotation speed which would allow the formation of the vortices as described below.

[0152] The airflow travels generally along the inner face 34 of the housing sidewall 66, but is interrupted by the flow facing deflecting surface 206 of the deflectors 200 which cooperates with the rotor arms 122, and more specifically with the tip of the rotor arms 122 to form the vortices V. As shown in Figure 12, the vortex V may further be guided back inwardly towards the central housing axis H by an adjacent deflector 200’.

[0153] Still referring to Figure 12, each vortex V further overlaps at least one adjacent vortex V1 , V2 to cause input material particles in suspension in the vortex V to collide with input material particles in suspension in the adjacent vortex or vortices V1 , V2. More specifically, each vortex V created generally includes an outwardly moving portion 500 defined generally by airflow circulating from the shaft 106 towards the housing sidewall 66 and an inwardly moving portion 502 defined generally by airflow circulating from the housing sidewall 126 towards the shaft 106. As shown in Figure 12, the outwardly moving portion 500 of each vortex V overlaps the inwardly moving portion 502 of a first adjacent vortex V1, and the inwardly moving portion 502 of each vortex overlaps the outwardly moving portion 500 of a second adjacent vortex V2.

[0154] In this configuration, the input material particles in the vortex therefore collide with input material particles moving at twice the movement speed of the particles in the vortex V. For example, in one embodiment, the vortices V, V1, V2 are rotating at about a third of the speed of sound. When input material particles from the first and second adjacent vortices V1 , V2 collide with the input material particles in suspension in the vortex V, which move at the same speed but in the opposite direction, the particles will collide with each other at about two thirds of the speed of sound.

[0155] In one embodiment, in addition to the collision of the input material particles via the airflow and vortices V, the input material may further be pulverized by the rotor arms 122 impacting the input material particles in the interior chamber 68 as the rotatable shaft 106 is rotated. In this embodiment, the combined effect of the input material particlesimpacting each other in the overlapping vortices V, V1, V2 and of the rotor arms 122 impacting the input material particles may increase the efficiency of the pulverizer 50. Moreover, since the overlapping vortices V cause the particles to impact each other rather than surfaces inside the housing 20, the wear of the components inside the housing 20 may be reduced.

[0156] It will be understood that the vortices V illustrated in Figures 11 and 12 have been simplified for ease of understanding and that in practice, the vortices V may not be exactly circular as illustrated or be exactly located as indicated in Figures 11 and 12.

[0157] In the illustrated embodiment, the pulverizer 50 further includes a plurality of shelves 300a, 300b which extend inwardly from the housing sidewall 126. Specifically, the plurality of shelves 300a, 300b includes an upper shelf 300a and a lower shelf 300b spaced downwardly from the upper shelf 300a. Each shelf 300a, 300b extends circumferentially around the housing axis H and along the housing sidewall 126. It will be understood that the shelves therefore extend substantially orthogonally to the deflectors 200. Specifically, the deflectors 200 extend generally parallel to the housing axis H and can therefore be said to extend in an axial direction relative to the housing 60, while the shelves 300a, 300b can be said to extend in an azimuthal direction relative to the housing 60. In the illustrated embodiment, the deflectors 200 extend generally vertically while each shelf 300a, 300b is disposed in a generally horizontal plane and therefore extend generally horizontally.

[0158] Still in the illustrated embodiment, each shelf 300a, 300b extends substantially continuously around the housing sidewall 66. Alternatively, the shelves 300a, 300b may not extend continuously around the housing sidewall 66 and could instead include a plurality of shelf segments spaced from each other to define gaps between adjacent shelf segments.

[0159] In the illustrated embodiment, the upper shelf 300a is substantially horizontally aligned with the upper pulverizing rotor 108a and the lower shelf 300b is substantially horizontally aligned with the intermediate pulverizing rotor 108b. Alternatively, each shelf 300a, 300b could be located slightly below the corresponding pulverizing rotor 108a, 108b.

[0160] In the illustrated embodiment, each shelf 300a, 300b includes a top shelf face 302 which extends downwardly and away from the housing sidewall 66. Specifically, since the shelf 300a, 300b extends along the housing sidewall 66 and around the housing axis H, the top shelf face 302 is substantially conical. Still in the illustrated embodiment, the top shelf face 302 is angled relative to the housing sidewall 66 at an angle of between about 1 degree, where the top shelf face 302 would be almost flat against the housing sidewall 66, and about 89 degrees, where the top shelf face 302 would be almost orthogonal to the housing axis H. In one embodiment, the top shelf face 302 could be angled relative to the housing sidewall 66 at an angle of between 30 degrees to 60 degrees.

[0161] The shelves 300a, 300b are configured to deflect the airflow directed towards the shelf upwardly. This allows the input material particles to be temporarily maintained in suspension above the shelf 300a, 300b. The input material particles can therefore be subject to the effect of the vortices and to pulverization by impact with the rotor arms 122 for a longer period of time, resulting in additional reduction in the size and / or mechanochemical processing of the input material particles as they travel downwardly towards the next rotor stage or towards the outlet 72.

[0162] The upward deflection of the airflow may further contribute to the vortices V within the interior chamber 68. More specifically, as shown in Figure 11 , the vortices V may rotate in a plane generally parallel to the housing axis, i.e. , upwardly-downwardly, in addition to rotating in a plane orthogonal to the housing axis H as illustrated in Figure 12. The combined effect of the shelves 300a, 300b and the deflectors 200 therefore contribute to forming vortices V which are tridimensional such that air within the vortices V moves along a tridimensional path of travel, which may further promote collisions between the input material particles of adjacent, overlapping vortices V.

[0163] This configuration further allows the number of vortices V generated by the deflectors 200 to be multiplied by the number of shelves 300a, 300b in the housing 60. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the pulverizer 50 includes six deflectors 200 which can form six vortices above each shelf 300a, 300b, for a total of 12 vortices in the entire interior chamber 68.

[0164] The pulverizer 50 can be designed and sized to handle the feedstock stream for one-pass processing. For example, the pulverizer can be sized to handle 5 to 40 tonnes per hour, or 20 to 40 tonnes per hour, of a feedstock stream that comprises a mixture of components as described above, while operating as a one-pass unit with a rotation speed between 500 RPM and 1 ,200 RPM, or between about 500 RPM and about 1 ,300 RPM, or between about 500 RPM and about 1 ,500 RPM to produce one or more of the output sized streams as described herein.

[0165] Referring now to Figure 13, a system comprising a kinetic pulverizer 50, treatment units, a pulverizer conveyor system 50a, and an extraction unit 20a is shown. The system receives a feedstock 10 that is derived from an operation 12 is provided to the kinetic pulverizer 50 for a kinetic pulverization stage to produce the pulverized output material 18. In some embodiments, the kinetic pulverizer 50 comprises additional units, such as treatment units, to introduce a chemical additive 40, an additive 15, a friable additive 17, or a leaching liquid 27. For example, a chemical additive unit 40a, an additive unit 15a, a friable unit 17a, or a leaching liquid unit 27a can be operatively attached to the kinetic pulverizer 50 and configured to introduce a stream into the kinetic pulverizer 50 and / or into the other units. For example, the chemical additive unit 40a can be operatively connected with the leaching liquid unit 27a to facilitate admixing the chemical additive 40 with the leaching liquid 27 prior to introducing the chemical additive-leaching liquid mixture into the feedstock 10, the kinetic pulverizer 50, and / or the pulverized output stream 18. In some embodiments, the chemical additive unit and the leaching liquid unit can be operatively connected to an additional homogenization unit 10a configured to homogenize the chemical additive 40 and the leaching liquid 27 prior to being introduced into the feedstock 10, the kinetic pulverizer 50, and / or the pulverized output stream 18.

[0166] In some embodiments, the extraction unit 20a includes a leaching unit 26a and a recovery unit 30a. The leaching unit 26a can be configured to receive the pulverized material, incorporate the leaching liquid 27 into the pulverized material 18 and to produce a leachate 28 comprising the valuable component 22 and a reject material 24. In some embodiments, the recovery unit 30a can be configured to receive the leachate 28 from the leaching unit 26a and produce a valuable component 22 product and a depleted leaching liquid 27 that can be optionally recycled back into the leaching unit 26a.

[0167] Referring now to Figure 14, in some embodiments the process includes a pre-separation stage ( / .e., a pre-treatment stage 32) comprising a magnetic separation stage 2000 or magnetic beneficiation upstream of a kinetic pulverization stage 13 to capture ferrous metal from the feedstock 10. In other embodiments, such as when the feedstock 10 has an electronic waste component or an ash waste component, the process can include a post-treatment stage 34 that is a magnetic separation stage 2000 to capture ferrous metal and / or rare earth elements from the pulverized output material 18, the waste material 35, and / or the treated sized material 38. The separated metal 2002 can be supplied as scrap metal for resale, can be used as a byproduct, or can be disposed of. The metal depleted feedstock 2004 can be fed to the kinetic pulverizer 16 for the kinetic pulverization stage 13. The magnetic separator can be designed and operated to remove tramp metal with a high weight density to reduce wear and damage on the KP. For example, the magnetic separator can be provided based on nominal size of the feedstock and ferrous objects that would be desirable for removal. For instance, the magnetic separator can be provided to ensure removal of solid ferrous objects that have a high weight in an overall low volume. While some geometries, such as flat sheets, may pose little concern to the operation of the KP, other geometries such as blocks, chunks, and the like can increase wear and damage and thus the magnetic separation stage 2000 facilitates removal to enhance downstream processing. The magnetic separator can be configured based on size of the feedstock, ferrous object size, and material burden depth. The magnetic separator could be actively controlled or simply turned on to enable the separation. The magnetic separation stage 2000 facilitates reduced risk of wear and damage to the kinetic pulverizer 16 during the kinetic pulverization stage 13, and also recovers scrap metal material.

[0168] In some embodiments, the magnetic separation stage 2000 can be used to separate or liberate one or more of the REEs. For example, high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) can be used to selectively isolate one or more REE from an REEconcentrated component. Other types of wet or dry magnetic separation can be used to remove the valuable component and / or toxic metals or other components to render the final product non-toxic.

[0169] The magnetic separation stage 2000 can use various types of magnetic separators, which can be selected based on the feedstock and throughput. For example,the magnetic separator can be a dry-type magnetic separator or wet type magnetic separator depending on the moisture content of the feedstock. The magnetic separator can have a magnetic field strength that is designed for removal of target ferrous metal objects that could be problematic for the kinetic pulverizer 16. The magnetic separator could also include a permanent magnet and electromagnetic magnetic separator. The magnetic separator can also have various design and structural features, e.g., drum type, roller type, disc type, ring type, belt type, among others. The magnetic separator can also use constant, alternating, pulsating, or rotating magnetic fields depending on the design and configuration of the system and the feedstock. The magnet itself can be composed of various materials.

[0170] While magnetic separation is a preferred mechanism to remove metals from the feedstock, there are various other metal removal methods that could be used instead of or in addition to magnetic separation. An additional metal removal stage could be designed to remove non-ferrous metals, for example, particularly metal debris that has a high weight density and are thus relatively heavy and thick. In some embodiments, the metal removal method (e.g., magnetic separation) is performed to remove all metal debris having an average diameter of 1 inch or greater. Metal debris that is lump shaped or elongated is removed, while metal debris that has a flat sheet shape is optionally removed.

[0171] Referring now to Figures 16 and 17, two example configurations are shows for the magnetic separation stage 2000. Figure 16 shows a belt magnetic separator 2006 including a self-cleaning magnetic belt 2008 that is above a conveyor 2010. The magnetic belt 2008 discharges the ferrous metals into a bin 2012. The magnetic belt 2008 can be mounted to a magnet frame 2014 that spans across the conveyor 2010. Figure 17 shows an alternative configuration including a stationary magnet 2018 on rails 2020 mounted above the conveyor 2010 and configured to move back and forth.

[0172] Referring back to Figure 14, the system can also include a post-treatment stage 34 that is a dust collection stage 3000 for recovering dust that is part of the pulverized output stream 18 exiting the kinetic pulverizer 16. The pulverized output stream 18 enters the dust control stage 3000, which recovers a dust stream 3002 and produces a dust reduced pulverized stream 3004 that can be fed to the extraction stage 20. The dust collection stage 3000 facilitates dust control and can include variousunits, such as a setting chamber and a baghouse or cyclone filtration unit. In some implementations, such as when the feedstock 10 includes ash waste, the process can include, alone or in addition to the post-treatment stage 34, a pre-treatment stage 32 that is a dust collection stage 3000 to remove dust from the feedstock 10 prior to the kinetic pulverization stage 13. In other implementations, such as when electronic waste or other consumer waste is the feedstock 10, the process can include, alone or in addition to a pretreatment stage 32, a post-treatment stage 34 that is a debris removal using the dust collection stage to remove light plastic films or ductile particles that were not size-reduced in the kinetic pulverization stage 13.

[0173] Referring now to Figure 15, the dust collection stage 3000 can include a dust collector 3006 that is coupled to the exit of the kinetic pulverizer 16, and may include a settling chamber 3008 that has dust outlets 3010 positioned on its top. The dust outlets can be in fluid communication via ducting 3012 to a dust recovery unit 3014 that includes a baghouse or cyclone filtration unit 3016 having a dedicated motor 3018. The dust recovery unit 3014 can also include a dust recovery vessel 3020 that receives the dust from the baghouse or cyclone filtration unit, for example via a hopper. In some embodiments, the dust collection stage can include a wet or dry electrostatic precipitator (ESP) that removes dust particles using electrostatic charges to separate small particles from the pulverized output stream 18 and / or the feedstock 10.

[0174] The settling chamber 3008 can receive all of the output from the kinetic pulverizer 16 (the pulverized output stream 18) and thus receives relatively fine particles, which are deposited on an outfeed conveyor 3022 so that the pulverized material is added to the diverted output or redirected to the extraction stage 20. Fine particles settle on the outfeed conveyor 3022, while very fine dust particles are accumulated and withdrawn from the settling via the dust outlets 3010. The setting chamber 3008 can extend over a part or the entire length of the outfeed conveyor 3022 depending on the process design and the target level of dust control. The setting chamber 3008 can be in communication with the outlet of the kinetic pulverizer 16 via a flexible tubular member since the kinetic pulverizer 16 can experience vibration.

[0175] The quantity of dust in the pulverized output stream 18 is highly dependent upon the type and dryness of the feedstock supplied to the kinetic pulverization stage 13.In some embodiments, the fine recovered material 3024 can be treated with a chemical additive 40 and / or a leaching liquid 27 and be redirected to the extraction stage 20 to obtain the valuable component rich leachate 28.

[0176] It is noted that the power and suction of the dust collection stage 3000 can be adjusted to increase the amount of material capture in the dust collector. For example, the dust recovery unit 3014 can be controlled to provide a desired suction in the dust collector 3006. Therefore, the dust collection stage 3000 can be designed and operated to be a tool in the separation of the outbound material from the kinetic pulverization stage 13.

[0177] Still referring to Figure 15, the baghouse filtration or cyclone filtration 3016 traps finer and lighter material, which can be stored in the vessel 3020. This fine recovered material 3024 can be added back into the diverted output stream, disposed of and / or kept as a fines product for sale. The fine recovered material 3024 can be recycled back into one or more stages of the system, such as the extraction stage 20 or the leaching stage 26. In some embodiments, the fine recovered material 3024 would be supplied into the dust reduced stream 3004 or the pulverized output stream 18 or would be kept as a distinct product stream that could be sold or mixed with other materials to provide a commercial product. It is noted that the recovered dust material can be treated, transported and used in various ways, some of which are described herein.Example ProcessesAsh Waste

[0178] An ash waste feedstock comprising REE-enriched ash can be subjected to the process described herein. In some embodiments, the ash waste can contain between about 300 and 600 ppm of rare earth elements (REE), for example in fossil fuel ash, in different individual quantities. In some embodiments, the ash waste can contain between about 5 mg / kg and about 200 mg / kg of REE, for example in MSWI ash, In different individual quantities. The ash waste can also include other components that may have valorization potential, such as silica, calcite, gypsum, gold, silver, or other metals. In some embodiments, such as with MSWI ash, the ash waste can include a large component of silica, calcite, and gypsum that can be isolated and reused.

[0179] The ash waste feedstock can comprise a combination of different types of ash, such as fly ash (a very fine, powdery material composed of mostly silica made from the burning of finely ground coal in a boiler), bottom ash (a coarse angular ash particle that is too large to be carried up into the smokestacks so it forms in the bottom of the coal furnace or waste incinerator), and / or boiler slag (course, dense, hard substance that is an incombustible by-product of coal combustion). In some embodiments, the bottom ash and / or boiler slag can have a diameter of about 1 cm to 5 cm, or higher, such as 10 cm. In some embodiments, over 70% of the ash waste feedstock has a particle size that is larger than 50 US mesh (297 microns in diameter).

[0180] When the ash waste feedstock 10 is subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage 13, the kinetic pulverizer 16 can provide one-pass processing (or multiple passes, if required for the desired pulverized output material 18) of the ash waste for size reducing ( / .e., breaking apart chunks of the larger ash waste particles) and homogenization of the ash waste material. In some embodiments, a single kinetic pulverization stage 13 pass provides enough mechanical energy to release the valuable component 22 from the various ash matrices in the ash waste. As such, the extraction stage 20 will include a leaching stage 26 to make an aqueous solution and a recovery stage 30 to remove the valuable component 22 from the aqueous pulverized ash material. For example, when the valuable component 22 is rare earth elements (REEs), the REEs can be isolated with a wet magnetic separation stage 2000 and / or a recovery stage 30 comprising one or more floatation separation stages (for example, using multiple float sink tanks) to isolate each of the REE components based on density or to isolate a concentrated REE-component where individual REEs are not separated from each other. In some embodiments, the concentrated REE-component isolated during the flotation separation stage(s) can be admixed or leached with an aqueous inorganic acid, such as HCI, H2SO4, or HNO3. The resulting mixture can be filtered or undergo counter current decantation, followed by solvent extraction or ion exchange to separate and isolate each REE in the concentrated REE-component.

[0181] When the valuable component 22 is other materials (in isolation or in combination with separating the REEs), such as silica, calcite, and / or gypsum, at least 60% of these materials can be isolated using the wet magnetic separation stage 2000 and the multiple float sink separation stages. In some implementations, at least 65%, 70%,75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, or even 99% of silica, calcite, and / or gypsum can be recovered from the ash waste feedstock by isolating the REEs and, optionally, other heavy metals, from the ash material.

[0182] In some embodiments, a chemical additive 40 can be added to the feedstock 10, the kinetic pulverizer 16, the pulverized output material 18, the posttreatment stage 34 vessel, and / or the treated sized material 38 to facilitate a chemical separation of the REEs or other components. For example, the chemical additive 40 can be an extractant, such as a cation exchanger (or acidic extractant), including carboxylic acids or phosphorous acids, a solvation extractant (or neutral extractant), an anion exchanger (or basic extractants), and / or a chelating extractant.

[0183] The pulverized output material 18 exiting the kinetic pulverization stage 13 can be subjected to a leaching stage, for example with 20%wt water added as the leaching liquid, followed by a flotation separation stage to isolate the concentrated REE- component. Once the concentrated REE-component is isolated, the REE-depleted component can be discarded or used in a secondary application as REE-free or REE- depleted ash material. Alternatively, the REE-depleted component can undergo further recovery stages to isolate other valuable components, such as silica, calcite, and gypsum as individual components.

[0184] In some embodiments, the process described herein can be used in combination with the ash-producing process. For example, the kinetic pulverizer 16 can be integrated onsite at the ash-generating operation so as to process, in some implementations automatically, the ash to recover REEs.

[0185] Referring now to Figure 18, an exemplary process of treating ash waste 310 produced at a coal-fired power station 312 is shown. The coal-fired power station 312 burns coal 312a in a combustion chamber 312b for a combustion stage to produce energy and an ash waste 310 byproduct. Once the ash waste 310 has sufficiently cooled, the ash waste 310 can be subjected to the process described herein to recover the REEs 322a contained within the ash matrices. For example, the ash waste 310 can be transported directly from the combustion chamber 312b to a kinetic pulverizer for a kinetic pulverization stage 313, followed by an extraction stage 320 to recover an REE-enriched leachate 328 and an REE-depleted material 329. In some embodiments, the kinetic pulverizer and thecombustion chamber 312b can be operatively connected, such as by a conveyor belt or gravity from a bottom hopper, such that the ash waste 310 can be directly transported to the kinetic pulverizer.

[0186] In some embodiments, the ash waste 310 is subjected to a pre-treatment stage 332, such as the pre-treatment stages 32 described herein, including a magnetic separation stage, a cooling stage, etc. to produce a pre-treated feedstock 336. The pretreated feedstock 336 or the ash waste 310 is then subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage 313 to produce a pulverized output material 318. The kinetic pulverization stage 313 size reduces the ash waste 310 and releases the REEs 322a or other valuable components 322b from the ash matrices.

[0187] In some embodiments, the pulverized output material 318 can be subjected to a post-treatment stage 334, such as the post- treatment stages 34 described herein, to produce a treated sized material 338. The treated sized material 338 or the pulverized output material 318 can then be subjected to an extraction stage 320. In the exemplary embodiment, the extraction stage 320 includes one or more leaching stages 326 and one or more recovery stages 330I-3.

[0188] In some embodiments, the leaching stage 326 can include introducing a leaching liquid directly to the ash waste 310 or pre-treated feedstock 336 (for example, prior to or concurrently with being introduced into the kinetic pulverizer) or directly to the pulverized output material 318 or the treated sized material 338 to produce an REE- enriched leachate 328 and an REE-depleted material 329. The REE-enriched leachate 328, and optionally, the REE-depleted material 329, is then subjected to one or more recovery stages 330I-3, which can include solvent extraction, magnetic separation, ion exchange resins, density separation, etc., to recover one or more REE 322a or other valuable components 322b. In the exemplary embodiment, the REE-enriched leachate 328 is subjected to three recovery stages 330I-3, however, any number of recovery stages are possible. In the exemplary embodiment, the REE-depleted material 329 is also treated with an extraction stage 320 to recover other valuable components 322b in the ash waste, such as calcite, gypsum, and silica. In some embodiments, the REE-depleted material 329 can be used in other applications, such as in the production of concrete or other building materials, or discarded as treated, non-toxic waste.

[0189] In the exemplary embodiment, a first recovery stage 330i includes a magnetic separation stage (for example using wet magnetic separation) to produce a magnetic material enriched stream 342 and a magnetic material depleted stream 344. In some embodiments, the magnetic separation stage can be used to isolate cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, and / or thulium, which have magnetic properties. The magnetic material enriched stream 342 and / or the magnetic material depleted stream 344 can then be subjected to subsequent recovery stages 3302,3 to isolate the non-magnetic REEs and / or isolate the magnetic REEs from each other.

[0190] In the exemplary embodiment, the second and third recovery stages 3302,3 each include a density separation stage, which can include density separation of the nonmagnetic REEs (second recovery stage 3302), such as lanthanum, ytterbium, lutetium, and yttrium, from the magnetic material depleted stream 344 and / or density separation of the magnetic REEs from each other (third recovery stage 330s). The density separation stage 350 can include any known methods of density separation, such as decanting (or other types of gravity separation). In the exemplary embodiment, the density separation stage is a floatation separation stage.

[0191] In some embodiments, the ash waste 310 includes only fly ash that is released from the combustion chamber via exhaust gases. For example, the fly ash exiting the combustion chamber can be isolated as a feedstock stream as it exits the combustion chamber and allowed to cool prior to be subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage 313 or, optionally, the pre-treatment stage 332. In other embodiments, the ash waste 310 can include the coal ash, bottom ash, and / or boiler slag, in addition or in isolation from the fly ash. For example, in accordance with a predetermined schedule, the combustion chamber 312b can be cleared of all ash waste 310 for treatment to recover the REEs 322a, or the ash waste 310 can be systematically isolated for cooling and treatment when the combustion chamber 312b is full.

[0192] In some embodiments, the combustion chambers 312b in the coal-fired power station 312 can include a bottom hopper for collecting and cooling the ash waste 310. The bottom hopper can be monitored for certain parameters, such as volume and temperature. In some embodiments, the ash waste 310 in the bottom hopper canautomatically be subjected to a kinetic pulverization stage 313 in the kinetic pulverizer and / or subjected to a pre-treatment stage 332 once predetermined parameters are met, such as when a certain volume is reached and / or when the temperature has sufficiently cooled. In some embodiments, the ash waste can be treated when it has reached a maximum temperature of 150° or less, such as 120°, 100°, 80°, or 60°. In some cases, the ash waste 310 can be allowed to cool to room temperature, such as between 20° and 25°, or slightly high, such as 40° or 50°. In other embodiments, the kinetic pulverizer can be provided with heat resistant or heat retardant capabilities to allow the treatment of high- temperature ash waste 310.Consumer Waste

[0193] A consumer waste feedstock comprising REE-enriched materials can be subjected to the process described herein. In some embodiments, the consumer waste can contain varying amounts of rare earth elements (REE) depending on the composition of the consumer waste. For example, some types of electronic waste can include up to 30wt% neodymium iron boron magnets.

[0194] In some embodiments, the consumer waste feedstock is subjected to a kinetic pulverization stage 13 to size reduce the material and liberate the REEs.Optionally, the consumer waste feedstock can be subject to pre-treatment stages 32 and / or post-treatment stages 34, such as a magnetic separation stage 2000. The pulverized output material 18 can be subjected to various extraction stages to remove the REEs.Industrial Waste

[0195] An industrial waste feedstock comprising REE-enriched materials can be subjected to the process described herein. In some embodiments, the industrial waste can contain a high concentration of gypsum with varying amounts of rare earth elements (REE) depending on the composition of the consumer waste. For example, phosphogypsum can include between about 2000 and about 2500 mg / kg (0.20 to 0.25 wt%) total REEs, with La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, and Y being in the highest concentrations. Bauxite residue can include between about 1000 and about 2500 ppm REEs.

[0196] In some embodiments, the industrial waste feedstock is subjected to a kinetic pulverization stage 13 to size reduce the material and liberate the REEs. Optionally, the industrial waste feedstock can be subject to pre-treatment stages 32 and / or post-treatment stages 34, such as a magnetic separation stage 2000 or a heating and / or drying stage to reduce the moisture content. The pulverized output material 18 can be subjected to various extraction stages to remove the REEs.

[0197] In some embodiments, the extraction stage includes leaching with an acid, such as HCI, HNO3, and / or H2SO4 as the leaching liquid. Alternatively, or additionally, the extraction stage can include a magnetic separation stage 2000, for example using a high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS).

[0198] When the industrial waste is bauxite residue, consideration to the large quantities of iron oxide in the bauxite residue should be given, such that selective leaching of REEs is conducted to ensure that the iron oxide remains in the REE- depleted component and not in the REE-rich leachate. In some embodiments, leaching at a higher pH value (between about 1.8 and 3) can selectively dissolve REEs while leaving the iron and titania undissolved in the pulverized output material.Experimental ResultsMSW Incineration Fly Ash

[0199] A kinetic pulverizer configured to subject the feedstock to self-collisions within vortices created by the kinetic pulverizer was provided. A feedstock of pre- processed bottom ash 400 was provided in a size of about 16 mm or less (Figure 19A). When pre-screened, the pre-processed bottom ash 400 includes a portion 402 that had a particulate size of between 0 and about 12 mm (Figure 19B), which can be further categorized as having a portion 404 that had a particulate size of between 0 and about 6 mm (Figure 19C) and a portion 406 that had a particulate size of between about 6 mm and about 12 mm (Figure 19D).

[0200] The feedstock of pre-processed bottom ash 400 included about 40% entrapped non-ferrous metals and had a moisture content of about 1% to about 2% on aged bottom ash and about 7% on fresh bottom ash materials. The kinetic pulverization stage was utilized to remove non-valuable aggregate prior to being shipped forrefinement, therefore reducing the processing cost. The output goal for the bottom ash was less than 1 mm for the ash and larger than 1 mm for the metal components.

[0201] Once processed using the kinetic pulverizer, the bottom ash feedstock can be separated into multiple categories of recovered products (valuable components), including i) fine minerals with a particle size of between about 0 mm and about 2 mm; ii) mineral aggregates with a particle size of between about 2 mm and about 50 mm; iii) non-ferrous concentrate with a particle size of about 1 mm to about 12 mm; iv) nonferrous concentrate with a particle size of about 12 mm to about 50 mm; and v) ferrous concentrate with a particle size of between about 12 mm and about 50 mm.

[0202] In some implementations, the non-ferrous concentrate products can include aluminum scrap product having a particle size of between about 4 mm and about 8 mm and a purity of between about 75% and about 80% pure metal scrap product. In some implementations, the non-ferrous concentrate products can include heavy nonferrous scrap product having a particle size of between about 1 mm and about 12 mm with a purity of between about 95% and about 99% pure metal scrap.

[0203] In a first experiment, the pre-processed bottom ash 400 was subjected to a pre-treatment stage that includes a size separation stage using a screen to produce the portion 402 that had a particular size of less than about 12 mm. The portion 402 of the pre-processed bottom ash 400 that had a particulate size of between 0 and about 12 mm was then subjected to a kinetic pulverization stage with the pulverizer begin operated at about 800 RPM. The pulverized output material was subjected to a posttreatment separation stage using screens to perform a size separation stage (Figure 20). The size separation stage produced a treated undersized material 408 having a particle size of less than about 2 mm (or between about 1 mm and 2 mm) and a treated oversized material 410 having a particle size of greater than about 2 mm.

[0204] In a second experiment, the pre-processed bottom ash 400 was subjected to a pre-treatment stage that includes a size separation stage using a screen to produce the portion 402 that had a particular size of less than about 12 mm. The portion 402 of the pre-processed bottom ash 400 that had a particulate size of between 0 and about 12 mm was then subjected to a kinetic pulverization stage with the pulverizer begin operated at about 900 RPM. The pulverized output material was subjected to a post-treatment separation stage using screens to perform a size separation stage (Figure 21A). The size separation stage produced a treated undersized material 412 having a particle size of less than about 2 mm (or between about 1 mm and 2 mm) and a treated oversized material 414 having a particle size of greater than about 2 mm.

[0205] In a third experiment, the pre-processed bottom ash 400 was subjected to a pre-treatment stage that includes a size separation stage using a screen to produce the portion 406 that had a particular size of between about 6 mm and about 12 mm. The portion 406 of the pre-processed bottom ash 400 that had a particulate size of between about 6 mm and about 12 mm was then subjected to a kinetic pulverization stage with the pulverizer begin operated at about 900 RPM. The pulverized output material was subjected to a post- treatment separation stage using screens to perform a size separation stage (Figure 21 B). The size separation stage produced a treated undersized material 416 having a particle size of less than about 2 mm (or between about 1 mm and 2 mm) and a treated oversized material 414 having a particle size of greater than about 2 mm.

[0206] In a fourth experiment, the pre-processed bottom ash 400 was subjected to a pre-treatment stage that includes a size separation stage using a screen to produce the portion 404 that had a particular size of less than about 6 mm. The portion 404 of the pre-processed bottom ash 400 that had a particulate size of between 0 and about 6 mm was then subjected to a kinetic pulverization stage with the pulverizer begin operated at about 950 RPM. The pulverized output material was subjected to a post-treatment separation stage using screens to perform a size separation stage (Figure 22A). The size separation stage produced a treated undersized material 420 having a particle size of less than about 2 mm (or between about 1 mm and 2 mm) and a treated oversized material 422 having a particle size of greater than about 2 mm.

[0207] In a fifth experiment, the pre-processed bottom ash 400 was subjected to a pre-treatment stage that includes a size separation stage using a screen to produce the portion 406 that had a particular size of between about 6 mm and about 12 mm. The portion 406 of the pre-processed bottom ash 400 that had a particulate size of between about 6 mm and about 12 mm was then subjected to a kinetic pulverization stage with the pulverizer begin operated at about 950 RPM. The pulverized output material wassubjected to a post- treatment separation stage using screens to perform a size separation stage (Figure 22B). The size separation stage produced a treated undersized material 424 having a particle size of less than about 2 mm (or between about 1 mm and 2 mm) and a treated oversized material 414 having a particle size of greater than about 2 mm.

[0208] In some implementations, the treated undersized material 408, 412, 416, 420, 424 can be subjected to an extraction stage (such as, a leaching stage and / or a recovery stage) to extract one or more valuable components, such as rare earth elements. In some implementations, the treated oversized material 410, 414, 418, 422, 426 can be subjected to an extraction stage (such as, magnetic separation) to extract one or more valuable components, such as ferrous elements.Coal Plant Fly Ash

[0209] A kinetic pulverizer configured to subject the feedstock to self-collisions within vortices created by the kinetic pulverizer was provided. Seven samples of pre- processed fly ash, from a coal plant were provided, weighed, and recorded as shown in Table 2. Each sample was subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage with the kinetic pulverizer operated at 950 RPM and 90% average power usage (operation protocol 1) or at 750 RPM and 65% average power usage (operation protocol 2). The samples were loaded into the kinetic pulverizer for the kinetic pulverization stage using a loader (and therefore the input was not as consistent as with a conveyor belt).Table 2

[0210] Samples 3, 5, and 6 totalling 6,540 Lbs were subjected to operation protocol 1 for a run time of approximately 7 minutes and Samples 1, 2, and 4 totalling 7,640 Lbs were subjected to operation protocol 2 for a runt time of approximately 12 minutes. The average throughput of both operation protocols 1 and 2 was between 35 and 45 tons per hour (TPH). However, it is theorized that a throughput of one ton per hour or approximately 60 to 75 TPH can be achieved using a consistent feed of the feedstock (such as with a conveyor belt).

[0211] The pulverized output material was then subjected to a size separation stage using a number 40-mesh sieve (about 400 microns), a number 60-mesh sieve (about 250 microns), a number 150-Mesh sieve (about 100 microns), and a number 300- Mesh sieve (about 50-microns). A dust collection system using a baghouse was utilized during the kinetic pulverization stage to further isolate a dust fraction. Table 3 shows the approximate size distribution of the dust-depleted stream ( / .e., the pulverized output material with the dust fraction removed).Table 3

[0212] As can be seen in Table 3, when the fly ash was processed using the kinetic pulverizer operated at 950 RPM, 84% of the pulverized output material was smaller than 250 microns and 90% of the pulverized output material was smaller than 400 microns. Similarly, when the fly ash was processed using the kinetic pulverizeroperated at 750 RPM, 80% of the pulverized output material was smaller than 250 microns and 85% of the pulverized output material was smaller than 400 microns.

[0213] While the above description provides examples of the embodiments and / or implementations, it will be appreciated that some features and / or functions of the described embodiments and / or implementations are susceptible to modification without departing from the spirit and principles of operation of the described embodiments and / or implementations. Accordingly, what has been described above has been intended to be illustrative and non-limiting and it will be understood by persons skilled in the art that other variants and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims appended hereto.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A process for extracting one or more valuable components from a feedstock comprising material embedded with the one or more valuable components, the process comprising: providing a kinetic pulverizer comprising a pulverizing rotor assembly disposed within an interior chamber, wherein the pulverizing rotor assembly is configured to rotate to form vortices that subject the feedstock to self-collisions within the interior chamber; subjecting the feedstock to a kinetic pulverization stage wherein the feedstock is fed into the kinetic pulverizer to produce a pulverized material; and subjecting the pulverized material to an extraction stage to produce a valuable component-rich stream and a valuable component-depleted stream; wherein the extraction stage comprises a leaching stage and a recovery stage.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the recovery stage comprises a magnetic separation stage and / or a density separation stage.

3. The process of claim 2, wherein at least one of: the magnetic separation stage is a wet magnetic separation stage; and the density separation stage comprises one or more flotation separation stages.

4. The process of claim 3, wherein the leaching stage comprises leaching with a leaching liquid and the flotation separation stage comprises introducing an aqueous solution comprising the leaching liquid and the pulverized material to a float sink tank and selectively removing at least one of the one or more valuable components based on density.

5. The process of claim 4, wherein the leaching liquid is introduced to at least one of: the feedstock, the kinetic pulverizer, and the pulverized material.

6. The process of claim 5, wherein the leaching liquid is introduced to at least one of the kinetic pulverizer and the feedstock at least one of: concurrently with and before the feedstock is subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage.

7. The process of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the feedstock comprises at least one of ash waste, mining waste, industrial waste, and consumer waste.

8. The process of claim 7, wherein the ash waste is at least one of fossil fuel ash and municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) ash.

9. The process of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the valuable component comprises at least one of silica, calcite, gypsum, and rare earth elements.

10. The process of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the kinetic pulverizer is operated such that the pulverized material is less than about 2 mm, about 500 microns, or about 297 microns in diameter.

11. The process of any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising subjecting the feedstock to a pre-treatment stage prior to the kinetic pulverization stage, wherein the pre-treatment stage is at least one of: a magnetic separation stage that separates ferrous material from the feedstock before the feedstock is subjected to the kinetic pulverization stage; a coarse sizing stage; a chemical addition stage; a drying stage; a cooling stage; and a debris separation stage.

12. The process of any one of claims 1 to 11 , further comprising subjecting the pulverized material to a post-treatment stage, wherein the post-treatment stage comprises at least one of: a chemical addition stage, a heating stage, a debrisseparation stage, an electrostatic separation stage, a dust collection stage, and a secondary size-reduction stage.

13. The process of claim 12, wherein at least one of: the dust collection stage comprises recovering a dust fraction therefrom and producing a dust reduced pulverized stream, and wherein the dust reduced pulverized stream is subjected to the extraction stage, and optionally the dust fraction is also recovered and fed to the extraction stage; and the electrostatic separation stage comprises electrostatically separating particulate material from the pulverized material.

14. The process of any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising admixing the feedstock or the pulverized material with a chemical additive configured to selectively liberate the one or more valuable components from the material.

15. The process of claim 14, wherein the chemical additive comprises an ion source configured to undergo ion-exchange with the one or more valuable components or wherein the chemical additive is selected from the group consisting of NaCI, PCI3, KCI, Na2SO4, K2SO4, MgSO4, CaSO4, NaNO3, KNO3, CaCI2, MgCI2, Ca(NO3)2, and Mg(NO3)2.

16. A process for extracting one or more rare earth elements (REE) from a feedstock, the process comprising: providing a kinetic pulverizer comprising a pulverizing rotor assembly disposed within an interior chamber, wherein the pulverizing rotor assembly is configured to rotate to form vortices that subject the feedstock to selfcollisions within the interior chamber; subjecting the feedstock to a kinetic pulverization stage wherein the feedstock is fed into the kinetic pulverizer and subjected to self-collisions created by vortices within the kinetic pulverizer to produce a pulverized material; andadmixing the pulverized material with a leaching liquid to produce a REE-enriched component and an REE-depleted component; and isolating the REE-enriched component from the REE-depleted component to produce one or more REE streams and an REE-depleted material.

17. The process of claim 16, wherein the feedstock comprises ash waste, consumer waste, or industrial waste.

18. The process of claim 17, wherein one of: the ash waste comprises at least one of fossil fuel ash and municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ash; - the consumer waste is electronic waste; and the industrial waste is at least one of phosphogypsum and bauxite residue.

19. The process of any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein isolating the REE-enriched component comprises leaching the pulverized material with the leaching liquid to produce a leachate and recovering the REE-enriched component from the leachate.

20. The process of claim 19, wherein recovering the REE-enriched component from the leachate comprises at least one of: magnetic separation, separation based on density, and introducing the leachate to an ion exchange resin and eluting the REE stream.

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