Bioleaching of metal polluted mine tailings aided by ultrasound irradiation pretreatment

Hernández, I.; Díaz, Hernando Flórez; Fernández-Morales, Francisco Jesús; Romero, Luis Rodríguez; Villaseñor, José

doi:10.1016/j.eti.2023.103192

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 26 publications

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“…Hence, waste recycling is presented as a viable alternative in terms of sustainability and circular economy, which has been poorly implemented (Almeida et al 2021 ; Dang and Li 2022 ); in fact, currently, barely 2.8% of the total REEs waste discarded is recycled (Lima and Ottosen 2021 ). Consequently, mining wastes from metallic ores could be a valuable source for the recovery of REEs and a suitable initiative for treating this type of stockpiled and abandoned wastes at mining sites (Goodenough et al 2016 ; Van der Ent et al 2021 ; Hernández et al 2023 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can rare earth elements be recovered from abandoned mine tailings by means of electrokinetic-assisted phytoextraction?

Medina-Díaz,

López-Bellido,

Alonso-Azcárate

et al. 2024

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Given the high impact of traditional mining, the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from hazardous waste materials could become an option for the future in accordance with the principles of the circular economy. In this work, the technical feasibility of REEs recovery from metal mine tailings has been explored using electrokinetic-assisted phytoremediation with ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Phytoextraction combined with both AC current and DC current with reversal polarity was applied (1 V cm−1, 8 h day−1) to real mine tailings containing a total concentration of REEs (Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, and Nd) of around 146 mg kg−1. Changes in REEs geochemical fractionation and their concentrations in the soil pore water showed the mobilization of REEs caused by plants and electric current; REE availability was increased to a higher extent for combined electrokinetic-assisted phytoextraction treatments showing the relevant role of plants in the process. Our results demonstrated the initial hypothesis that it is feasible to recover REEs from real metal mining waste by phytoextraction and that the performance of this technology can be significantly improved by applying electric current, especially of the AC type, which increased REE accumulation in ryegrass in the range 57–68% as compared to that of the treatment without electric field application.

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