Historical review of the ionic rare earth mining: In honor of the 60 anniversary of GNMRI

GNMRI, as the inventor of the two generations extraction process for the ionic adsorption rare earth in Southern China, has accomplished plenty of achievements in the past decades. Due to the confidentiality restrictions, the rare earth mining production process has long shrouded in secrecy. This paper makes a concise historical review focusing around the development of ionic rare earth mine with the current decryption of the technology. Three type of ionic rare earth, including a brand-new rare earth type, ionic adsorption rare earth, are introduced. Two generations of mining technology, pool leaching process and in-situ leaching process are discussed. The technologies involved have complete independent intellectual property rights.