The Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 15 No 1 (2011): 122 – 129

 

 

 

Extraction of Eu (III) in Monazite from Soils Containing ‘Amang’ Collected From Kg Gajah Ex-Mining Area 

 

Zaini Hamzah¹, Nor Monica Ahmad^1*, and Ahmad Saat²

 

¹Faculty of Applied Sciences,

²Institute of Science (IOS),

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM),

40450 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan

 

*Corresponding author: normonica@gmail.com

 

 

Abstract

Malaysia was once a major tin exporting country. One of the by-products of the tin-mining activities is tin-tailing which known as `amang` very rich in rare earth elements, especially the lanthanides which are present as a mixture of phosphate minerals, mainly as ilmenite, xenotime and monazite. In this study, Kg Gajah in Kinta Valley occupying the State of Perak was chosen as a study area, since this area used to be the largest mining area in the 60’s and 70’s. The soil samples were separated using wet separation technique followed by magnetic separation. The monazite was then digested using a mixture of HF/HNO₃ acids. The digested sample was extracted for its cerium content.  The extraction behaviour of cerium in those samples has been investigated as a function of Cyanex 302 concentration in diluents and the time taken to reach the equilibrium. Extractant of bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)-mono-thiophosphinic acid (Cyanex302) in n-heptane was used throughout the analysis. Aqueous phase from extraction was analyzed spectrometrically using Arsenazo (III) while organic phase was subjected to rotavapour followed by analysis by FTIR. The aim of this study is to have the best concentration for Cyanex302 in order to extract as much as possible of Europium and to confirm the transfer of Eu (III) to the Cyanex 302 as an extractant. Result from UV/VIS shows that 0.7 M is the best concentration of Cyanex 302 for the Eu (III) extraction from samples. Result from FTIR confirmed the structure of Cyanex302 has been replaced by Ce(IV).  

 

Keywords: `Amang`, Rare earth elements (REE), Cyanex302, Arsenazo III

 

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