Amidst all the noise and controversy over the Neodymium research project, presented by the company Quantum Minería to extract gray monazite from the Campo de Montiel regionin the province of Ciudad Real, it doesn’t hurt to approach this issue with some perspective. From Yes to the Living Earth Platform, they continue to insist on the risks of this type of work, with numerous protests and initiatives and on the basis of a report published in the journal online “Toxic,” which warns of the toxic effects of any of the 17 rare earth elements on human health.
Information recently refuted by the company Quantum Minería in a press release in which it denies the danger of its project in Ciudad Real. Thus, as it is said, “the bibliography used to prepare said report does not include any study on gray monazite and does not refer to any publication on the Campo de Montiel deposits”.
Furthermore, Quantum criticizes this study carried out by authors from a university scientific institution in Mongolia. In fact, they emphasize that the Baotou Medical Collegethis is what it is called, occupies position 7,965 in the SCImago Institutions Ranking (SIR), a ranking of universities in which, for example, the Autonomous University of Madrid is in position 261, that of Seville in 992 or that of Castilla-La Mancha in 2026.
Precisely, a specialist from this latter academic institution, the professor and professor at the School of Mining and Industrial Engineering of Almadén (Ciudad Real) of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, Pablo Higueraswell informed on the matter thanks to his training and proximity, attended ABC to contrast some of the statements made on this subject.
“What they want to do in Campo de Montiel – he emphasizes – is a research project, which at the time concerned the exploitation, of a mineral called monazite. It is often said that this involves mining rare earths, but this is an error, since in reality what is being extracted is the mineral monazite, which is the rare earth phosphate.
Rare earths receive this name, explains the expert, “because they are quite common chemical elements, but they are rarely concentrated enough to be exploited and, when this happens, they occur in the form of two minerals, which are monazite and bastnasite. In this region of Ciudad Real, what we want to study in particular is monazite, which, as he points out, “is a mineral the size of a lens that is found in the subsoil, concentrated about three or four meters below the surface”, and which is used to extract rare earths, so useful for different applications.
The particularity of monazite is that it is a “very stable mineral”in the words of Pablo Higueras, “that is, it optimally resists different atmospheric conditions, unlike what happens to pyrite or iron sulfide, which oxidize easily and cause serious pollution problems in contact with oxygen and water.
However, he assures that “monazite does not present this risk because it is physically separated from the earth, without using chemical reagents”. In this way, the extraction company, in this case Quantum Minería, would come to an agreement with the owners of the land and dig small plots to a depth of about three or four meters, where the mineral is found , to process it in another place. .
Landscape of the Campo de Montiel region, in the province of Ciudad Real
“1% of what would be mined would be monazite and the remaining 99% would be earthwhich would be replaced again and could be reused without any problem or risk, because no chemical components or reagents are added, as they say”, insists the UCLM professor, indicating that “monazite is present on this earth for thousands or millions of years and it has not poisoned anyone naturally because it is an inert mineral.
“An error, a slander”
Therefore, according to him, “talking about monazite mining as a risk is an error, a total slander.” In addition, he also denies that the research project that can be carried out in Campo de Montiel will be one kilometer deep and seven in diameter, but that it will rather be plots of a few hectares that will open and close, being perfectly reusable.
“All the work will be carried out with backhoes and trucks to separate the minerals, which will be done with water, which is the only disadvantage this can have, since it is necessary to know the quantity and where the quantity of “the water that will be used will come from the need”, explains Pablo Higueras, who points out that this process can also be carried out with other methods such as an air cyclone.
In any case, of Quantum Minería formally addressed the mayors of the municipalities affected by the Neodimio project -Valdepeñas, Santa Cruz de Mudela and Torrenueva-as well as other relevant groups, to provide an information session to explain the details of your initiative.
Meanwhile, detractors and promoters of this project are still awaiting a decision from the Government of Castile-La Manchawho is the one who has environmental licensing powers through the Ministry of Sustainable Development, if they finally give their agreement for the gray monazite mineral to start being extracted from Campo de Montiel.
