Preliminary Characterization of Three Metallurgical Bauxite Residue Samples

Bauxite Metallurgical Residue (BR) is a highly alkaline and very fine-grained by-product of the Bayer process for alumina production. Its huge global annual production has resulted in increasing accumulation of BR, causing deposition problems and serious environmental issues. RM contains oxides and salts of the main elements Fe, Al, Ca, Na, Si, Ti, and rare earths—REEs (Sc, Nd, Y, La, Ce, Ds)—many of which have been categorised by EU as critical metals (CMs). The valorisation of BR as a low-cost secondary raw material and metal resource could be a route for its reduction, introducing the waste into the economic cycle. REEScue constitutes a research project that aims to instigate the efficient exploitation of European bauxite residues, resulting from alumina production from Greece (MYTILINEOS SA), Turkey (ETI Aluminium), and Romania (ALUM SA), containing appreciable concentrations of scandium and REEs, through the development of a number of innovative extraction and separation technologies that can efficiently address the drawbacks of the existing solution. The consortium consists of three alumina producers from Greece (MYTILINEOS SA), Turkey (ETI Aluminium), and Romania (ALUM SA) and two academic partners from Greece (National Technical University of Athens) and Turkey (Necmettin Erbacan University). We present preliminary characterization results of three different BR samples that originate from the three aluminium industries, in respect of bulk chemical analysis (XRF, ICP), mineralogical investigation (XRD), and morphological observation through microscopy.

RITUAIS DE SEPULTAMENTO DOS SÍTIOS LAJEDO DO CRUZEIRO E PEDRA DA TESOURA, PARAÍBA: Um Estudo Comparativo Entre Sítios com Deposições Funerárias

Este artigo apresenta preliminarmente uma caracterização dos Lajedo do Cruzeiro e Pedra da Tesoura, procuramos contextualizar os resultados, ainda que iniciais, através de informações etnohistóricas e pesquisas arqueológicas realizadas na Paraíba. Analisamos as informações existentes sobre as populações que habitavam o interior no período Pré- histórico na área conhecida hoje como estado da Paraíba, especialmente os dados concernentes a contexto funerário. Os resultados dispostos nos estudos arqueológicos realizados nos sítios Barra (Camalaú), Serrote da Macambira (São João do Cariri), Pinturas I (São João do Tigre) e Furna dos Ossos (São João do Cariri), foram utilizados, porém, percebe-se que uma das principais dificuldades é estudar um sítio com sepultamento que apresente contexto de deposição preservado, impossibilitando, em grande parte dos casos, inferências seguras acerca das práticas funerárias. BURIAL RITUALS OF THE LAJEDO DO CRUZEIRO AND CRUZEIRO DA PEDRA SITES, PARAÍBA: A Comparative Study Between Sites with Funerary DepositionsABSTRACTThis paper presents a preliminary characterization of the Lajedo do Cruzeiro and Pedra da Tesoura, we seek to contextualize the results, even if initial, through the ethnohistorical information and archaeological research carried out in Paraíba. We analyzed the existing information about the populations that inhabited the interior in the Pre-historic period in the area known today as the state of Paraíba, especially the data concerning the funeralcontext. The results obtained in the archaeological studies carried out at the Barra (Camalaú), Serrote da Macambira (São João do Cariri), Pinturas I (São João do Tigre) and Furna dos Ossos (São João do Cariri) sites were used, one of the main difficulties is to study a buried site that has a preserved deposition context, making it impossible to obtain reliable inferences about funeral practices in most cases.Keywords: Death; funeral rituals; Tapuias; Paraíba

Preliminary characterization of the prehistoric mine of chocolate flint in Poręba Dzierżna, site 24 (Wolbrom commune, Lesser Poland voivodeship)

Researches on prehistoric flint mines are currently widely developing, as they allow a deep insight into the past economy, early industry, and the network of trading routes and inter-regional contacts. In the territory of Poland and in general, Central Europe, one of the most important flint raw materials was an Upper Jurassic chert, so-called chocolate flint. In this paper are presented preliminary results of the research of chocolate flint mine in Poręba Dzierżna, site 24 (Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, southern Poland). The outcrop, and anthropogenic relief indicating the activity of prehistoric miners, were discovered in 2013. Recently excavations undertaken on the site recorded the remains of mining shafts, spoil heaps, and rich traces of workshops. The deposits of chocolate flint were previously known only in the Holy Cross Mountains, 130 km to the NE. The research undertaken has therefore a significant impact on the existing interpretations related to the extraction, use, and distribution of chocolate flint by prehistoric communities in Central Europe.