Leach of the weathering crust elution-deposited rare earth ore for low environmental pollution with a combination of (NH4)2SO4 and EDTA.

High concentration of ammonium sulfate, a typical leaching agent, was often used in the mining process of the weathering crust elution-deposited rare earth ore. After mining, a lot of ammonia nitrogen and labile heavy metal fractions were residual in tailings, which may result in a huge potential risk to the environment. In this study, in order to achieve the maximum extraction of rare earth elements and reduce the labile heavy metal, extraction effect and fraction changes of lanthanum (La) and lead (Pb) in the weathering crust elution-deposited rare earth ore were studied by using a compound agent of (NH4)2SO4-EDTA. The extraction efficiency of La was more than 90% by using 0.2% (NH4)2SO4-0.005 M EDTA, which was almost same with that by using 2.0% (NH4)2SO4 solution. In contrast, the extraction efficiency of Pb was 62.3% when use 0.2% (NH4)2SO4-0.005 M EDTA, which is much higher than that (16.16%) achieved by using 2.0% (NH4)2SO4 solution. The released Pb fractions were mainly acid extractable and reducible fractions, and the content of reducible fraction being leached accounted for 70.45% of the total reducible fraction. Therefore, the use of 0.2% (NH4)2SO4-0.005 M EDTA can not only reduce the amount of (NH4)2SO4, but also decrease the labile heavy metal residues in soil, which provides a new way for efficient La extraction with effective preventing and controlling environmental pollution in the process of mining the weathering crust elution-deposited rare earth ore.