{"id":3224,"date":"2026-03-03T00:08:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/?p=3224"},"modified":"2026-03-03T00:08:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:08:49","slug":"24nzor425","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/24nzor425.html","title":{"rendered":"Extraction of rare earth elements from terrestrial and marine mineral sediments and waste: an environmental impact assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prituzhalova Olga Alexandrovna<\/strong>
\nUniversity of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia
\nE-mail: o.a.prituzhalova@utmn.ru
\nORCID: https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0720-9793<\/a>
\nRSCI: https:\/\/elibrary.ru\/author_profile.asp?id=891523<\/a><\/p>\n

Zhovanik Ilya Alexandrovich<\/strong>
\nUniversity of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia
\nE-mail: i.a.zhovanik@utmn.ru
\nORCID: https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-9233-4782<\/a>
\nRSCI: https:\/\/elibrary.ru\/author_profile.asp?id=1228798<\/a><\/p>\n

Zhovanik Yuliya Viktorovna<\/strong>
\nUniversity of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia
\nE-mail: y.v.zhovanik@utmn.ru
\nORCID: https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-4512-0788<\/a>
\nRSCI: https:\/\/elibrary.ru\/author_profile.asp?id=1194928<\/a><\/p>\n

Abstract.<\/strong> In the context of the scarcity of rare earth elements on the market, the question arises regarding the environmental feasibility of their extraction from secondary raw materials. The objective of this article is to compare the levels of negative environmental impact associated with the extraction of rare earth elements from primary and secondary raw materials, considering their entire life cycle.<\/p>\n

Through a systematic analysis of data from current scientific literature, the key ecological risks characteristic of extracting rare earth elements from different types of raw materials have been identified. In terrestrial mining, the greatest risks stem from landscape transformation and chemical pollution of the environment. Concerns are raised by the radioactivity of primary raw materials, the formation of waste rock dumps and tailings storage facilities, emissions of dust and acid gases, and discharges of suspended solids, metals, acids, and alkalis in wastewater. Marine extraction of rare earth elements from deep-sea sediments and ferromanganese nodules involves the same polluting substances but affects different recipient objects. Primarily, it threatens the destruction of unique deep-sea ecosystems and impacts the water column and surface layers. Moreover, the zone of impact on the marine environment is significantly more extensive than in terrestrial mining, due to the formation of suspension plumes. Additionally, there is a lack of experience in mitigating impacts and reclaiming marine ecosystems at great depths. Extraction of rare earth elements from production and consumption waste offers several ecological advantages: the absence of radioactivity issues, the proximity of raw material sources to major cities, and a reduction in waste burial volumes. Furthermore, obtaining rare earth metals from waste helps to decrease the volumes of mineral extraction (and associated ecological risks), reduce dependence on raw material imports, and balance the market by alleviating shortages of critical rare earth elements.<\/p>\n

Keywords:<\/strong> rare earth elements; environmental impact; recycling; urban mining; sustainable development; circular economy; resource saving<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prituzhalova Olga Alexandrovna University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia E-mail: o.a.prituzhalova@utmn.ru ORCID: https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0720-9793 RSCI: https:\/\/elibrary.ru\/author_profile.asp?id=891523 Zhovanik Ilya Alexandrovich University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia E-mail: i.a.zhovanik@utmn.ru ORCID: https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-9233-4782 RSCI: https:\/\/elibrary.ru\/author_profile.asp?id=1228798 Zhovanik Yuliya Viktorovna University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia E-mail: y.v.zhovanik@utmn.ru ORCID: https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-4512-0788 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-4-2025","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3225,"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions\/3225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.today\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}