Recovery. Rosatom’s mining division has developed a new technology for the recovery of rare earth elements (REE). REE carbonate concentrate is first dissolved in nitric acid to obtain a nitrate solution of rare earth elements. The solution is then electro-oxidized to extract cerium. After that, other rare-earth elements are sequentially recovered from the remaining solution by extractive separation. These steps are followed by precipitation, drying and annealing. It took as little as a year and a half to develop the technology, build a pilot plant with the annual capacity of up to 1.5 tonnes of REE, and set up an analytical laboratory.