Progress, Challenges, and Perspectives of Critical Elements Recovery from Sulfide Tailings

Abstract

Modern industries that are involved in the design and development of high-technology products rely heavily on the availability of critical materials. As a result, there has been a growing global interest in the exploration and development of diversified production processes to meet the future demand for these essential elements. Due to the continuous depletion of primary sources and the associated supply risks, the reprocessing of secondary repositories has emerged as a promising solution. This approach offers both economic and environmental advantages by providing a sustainable supply of critical elements and addressing environmental concerns. One significant source of critical elements is the tailings generated from the physical beneficiation (mineral processing) and downstream processing (extractive metallurgy) of polymetallic sulfide minerals which is the focus of this article. This review article provides a systematic understanding of the potential recovery of selected critical elements, namely Sb, Bi, In, Ga, Ge, and Te from the sulfide ore supply chain and assess the feasibility of recovering them from tailings. It also discusses the main separation processes for these elements with specific emphasis on froth flotation and hydrometallurgy practices that involve physical separation, leaching, precipitation, solvent extraction, and ion exchange techniques. Furthermore, the review addresses the various challenges and opportunities, as well as emerging trends that are likely to influence future research directions in this field. The insights gained from this analysis are invaluable for researchers aiming to develop effective methods for extracting these critical elements from non-traditional and unconventional resources.

Department(s)

Mining Engineering

Second Department

Materials Science and Engineering

Comments

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Grant 0073551

Keywords and Phrases

Critical elements; Froth flotation; Hydrometallurgy; Ion exchange; Separation; Solvent extraction; Sulfide tailings

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1873-3794; 1383-5866

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2024 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

19 Feb 2025

Link to Full Text

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