Numerical simulation and monitoring experiment of liquid injection diffusion range in ionic rare earth ores

Numerical simulation and monitoring experiment of liquid injection diffusion range in ionic rare earth ores | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Numerical simulation and monitoring experiment of liquid injection diffusion range in ionic rare earth ores Gang Min, Zhihao Zhang, Yang Yu, Wenyu Li, Hai Qin, Rongbo Shu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9048823/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Currently, in-situ leaching is the predominant method for extracting ionic rare earth ores. However, this technique still faces persistent challenges such as low resource utilization efficiency and environmental issues including water and soil contamination. Clarifying the diffusion characteristics of the leach liquid is crucial for addressing these problems. Geophysical methods, particularly conductive electrical techniques, have been widely employed to monitor the diffusion range of the leach liquid. Nevertheless, these methods suffer from limitations such as operational complexity, high costs, and poor timeliness. To overcome these drawbacks, this study first utilizes numerical simulation to determine the influence range of liquid injection, and subsequently evaluates the effectiveness of the high-density resistivity method in delineating its diffusion extent. Based on the deep structural characteristics of a rare earth mine in Fujian, China, identified through high-density resistivity method, a suitable site was selected for a comparative experiment. The experiment compared time-lapse resistivity tomography monitoring with seepage numerical simulations of liquid injection faced actual geological model, and the results demonstrated good consistency in the diffusion ranges identified by both methods. Through theoretical analysis and comparative monitoring results, this study proposes that the integrated approach of “detailed deep structure investigation & seepage numerical simulation of liquid injection” can effectively characterize the diffusion behavior of the leach liquor. This provides theoretical support for the precise placement of injection wells and the design of anti-seepage systems in ionic rare earth mining. contributing to improved mineral recovery rates and reduced environmental pollution from liquid injection. Ionic rare earth ore Time-lapse resistivity tomography Seepage numerical simulation Resistivity structure monitoring experiment Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 22 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 07 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 07 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 06 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9048823","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":610332520,"identity":"a1476388-5cbd-41e1-9f75-c1b36258c06c","order_by":0,"name":"Gang 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Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Ionic rare earth ore, Time-lapse resistivity tomography, Seepage numerical simulation, Resistivity structure, monitoring experiment","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9048823/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9048823/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCurrently, in-situ leaching is the predominant method for extracting ionic rare earth ores. However, this technique still faces persistent challenges such as low resource utilization efficiency and environmental issues including water and soil contamination. Clarifying the diffusion characteristics of the leach liquid is crucial for addressing these problems. Geophysical methods, particularly conductive electrical techniques, have been widely employed to monitor the diffusion range of the leach liquid. Nevertheless, these methods suffer from limitations such as operational complexity, high costs, and poor timeliness. To overcome these drawbacks, this study first utilizes numerical simulation to determine the influence range of liquid injection, and subsequently evaluates the effectiveness of the high-density resistivity method in delineating its diffusion extent. Based on the deep structural characteristics of a rare earth mine in Fujian, China, identified through high-density resistivity method, a suitable site was selected for a comparative experiment. The experiment compared time-lapse resistivity tomography monitoring with seepage numerical simulations of liquid injection faced actual geological model, and the results demonstrated good consistency in the diffusion ranges identified by both methods. Through theoretical analysis and comparative monitoring results, this study proposes that the integrated approach of \u0026ldquo;detailed deep structure investigation \u0026amp; seepage numerical simulation of liquid injection\u0026rdquo; can effectively characterize the diffusion behavior of the leach liquor. This provides theoretical support for the precise placement of injection wells and the design of anti-seepage systems in ionic rare earth mining. contributing to improved mineral recovery rates and reduced environmental pollution from liquid injection.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Numerical simulation and monitoring experiment of liquid injection diffusion range in ionic rare earth ores","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-25 12:49:31","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9048823/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-23T03:02:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-03-07T13:18:11+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-03-07T13:17:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Environmental Earth Sciences","date":"2026-03-06T09:30:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-earth-sciences","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"enge","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Earth Sciences](https://www.springer.com/journal/12665)","snPcode":"12665","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/12665/3","title":"Environmental Earth Sciences","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c3b4620d-e2e9-42bc-b711-2d0328654596","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 25th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-25T12:49:31+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-25 12:49:31","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9048823","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9048823","identity":"rs-9048823","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}