New Technologies in Leaching and Recovery of Valuable Metals

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 3080

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: solid waste management; environmental protection

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of science, technology and industrialization has led to an increase in the amount of waste materials containing valuable metals. Their recovery and utilization are crucial for modern society because of the increase in the amount of waste that contains them on the one hand, and the depletion of primary resources (ores and minerals) on the other. It is known that the amount of metals in some waste streams could be higher than in ore deposits, which is another argument that indicates the need to develop and apply new technologies for their recovery. Moreover, the decreasing metal content of some ores that are exploited today requires the development of new technologies for their extraction.

Some of the requirements that new technologies for the leaching and recovery of valuable metals need to meet today include high recovery rates, low costs, reduced water and energy consumption, minimal harmful impact on the environment, the possibility of simultaneous separation of few metals, and practical implementation.

In this Special Issue, articles related to the leaching and recovery of valuable metals from different matrices are welcome. Some of these metals are widely used around the world (Fe, Cu, Zn, Al, Ni, Pb), and for some (e.g., rare earth elements), the demand has increased in the last few decades. I hope that by publishing your papers in this Issue, you will contribute to the development of this area and help to realize some of the stated requirements that new technologies should meet.

Prof. Dr. Mirjana Ristic
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • low-grade ore
  • mining waste
  • industrial wastewater streams
  • rare earth elements
  • extraction
  • environmental sustainability

Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 3272 KiB  
Article
Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Coal Fly and Bottom Ashes by Ultrasonic Roasting Followed by Microwave Leaching
by Milica Stojković, Mirjana Ristić, Maja Đolić, Aleksandra Perić Grujić and Antonije Onjia
Metals 2024, 14(4), 371; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14040371 - 22 Mar 2024
Viewed by 876
Abstract
Considering the rising demand for rare earth elements (REEs), researchers are looking for new sources for their extraction, thereby fostering economic and environmentally justified processing solutions. Among potential industrial sources, coal fly ash emerges as one of the most promising. The recovery of [...] Read more.
Considering the rising demand for rare earth elements (REEs), researchers are looking for new sources for their extraction, thereby fostering economic and environmentally justified processing solutions. Among potential industrial sources, coal fly ash emerges as one of the most promising. The recovery of REEs from coal fly and bottom ashes derived from different thermal power plants was the main focus of this study. A dual-step methodology was conducted on ash samples, which involved an ultrasonic roasting process to disintegrate the silica matrix, followed by a microwave-assisted acid leaching step to extract REEs. The roasting procedure was studied using the Plackett–Burman design, and the Box–Behnken design was subsequently implemented to optimize the leaching procedure. The optimized ultrasonic roasting procedure was set up at 95 °C for 10 min with an ash-to-roasting agent (3M NaOH) ratio of 0.5:1 (m/V). For acid leaching, the optimal conditions were obtained at 174 °C for 30 min with an HCl ÷ HNO3 mixture (1:1 V/V). The standard reference material (NIST 1633c) was used in the conclusive experiments to estimate the average recovery (80%) of REEs. The green aspects of this methodology were evaluated using several metrics (atom economy, E-factor, and energy consumption). The proposed process outperforms high-temperature roasting procedures in terms of greenness; however, the REE recovery rate is lower. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Technologies in Leaching and Recovery of Valuable Metals)
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20 pages, 5192 KiB  
Article
A Novel Two-Stage Method of Co-Leaching of Manganese–Silver Ore and Silver-Bearing Pyrite Based on Successive Chemical and Bio Treatments: Optimization and Mechanism Study
by Jianzhi Sun, He Shang, Qidong Zhang, Xue Liu, Liulu Cai, Jiankang Wen and Han Yang
Metals 2023, 13(2), 438; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13020438 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1646
Abstract
In this work, bio-hydrometallurgy technology was employed and a novel two-stage method based on successive chemical and bio treatments was proposed to collaboratively utilize manganese–silver ore and silver-bearing pyrite. In the optimization research of the chemical leaching stage, the sensitive factors for the [...] Read more.
In this work, bio-hydrometallurgy technology was employed and a novel two-stage method based on successive chemical and bio treatments was proposed to collaboratively utilize manganese–silver ore and silver-bearing pyrite. In the optimization research of the chemical leaching stage, the sensitive factors for the Mn leaching efficiency were screened by Plackett–Burman design, and central compound design was performed to settle the optimized parameters. A mixed strain of bacteria containing Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans, At. caldus and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans was applied in the bioleaching stage. A conventional cyanidation process carried out with the Mn leaching residuals suggested an efficient recovery of Ag. Applying a two-stage method with the optimum conditions, the leaching efficiency of 95.3% (Mn) and 96.3% (Ag) were obtained with 284.94 kg/t silver-bearing pyrite addition and 277.44 kg/t sulfuric acid consumption with a temperature at 77.73 °C and stirring speed at 287.76 rpm. Mineral behaviors were investigated with XRD and SEM/EDS analysis, and it was revealed that the oxidation of sulfur is the crux in reducing the usage of reagents, and the presence of leaching bacteria enhanced the oxidation efficiently. Through optimization and mechanism study, this paper provides an opportunity to co-leach the manganese–silver ore and silver-bearing pyrite process in a more economical and environmental way. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Technologies in Leaching and Recovery of Valuable Metals)
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