System and method for processing of minerals containing the lanthanide series and production of rare earth oxides

A method for the production of rare earth oxides, comprising the steps of:

• a) reception and conditioning of a raw material;
• b) desorption of valuable product from the raw material, through a plurality of mixing and reaction stages in which the raw material is contacted with a stream of desorbent solution provided against the stream flow of said raw material;
• c) separation of fine solids from a stream of clarified liquid resulting from the step of desorption of valuable product;
• d) precipitation of secondary minerals from the stream of clarified liquid coming from the step of separation of fine solids, through the use of a first reactive solution;
• e) precipitation of rare earth carbonates from the stream of clarified liquid coming from the step of precipitation of secondary minerals, through the use of a second reactive solution, and separating the rare earth carbonates;
• and
• f) drying and calcination of the rear earth carbonates to obtain rare earth oxides;
• wherein the method further comprises a secondary process that allows further processing of residual mineral resulting from the previous steps a)-f), and a dewatering and washing step wherein the residual mineral from the desorption step is washed and a lanthanide-containing liquid is recovered.