A study was carried out to recover RE and Mn from the rare earth mud of western Sichuang in China, which contains about 3-7% RE and 2-10% Mn. The RE of the mud exists in amorphous Mn-Fe oxide. It is necessary to destroy the Mn-Fe amorphous structure to recover the RE from the mud. A 3.6-g/l Na2SO4 solution was first used to leach Mn at room temperature. About 90% Mn was leached and the Mn-Fe amorphous structure was destroyed. The leaching solution is further treated with KMnO4 to remove impurities. A MnCO3 product with purity of 90.5% can be obtained. At the same time, the removed Mn mud is further roasted with NH4Cl at about 450 degrees C, and then directly leached by water. The recovery of RE can reach to 73.4%, which is higher about 20% than that of the mud being directly roasted. The purified leaching solution is precipitated by NH4HCO3 and an easy filtered crystal RE2(CO3)(3) is obtained. Based on the study, a flow sheet of separation and recovery of RE and Mn from MN rare earth mud was proposed. (C) 2000