article · Resources Conservation and Recycling
Minjingu phosphate ore represents the only domestic source of phosphorus in Tanzania, containing between 20 and 35 percent phosphorus pentoxide alongside notable levels of uranium and rare earth elements. At present, these valuable elements are not extracted during industrial operations, meaning they are either discarded into mine tailings or distributed onto farmlands within commercial fertiliser products. An examination of ten ore layers, four tailings samples, and five intermediate and finished fertiliser goods confirms that uranium and rare earth element levels are elevated relative to other global phosphate reserves. Despite these elevated concentrations, the findings indicate no significant risk. The work discusses alternative processing routes to enable the co-recovery of uranium and rare earth elements, highlighting the need to develop viable techno-economic solutions that maximise the overall value and resource utilisation of this domestic deposit.
Phosphate fertilisers are vital for agriculture, yet phosphate rock often carries trace radioactive materials and critical metals. Establishing the exact concentrations of uranium and rare earth elements confirms that fertiliser products do not pose significant hazards, while revealing opportunities to recover high-value elements from existing mining streams and waste tailings.
This work informs mining operators and mineral processing companies about alternative processing pathways to co-recover valuable rare earth elements and uranium alongside fertiliser production. The work presents elemental baseline data and conceptual processing suggestions, indicating an early research stage that requires further techno-economic evaluation and pilot-scale testing before real-world industrial deployment can occur.
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Minjingu phosphate ore is Tanzania's sole domestic supply of phosphorus (P). The ore contains medium to high concentrations of naturally occurring P2O5 (20–35 %) and relevant concentrations of uranium and rare earth elements (REEs) are also suspected to be present. Currently, neither uranium nor REEs are recovered. They either end up in mine tailings or are spread across agricultural soils with fertilizer products. This work provides a first systematic review of the uranium and REE concentrations that can be expected in the different layers of Minjingu phosphate ore, the way the ore is presently processed, as well as a discussion on alternative processing pathways with uranium/REE recovery. The study analyzed ten distinct Minjingu phosphate ore layers, four mine tailings, and five intermediate and final mineral fertilizer products from the Minjingu mine and processing plant located in northern Tanzania. The results confirm that the uranium concentrations and to a lesser degree, the REE concentrations are indeed elevated if compared to concentrations in other phosphate ores. The study does not identify a significant risk resulting from this. The development of techno-economic solutions for more comprehensive utilization of Minjingu ore is, however, strongly encouraged and suggestions on such processes are provided.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107694
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