Extracting rare earth elements from the Colorado Mineral Belt

Most people have never heard of neodymium, a strong, silvery rare-earth element, yet almost all of us carry around a little bit of it in our pocket every day. 

“Your cell phone, your computer—they all rely on lanthanides, a series of 14 heavy metals that include neodymium,” Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) geochemist and CU Earth science professor Tom Marchitto said. 

Though these elements are generally scarce, they occur in unusually high concentrations in some waterways along the Colorado Mineral Belt, where acidic water dissolves mineral-rich bedrock. INSTAAR scientists Marchitto and Diane McKnight, who is also a Distinguished Professor in environmental studies, are collaborators on a new multi-million-dollar U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop methods for extracting these elements. The effort could provide critical raw materials for American-made technology while also improving water quality.

Right: Students collect a water sample near Aspen, Colorado.