A multidisciplinary research team consisting of Faculty of Mines members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Özer (Department of Mineral Processing Engineering), Gülperi Gümüş (Department of Mineral Processing Engineering), Dr. Ali Tuğcan Ünlüer (Department of Geological Engineering), Assist. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Döner (Department of Geological Engineering), Prof. Dr. Şenel Özdamar (Department of Geological Engineering), Dr. Ozan Kökkılıç (Mineral Processing Research Group of the McGill University) and Prof. Dr. Fırat Burat Department of Mineral Processing Engineering) has undertaken an interesting and important study.

A recent study titled “Characterization and Enrichment of Rare Earth Element and Heavy Mineral-Bearing Fractions from the Hantepe Placer Deposit, Çanakkale, Türkiye” highlights the growing strategic importance of placer deposits as secondary resources for critical minerals. The research focuses on the Hantepe placer deposit in northwestern Türkiye and evaluates its potential as a source of rare earth elements (REEs) and valuable heavy minerals such as zircon, rutile, and ilmenite.

Placer deposits constitute important secondary resources for economically valuable minerals, including rare earth elements (REEs) and heavy minerals such as zircon, rutile, and ilmenite. In this study, representative samples from the Hantepe placer deposit (Çanakkale, Türkiye) were processed to investigate the occurrence, distribution, and beneficiation potential of REE-bearing minerals. The ore was subjected to size classification, followed by gravity concentration on a shaking table and subsequent magnetic separation using a low-intensity disc separator. The resulting products were characterized by X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence. The dominant REE-host minerals were identified as titanite, zircon, apatite, monazite and, allanite, accompanied by magnetite, hematite, quartz, and feldspar as gangue constituents. The non-magnetic final concentrate achieved substantial upgrading of critical elements, with Ce increasing from 868 g/t to 5716 g/t, Nd from 308 g/t to 2308 g/t, and Zr from 1435 g/t to 9748 g/t. Additionally, the magnetic concentrate (7.0 wt.%) was strongly enriched in Fe₂O₃ (70.26%) and V (2359 g/t), indicating its potential suitability as an Fe-V source. Overall, the results demonstrate that combined gravity and magnetic separation constitutes an effective beneficiation strategy for critical mineral recovery from placer systems."

Figure illustrates proposed flowchart for concentration of Hantepe placer deposit by gravity and magnetic separation methods (Özer et al., 2025).

The article can be read via the following link:

 https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/15/12/1293

Related Article: Özer, M., Gümüş, G., Unluer, A.T., Doner, Z.; Özdamar, ¸S.,  Kökkılıç, O., Burat, F. (2025) Characterization, and Enrichment of Rare Earth Element and Heavy Mineral-Bearing Fractions from the Hantepe Placer Deposit, Çanakkale, Türkiye. Minerals 2025, 15, 1293. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15121293