Temporally explicit life cycle assessment as an environmental performance decision making tool in rare earth project development

Abstract

The study shows that a detailed LCA can be carried out for a proposed mining project as soon as Prefeasibility (PFS) data are available. The prefeasibility study is one of the key early steps in bringing a deposit towards production and results are often publically available. This study applies the technique to a rare earth deposit because rare earth element (REE) consumption is increasing owing to their use in low-carbon technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. It is therefore particularly important to understand the environmental impacts of the raw materials. A number of REE deposits are under development to give additional supply and many possess novel mineral compositions and will require different processing methods than previously used. Assessing the environmental performance of the production of REE during the development of projects offers significant insights into how to improve the sustainability of a project. In this study we used life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify the environmental impacts for producing rare earth oxide (REO) from the Bear Lodge Project, United States. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment results were produced for each year over the life of the project, generating insight about the relationships between ore composition, grade, processing method and environmental impacts. The environmental impacts vary significantly during the life of a project and a temporally explicit LCA can highlight these.