scholarly journals Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Klimpel ◽  
Michael Bau ◽  
Torsten Graupner

AbstractScandium is a critical raw material that is essential for the EU economy because of its potential application in enabling technologies such as fuel cells and lightweight materials. As there is currently no secure supply of Sc, several projects worldwide evaluate potential Sc sources. While elsewhere in Europe emphasis is placed upon secondary resources such as red mud, we investigated the potential of industrial garnet sand and its waste products. Since Sc readily substitutes for Mg and Fe in the crystal lattice of garnet, the garnet minerals almandine and pyrope, in particular, may show high Sc concentrations. Garnet sand, after being used as an abrasive in the cutting and sandblasting industry, is recycled several times before it is finally considered waste which eventually must be disposed of. Extraction of Sc (and rare earth elements, REE) from such garnet sand may generate added value and thereby reduce disposal cost. The studied garnet sands from different mines in Australia, India and the U.S., and industrial garnet sands commercially available in Germany from different suppliers show average Sc concentrations of 93.7 mg/kg and 90.7 mg/kg, respectively, i.e. similar to red mud. Our data also show that “fresh” and recycled garnet sands yield similar Sc concentrations. Within the framework of a minimum-waste approach, it may be feasible to utilize the industrial waste-product “garnet sand” as an unconventional source of Sc and REE, that reduces disposal cost.

2021 ◽  
Vol 171 ◽  
pp. 105645
Author(s):  
Sandeep Panda ◽  
Rachel Biancalana Costa ◽  
Syed Sikandar Shah ◽  
Srabani Mishra ◽  
Denise Bevilaqua ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 105733
Author(s):  
B.K. Kenzhaliyev ◽  
T. Yu Surkovа ◽  
M.N. Azlan ◽  
S.B. Yulusov ◽  
B.M. Sukurov ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 1040 ◽  
pp. 109-116
Author(s):  
V.Yu. Piirainen ◽  
A.A. Barinkova ◽  
V.N. Starovoytov ◽  
V.M. Barinkov

Current global environmental challenges and, above all, global warming associated with a change in the carbon balance in the atmosphere has led to the need for urgent and rapid search for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, which primarily include carbon dioxide as a by-product of human activity and technological progress. One of these ways is the creation of industries with a complete cycle of turnover of carbon dioxide. Aluminum is the most sought-after nonferrous metal in the world, but its production is not environmentally safe, so it constantly requires the development of knowledge-intensive technologies to improve the technological process of cleaning and disposal of production waste, primarily harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Another environmental problem related to aluminum production is the formation and accumulation in mud lagoon of huge amounts of so-called highly alkaline "red mud," which is a waste product of natural bauxite raw material processing into alumina - the feedstock for aluminum production. Commonly known resources and technological methods of neutralizing red mud and working with it as ore materials for further extraction of useful components are still not used because of their low productivity and cost-effectiveness. This article describes the negative impact of waste in the form of "red" mud and carbon dioxide of primary aluminum production on the environment. The results showed that thanks to carbonization of red mud using carbon dioxide, it is possible to achieve rapid curing and its compact formation for safer transportation and storage until further use. Strength tests of concrete samples filled with deactivated red mud were also carried out, which showed the prospects of using concrete with magnesia binder.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Wang ◽  
Yuzhe Zhang ◽  
Wen Sun ◽  
Xudong Zheng ◽  
Zhongyu Li

The recovery of rare earth elements, especially heavy rare earth elements, from rare earth waste products has a high economic and environmental beneficial result. In this paper, cellulose nanocrystals used...


Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 577
Author(s):  
Scott N. Montross ◽  
Jonathan Yang ◽  
James Britton ◽  
Mark McKoy ◽  
Circe Verba

Rare earth elements (REE) are necessary for advanced technological and energy applications. To support the emerging need, it is necessary to identify new domestic sources of REE and technologies to separate and recover saleable REE product in a safe and economical manner. Underclay rock associated with Central Appalachian coal seams and prevalent in coal utilization waste products is an alternative source of REE to hard rock ores that are mainly composed of highly refractory REE-bearing minerals. This study utilizes a suite of analytical techniques and benchtop leaching tests to characterize the properties and leachability of the coal seam underclays sampled. Laboratory bench-top and flow-through reactor leaching experiments were conducted on underclay rock powders to produce a pregnant leach solution (PLS) that has relatively low concentrations of gangue elements Al, Si, Fe, and Th and is amenable to further processing steps to recover and produce purified REE product. The leaching method described here uses a chelating agent, the citrate anion, to solubilize elements that are adsorbed, or weakly bonded to the surface of clay minerals or other mineral solid phases in the rock. The citrate PLS produced from leaching specific underclay powders contains relatively higher concentrations of REE and lower concentrations of gangue elements compared to PLS produced from sequential digestion using ammonium sulfate and mineral acids. Citrate solution leaching of underclay produces a PLS with lower concentrations of gangue elements and higher concentrations of REE than achieved with hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid. The results provide a preliminary assessment of the types of REE-bearing minerals and potential leachability of coal seam underclays from the Central Appalachian basin.


Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonid Chaikin ◽  
Andrei Shoppert ◽  
Dmitry Valeev ◽  
Irina Loginova ◽  
Julia Napol’skikh

One of the potential sources of rare-earth elements (REE) is the industrial waste known as red mud (bauxite residue), in which the majority of REE from the initial bauxite are concentrated via the Bayer process. Therefore, the studies of the subject, both in Russia and outside, focus almost exclusively on red mud processing. This article looks into the possibility of REE concentration into red mud by leaching an intermediate product of the bauxite sintering process at Russian alumina refineries, namely electrostatic precipitator (ESP) dust. The experimental works were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD)and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) of the sinter and sinter dust. The determination of major and rare-earth elements in the sinter from the rotary kilns and in the ESP dust before and after leaching was carried out by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study showed that it is possible to obtain red mud that contains three times more REE than traditional waste red mud after two-stage leaching ESP dust in the water at 95 °C followed by leaching in an alkaline-aluminate liquor at 240 °C. The shrinking core model was used to study the kinetics of leaching of the original ESP dust and water-treated dust in alkaline-aluminate liquor. The study showed the change in the limiting stage of the alkaline leaching process after water treatment, with the activation energy growing from 24.98 to 33.19 kJ/mol.


2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éimear A. Deady ◽  
Evangelos Mouchos ◽  
Kathryn Goodenough ◽  
Ben J. Williamson ◽  
Frances Wall

AbstractRare-earth elements (REE) are viewed as 'critical metals' due to a complex array of production and political issues, most notably a near monopoly in supply from China. Red mud, the waste product of the Bayer process that produces alumina from bauxite, represents a potential secondary resource ofREE. Karst bauxite deposits represent the ideal source material forREE-enriched red mud as the conditions during formation of the bauxite allow for the retention ofREE. TheREEpass through the Bayer Process and are concentrated in the waste material. Millions of tonnes of red mud are currently stockpiled in onshore storage facilities across Europe, representing a potentialREEresource. Red mud from two case study sites, one in Greece and the other in Turkey, has been found to contain an average of ∼1000 ppm totalREE, with an enrichment of light over heavyREE. Although this is relatively low grade when compared with typical primaryREEdeposits (Mountain Pass and Mount Weld up to 80,000 ppm), it is of interest because of the large volumes available, the cost benefits of reprocessing waste, and the low proportion of contained radioactive elements. This work shows that ∼12,000 tonnes ofREEexist in red mud at the two case study areas alone, with much larger resources existing across Europe as a whole.


Refractories ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 65-69
Author(s):  
�. V. Degtyareva ◽  
O. T. Gud' ◽  
E. D. Lisovaya ◽  
O. N. Romaniv ◽  
P. G. Maistruk

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Diana Hendrati ◽  
Erianti Siska Purnamasari ◽  
Syulastri Effendi ◽  
Santhy Wyantuti

<p>Gadolinium (Gd) merupakan salah satu logam tanah jarang, dimana logam tanah jarang dapat diekstrak dari mineral salah satunya mineral monasit. Logam Gd biasanya digunakan sebagai bahan dasar <em>contrast agent</em> dalam dunia kesehatan. Ligan dibutilditiokarbamat mampu membentuk senyawa kompleks dengan cara mengikat logam sehingga membentuk khelat yang dapat digunakan untuk ekstraksi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah memantapkan sintesis ligan dibutilditiokarbamat berdasarkan desain eksperimen dan karakterisasi kompleks antara Gd(III) dengan ligan dibutilditiokarbamat hasil sintesis. Penelitian ini diawali dengan pembuatan desain eksperimen untuk sintesis ligan dan ekstraksi Gd(III) dengan ligan, kemudian proses sintesis dan ekstraksi dilakukan sesuai dengan desain eksperimen, hasil sintesis dan ekstraksi dikarakterisasi menggunakan metode spektroskopi serta diuji kelarutannya dalam pelarut organik. Data yang diperoleh menunjukkan bahwa sintesis ligan dibutilditiokarbamat optimal pada suhu 4 °C, perbandingan dibutilamin dan karbondisulfida yaitu 1 : 3 dengan perbandingan mol ammonia terhadap dibutilamin yaitu 1 : 4, sedangkan kondisi optimal untuk ekstraksi Gd(III) dengan ligan yaitu pada pH 6, dengan perbandingan mol Gd(III) dan ligan yaitu 1 : 4 dan lama ekstraksi 60 menit. Oleh karena itu ligan dibutilditiokarbamat hasil sintesis berpotensi digunakan sebagai ekstraktan untuk ekstraksi Gd(III). Hasil prediksi ligan berdasarkan desain eksperimen yaitu sebesar 56,12% sedangkan prediksi ekstraksi Gd(III) dengan ligan hasil sintesis diperoleh sebesar 78,41%. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini bahwa sintesis ligan dibutilditiokarbamat  berdasarkan desain eksperimen dapat dikembangkan untuk sintesis skala besar.</p><p>Gadolinium (Gd) is one of the rare-earth elements, whereas rare-earth elements can be extracted from monazite. Gd is usually used as raw material for synthesizing contrast agent<em> </em>in medicine field. Dibuthyldithiocarbamate ligand can form a complex compound with metal. This ligand will bind a metal and then forming chelate which is used for extraction. The purpose of this research is to ensure procedure of dibuthyldithiocarbamate ligand synthesis based on the design of experiment and to study the characterization of reaction result between Gd(III) and dibuthyldithiocarbamate ligand which this ligand is synthesis result. This research begins with making design of experiment for ligand synthesis and Gd(III) extraction with ligand, then perform the process of synthesis and extraction according to the design of experiment, the result of synthesis and extraction were characterized by spectroscopy method and solubility tested in organic solvent. The data was collected indicate that the optimal condition of dibuthyldithiocarbamate ligan synthesis at 4 °C (temperature), the ratio of di-n-butylamine and carbon disulphide is 1:3 with the mole ratio of ammonia to the di-n-butylamine 1:4, while the optimal conditions for gadolinium extraction with ligand at pH 6, the mol ratio of gadolinium and ligand is 1:4 and 60 minutes extraction time. Hence, dibuthyldithiocarbamate ligand can be used as extractan for extracting Gd(III). The prediction of ligand based on the experimental design is 56.12% while the prediction of Gd(III) extraction with ligand of the synthesis result is obtained equal to 78.41%. The conclusion of this research is that the synthesis of dibuthyldithiocarbamate ligand based on the experimental design can be developed for large-scale synthesis.</p>


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