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Minerals
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Beneficiation and Extraction of Critical Metals from Ores and Secondary...
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Beneficiation and Extraction of Critical Metals from Ores and Secondary Resources

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 10882

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bogale Tadesse

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430 , Australia
Interests: flotation; gravity separation; particle sorting; mineralogy; electrochemistry; extractive metallurgy
Prof. Dr. Jonas Addai-Mensah

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia
Interests: hydrometallurgy; physical separation and beneficiation of mineral ores; flotation; colloid and interfacial science and particle interactions; thickening; dewatering and disposal of mineral waste tailings; process water treatment and environmental cleaning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Girma Woldetinsae

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mining Engineering, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 16417, Ethiopia
Interests: ore beneficiation; extractive metallurgy; applied geology; mineralogy
Dr. Lisha Dong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430, Australia
Interests: mineral flotation; extractive metallurgy; recycling; systhesis of catalysts

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is well known that the demand for critical and strategic metals such as Li, Co, Ta, and Nb and rare earth elements has skyrocketed in recent years owing to their use in modern electronics, energy storage systems, superalloys, and catalysts. A number of researchers are currently working on the efficient beneficiation and extraction of critical metal commodities from primary deposits (such as hard rock ores and pegmatite deposits), secondary resources (e.g., plant tailing and waste streams), and the recycling of spent materials. The development of optimal techniques for the production of critical metals will be crucial to bridge the gap between supply and demand in the coming years.

The Special Issue aims to aggregate current research on the beneficiation and extraction of critical metals from primary and secondary ores. The use of gravitational, magnetic, and electrostatic separations, froth flotation, ore sorting, and coarse particle rejection will be presented. Hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical approaches involving leaching and extraction methods from ores or other sources are also the focus areas of this Special Issue. In addition, submissions addressing energy consumption associated with comminution and processing and other environmental aspects are encouraged.

Dr. Bogale Tadesse
Prof. Dr. Jonas Addai-Mensah
Dr. Girma Woldetinsae
Dr. Lisha Dong
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • flotation chemistry
  • ore sorting
  • hydrometallurgy
  • beneficiation
  • pegmatites
  • critical metals
  • lithium, tantalum, and niobium
  • mineral processing

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 11428 KiB  
Article
Feasibility Exploration of the Efficient Recovery of Chromium from a Lateritic Nickel Deposit
by Chen Xu, Yiwu Xiao, Mingshan Fang, Lei Li and Kai Feng
Minerals 2025, 15(2), 161; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15020161 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 593
Abstract
Lateritic nickel deposits frequently contain elevated concentrations of chromium. The recovery of this fraction of chromium resources can enhance the comprehensive utilization of resources while simultaneously reducing the energy consumption and environmental pollution associated with smelting. The objective of this study was to [...] Read more.
Lateritic nickel deposits frequently contain elevated concentrations of chromium. The recovery of this fraction of chromium resources can enhance the comprehensive utilization of resources while simultaneously reducing the energy consumption and environmental pollution associated with smelting. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility and technical challenges associated with the recovery of chromium from lateritic nickel deposits from a mineralogical perspective. To this end, a process mineralogical study was conducted on a lateritic nickel deposit in Indonesia. It was discovered that chromium often occurs as a chromium mineral, chromite, and exhibits significant physical differences from common minerals in lateritic nickel deposits, such as limonite and serpentine, making it suitable for physical beneficiation. Chromite constitutes a mere 3.72% of the ore sample, yet it is enriched with a 63.40% chromium content. Consequently, on the basis of determining the granularity and liberation characteristics of chromite and the occurrence state of chromium, we predicted that the recovery rate could reach 39.47%, constituting a feasible value for chromium recovery. This will enable a more scientific approach to the physical beneficiation process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beneficiation and Extraction of Critical Metals from Ores and Secondary Resources)
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13 pages, 3826 KiB  
Article
Solvent Extraction of Gallium and Germanium Using a Novel Hydroxamic Acid Extractant
by Zong Guo, Zhixing Qin, Sanping Liu, Wei Zhang, Chaozhen Zheng and Haibei Wang
Minerals 2024, 14(11), 1147; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14111147 - 12 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1415
Abstract
The rare metals gallium and germanium are key strategic metals that are widely used in emerging industries. In this work, a novel hydroxamic acid extractant, BGYW, with low toxicity, was used for the selective solvent extraction of Ga ions and Ge ions from [...] Read more.
The rare metals gallium and germanium are key strategic metals that are widely used in emerging industries. In this work, a novel hydroxamic acid extractant, BGYW, with low toxicity, was used for the selective solvent extraction of Ga ions and Ge ions from Zn, As, Cu, and Al ions in the solution from zinc smelting. The gallium and germanium ions were extracted efficiently under optimized conditions. Gallium ions were preferentially stripped using sulfuric acid, and germanium ions were stripped using an ammonium fluoride solution. Compared with the commercial extractant YW100, the dissolution loss of BGYW was reduced by 10 times. After 15 cycles, the germanium solvent extraction efficiency of BGYW remained at 100%, and the solvent extraction efficiency of gallium was about 98.7%, while the solvent extraction efficiency of both Ga ions and Ge ions using YW100 decreased to 20% after five cycles. This novel solvent extraction system exhibits considerable promise for application in zinc smelting processes for gallium and germanium solvent extraction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beneficiation and Extraction of Critical Metals from Ores and Secondary Resources)
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16 pages, 7979 KiB  
Article
Characterisation and Hydrochloric Acid Leaching of Rare Earth Elements in Discard Coal and Coal Fly Ash
by Petrie van Wyk, Steven Bradshaw, Christie Dorfling, Tathagata Ghosh and Guven Akdogan
Minerals 2024, 14(11), 1070; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14111070 - 24 Oct 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1281
Abstract
Rare earth elements (REEs) have been identified as valuable and critical raw materials, vital for numerous technologies and applications. With the increasing demand for and supply gap in REEs, many research studies have focused on alternative sources of REEs. This study involved an [...] Read more.
Rare earth elements (REEs) have been identified as valuable and critical raw materials, vital for numerous technologies and applications. With the increasing demand for and supply gap in REEs, many research studies have focused on alternative sources of REEs. This study involved an elemental and mineralogical characterisation of discarded coal from a coal plant and coal fly ash (CFA) from a power station in South Africa for REE presence. XRD results revealed that the discard coal sample consisted mainly of kaolinite, pyrite, siderite, quartz, calcite, gypsum, and muscovite, whereas CFA contained abundant glassy amorphous phases, alumina silicates, quartz, gypsum, calcite, and minute levels of muscovite and hematite. SEM-EDAX showed REE-carrying grains containing phosphorus in both discard coal and CFA samples. This was followed by investigating the leaching potential of REEs using hydrochloric acid from discard coal and CFA. This research’s potential impact is possibly providing a new and sustainable source of REEs. For that purpose, multiple batch leaching tests were performed to investigate the effects of temperature and acid concentration on the leaching efficiencies of REEs from discard coal and CFA. The experimental results indicated that temperature strongly influences REE leaching efficiency, while acid concentration has a lesser impact. This study identifies the best leaching conditions for the total REE recovery as 1 M HCl and 80 °C for discard coal and CFA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beneficiation and Extraction of Critical Metals from Ores and Secondary Resources)
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14 pages, 5140 KiB  
Article
Lithium Extraction from Lithium-Bearing Clay Minerals by Calcination-Leaching Method
by Jie Liu, Rui Xu, Wei Sun, Li Wang and Ye Zhang
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 248; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030248 - 28 Feb 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4153
Abstract
Lithium is a significant energy metal. This study focuses on the extraction of lithium from lithium-bearing clay minerals utilizing calcination combined with oxalic acid leaching. The relevant important parameters, leaching kinetics analysis, and the lithium extraction mechanism were deeply investigated. The results demonstrate [...] Read more.
Lithium is a significant energy metal. This study focuses on the extraction of lithium from lithium-bearing clay minerals utilizing calcination combined with oxalic acid leaching. The relevant important parameters, leaching kinetics analysis, and the lithium extraction mechanism were deeply investigated. The results demonstrate that a high lithium recovery of 91.35% could be achieved under the optimal conditions of calcination temperature of 600 °C, calcination time of 60 min, leaching temperature of 80 °C, leaching time of 180 min, oxalic acid concentration of 1.2 M, and liquid-to-solid ratio of 8:1. According to the shrinkage core model, the leaching kinetics of lithium using oxalic acid followed a chemical reaction-controlled process. XRD, TG, and SEM analysis showed that the kaolinite, boehmite, and diaspore phases in raw ore transformed into corundum, quartz, and muscovite phase in calcination products when the calcination temperature was higher than 600 °C. Moreover, the expansion of the interlayer spacing of minerals during the calcination process could promote the lithium release. During the leaching process, lithium present in the layered silicates was efficiently recovered through ion exchange with the dissociated H+ from oxalic acid. This study could provide a promising guide for lithium extraction from lithium-bearing clay minerals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beneficiation and Extraction of Critical Metals from Ores and Secondary Resources)
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Review

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39 pages, 3652 KiB  
Review
Coal and Coal By-Products as Unconventional Lithium Sources: A Review of Occurrence Modes and Hydrometallurgical Strategies for Metal Recovery
by Ewa Rudnik
Minerals 2024, 14(8), 849; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14080849 - 22 Aug 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2167
Abstract
Lithium, a critical material for the global development of green energy sources, is anomalously enriched in some coal deposits and coal by-products to levels that may be considered economically viable. Recovering lithium from coal, particularly from coal gangue or coal ashes, offers a [...] Read more.
Lithium, a critical material for the global development of green energy sources, is anomalously enriched in some coal deposits and coal by-products to levels that may be considered economically viable. Recovering lithium from coal, particularly from coal gangue or coal ashes, offers a promising alternative for extracting this element. This process could potentially lead to economic gains and positive environmental impacts by more efficiently utilizing coal-based waste materials. This review focuses on lithium concentrations in coal and coal by-products, modes of lithium occurrence, methods used to identify lithium-enriched phases, and currently available hydrometallurgical recovery methods, correlated with pretreatment procedures that enable lithium release from inert aluminosilicate minerals. Leaching of raw coal appears inefficient, whereas coal gangue and fly ash are more feasible due to their simpler composition and higher lithium contents. Lithium extraction can achieve recovery rates of over 90%, but low lithium concentrations and high impurity levels in the leachates require advanced selective separation techniques. Bottom ash has not yet been evaluated for lithium recovery, despite its higher lithium content compared to feed coal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beneficiation and Extraction of Critical Metals from Ores and Secondary Resources)
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