Metallothermic Reduction of Nd2 O 3 with Ca in CaCl2 ‐ NaCl Melts

Neodymium metal was produced by metallothermic reduction of with calcium in a melt by the overall reaction at temperatures between 983 and 1063 K. Neodymium was recovered from the salt melt by dissolution in a molten metal pool of either Nd‐Zn or Nd‐Fe. The reduction process was observed to proceed through the following reactions To obtain good yields it was necessary to keep the concentration of in the molten salt phase at least at 70 weight percent. The yield (percentage of neodymium oxide recovered as metal) was ∼95% in the case of a Nd‐Zn extraction pool. Neodymium metal, freed of zinc by vacuum distillation, was of high purity (>99% Nd). The yield was also ∼95% for the case of a Nd‐Fe extraction pool. The Nd‐Fe alloy produced was of high quality and can be directly used in producing Magnequench alloy for permanent magnets.