o:5210 Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought en Minjingu phosphate ore is Tanzania’s sole domestic supply of phosphorus (P). The ore contains medium to high concentrations of naturally occurring P2O5 (20–35 %) and relevant concentrations of uranium and rare earth elements (REEs) are also suspected to be present. Currently, neither uranium nor REEs are recovered. They either end up in mine tailings or are spread across agricultural soils with fertilizer products. This work provides a first systematic review of the uranium and REE concentrations that can be expected in the different layers of Minjingu phosphate ore, the way the ore is presently processed, as well as a discussion on alternative processing pathways with uranium/REE recovery. The study analyzed ten distinct Minjingu phosphate ore layers, four mine tailings, and five intermediate and final mineral fertilizer products from the Minjingu mine and processing plant located in northern Tanzania. The results confirm that the uranium concentrations and to a lesser degree, the REE concentrations are indeed elevated if compared to concentrations in other phosphate ores. The study does not identify a significant risk resulting from this. The development of techno-economic solutions for more comprehensive utilization of Minjingu ore is, however, strongly encouraged and suggestions on such processes are provided. Minjingu phosphate ore, Rare earth elements (REEs), Uranium, Circular economy,Tanzania 1552099 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107694 2024-08-08T11:03:41.122Z 44 yes 46 Nils H. Haneklaus Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, School for Materials, Energy, Water, Environmental Science and Engineering, Arusha, Tanzania;Td-Lab Sustainable Mineral Resources, Universit¨ at für Weiterbildung Krems, Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Straße 30, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Austria Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought Dennis A. Mwalongo Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, School for Materials, Energy, Water, Environmental Science and Engineering, Arusha, Tanzania; Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC), Directorate of Nuclear Technology and Technical Services, P. O. Box 743, Arusha, Tanzania Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Jacob B. Lisuma obacco Research Institute of Tanzania (TORITA), P.O. Box 431, Tabora, Tanzania Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Aloyce I. Amasi Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, School for Materials, Energy, Water, Environmental Science and Engineering, Arusha, Tanzania; Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC), Directorate of Nuclear Technology and Technical Services, P. O. Box 743, Arusha, Tanzania Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Jerome Mwimanzi Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, School for Materials, Energy, Water, Environmental Science and Engineering, Arusha, Tanzania;Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC), Directorate of Nuclear Technology and Technical Services, P. O. Box 743, Arusha, Tanzania Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Tomislav Bituh Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Jelena Ćirić Instiute of meat hygiene and technology, kaćanskog 13, Belgrade, Serbia Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8118-7676 Jakub Nowak GH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059, Krakow, Poland Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Urszula Rysziko Łukasiewicz Research Network–New Chemical Syntheses Institute, al. Tysiąclecia Pan´stwa Polskiego 13a, 24-110, Puławy, Poland Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Piotr Rusek Łukasiewicz Research Network–New Chemical Syntheses Institute, al. Tysiąclecia Pan´stwa Polskiego 13a, 24-110, Puławy, Poland Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Ali Maged Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez University, 43221, Suez, Egypt;nstitute of Process Engineering, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040, Linz, Austria Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Essaid Bilal Institute of Science, Technology & Innovation (IST&I), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Ben Guerir, 43150, Morocco Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Hajar Bellefqih Ecole Nationale Sup´erieure des Mines de Saint Etienne, CNRS UMR, EVS, 5600, F42023, Saint Etienne, France Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Khaoula Quamouche Td-Lab Sustainable Mineral Resources, Universita¨t für Weiterbildung Krems, Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Straße 30, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Austria Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Jamal Ait Brahim Institute of Science, Technology & Innovation (IST&I), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Ben Guerir, 43150, Morocco Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Redouane Beniazza Institute of Science, Technology & Innovation (IST&I), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Ben Guerir, 43150, Morocco Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Hamid Mazouz Expertise Center for Phosphate (CEPH), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Ben Guerir, 43150, Morocco Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Elizabet M. van der Merwe Chemistry Department, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Wayne Truter University of the Free State, Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Hilda D. Kyomuhimbo Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Hendrik Brink Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Gerald Steiner Td-Lab Sustainable Mineral Resources, Universita¨t für Weiterbildung Krems, Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Straße 30, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Austria; Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Josefsta¨dter Straße 39, 1080, Vienna, Austria Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Martin Bertau TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Institute of Chemical Technology, Leipziger Straße 29, Freiberg, Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, Fraunhofer Technology Center for High-Performance Materials THM, Freiberg, Germany Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Raghav S. Soni Institute of Chemical Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Mumbai, 400019, India Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Ashwin P. Patwardhan Institute of Chemical Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Mumbai, 400019, India Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Pushipto K. Ghosh Institute of Chemical Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Mumbai, 400019, India Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Thomas T. Kivevele Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, School for Materials, Energy, Water, Environmental Science and Engineering, Arusha, Tanzania Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Kelvin M. Mtei Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, School for Materials, Energy, Water, Environmental Science and Engineering, Arusha, Tanzania Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person Stanislaw Waclawek Technical University of Liberec, Centre for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation, Studentska´ 1402/2, 461 17, Liberec 1, Czech Republic Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought person 2024-05-05 application/pdf 9011766 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:5210 no yes 16 70 92000002 71A01 Resources, Conservation & Recycling 107694 207 Resources, Conservation & Recycling www.sciemcedirect.com Science direct 2024-05-05