Producing metals from common rocks: The case of gold

Palacios, José-Luis; Abadias, Alejandro; Valero, Alicia; Valero, Antonio; Reuter, M.A.

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.04.026

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The aim of this study is to analyse the possibilities of the recovering process of Nb and Ta from tin slags using a simulation of a metallurgical plant. Similar simulations using the same software to recover metals from common rocks, such as iron, lead, zinc, and gold, have been carried out in previous studies [33][34][35].…”

Section: Methodology and Data Availability Model For Recovering Nb And Ta From Slagsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Simulation to Recover Niobium and Tantalum from the Tin Slags of the Old Penouta Mine: A Case Study

et al. 2021

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Demand for niobium and tantalum is increasing exponentially as these are essential ingredients for the manufacture of, among others, capacitors in technological devices and ferroniobium. Mine tailings rich in such elements could constitute an important source of Nb and Ta in the future and alleviate potential supply risks. This paper evaluates the possibility of recovering niobium and tantalum from the slags generated during the tin beneficiation process of mine tailings from the old Penouta mine, located in Spain. To do so, a simulation of the processes required to beneficiate and refine both elements is carried out. After carbothermic tin reduction, the slags are sent to a hydrometallurgical process where niobium oxide and tantalum oxide are obtained at the end. Reagents, water, and energy consumption, in addition to emissions, effluents, and product yields, are assessed. Certain factors were identified as critical, and recirculation was encouraged in the model to maximise production and minimise reagents’ use and wastes. With this simulation, considering 3000 production hours per year, the metal output from the tailings of the old mine could cover around 1% and 7.4% of the world annual Nb and Ta demand, respectively.

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Section: Methodology and Data Availability Model For Recovering Nb And Ta From Slagsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Simulation to Recover Niobium and Tantalum from the Tin Slags of the Old Penouta Mine: A Case Study

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The aim of this study is to analyse the possibilities of the recovering process of Nb and Ta from tin slags using a simulation of a metallurgical plant. Similar simulations using the same software to recover metals from common rocks, such as iron, lead, zinc and gold, have been carried out in previous studies [31][32][33].…”

Section: Model For Recovering Nb and Ta From Slagsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Simulation to Recover Niobium and Tantalum From the Tin Slags of the Penouta Mine: A Case Study

Magdalena¹,

Valero²,

Calvo³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Demand for niobium and tantalum is increasing exponentially as these are essential ingredients for the manufacture of, among others, capacitors in technological devices and ferroniobium. Mine tailings rich in such elements could constitute an important source of Nb and Ta in the future and so alleviate potential supply risks. This paper evaluates the possibility of recovering niobium and tantalum from the slags generated during the tin beneficiation process of mine tailings from the old Penouta mine, located in Spain. To do so, a simulation of the processes that would be required to beneficiate and refine both elements is carried out. After tin carbothermic reduction, the slags are sent to a hydrometallurgical process where at the end niobium oxide and tantalum oxide are obtained. Reagents, water and energy consumption, in addition to emissions, effluents and product yields are assessed. Certain factors were identified as critical, and recirculation was encouraged in the model to maximize production and minimize reagents use and wastes. With this simulation, considering 3000 production hours per year, the metal output from the tailings of the old mine could cover around 1% and 7.4% of the world annual Nb and Ta demand, respectively.

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“…It must be noted that efficiency factors must be considered, as they can reach up to 20% of the final energy. Still, other authors have considered this factor as zero to simplify calculations [31,45]. As these factors modify the power depending on the size of the mill, the feed, circuit, etc.…”

Section: Comminutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This way, it will be possible to estimate the point at which tailings become a viable alternative to current mines from an energy point of view. Some studies in the literature follow a similar approach, recovering gold through a unique beneficiation process [31]. In the particular case of Nb and Ta, as they are both recovered during the beneficiation and refining stages as by-products of tin ores, the complexity of the process is higher, and the consequences of ore-grade decline are worth studying in more detail.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Energy Cost of Extracting Critical Raw Materials from Tailings: The Case of Coltan

2022

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Niobium and tantalum are mainly produced from columbite–tantalite ores, and 60% of their production is nowadays located in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The concentration of supply, the scarcity, the wide range of use in all electronic devices, and the expected future demand boosted by the clean and digital transition means that Nb and Ta have high supply risks. In this context, extraction from rich Ta and Nb tailings from abandoned mines could partly offset such risks. This study analyzes the energy cost that the reprocessing of both elements from tailings would have. To that end, we simulate with HSC Chemistry software the different processes needed to beneficiate and refine both metals from zinc tailings as a function of Nb and Ta concentration. At current energy and metal prices, tantalum recovery from rich Ta-Nb tailings would be cost-effective if ore-handling costs were allocated to a paying metal. By way of contrast, niobium recovery would not be favored unless market prices increase.

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Producing metals from common rocks: The case of gold

Cited by 10 publications

References 37 publications

Simulation to Recover Niobium and Tantalum from the Tin Slags of the Old Penouta Mine: A Case Study

Simulation to Recover Niobium and Tantalum from the Tin Slags of the Old Penouta Mine: A Case Study

Simulation to Recover Niobium and Tantalum From the Tin Slags of the Penouta Mine: A Case Study

The Energy Cost of Extracting Critical Raw Materials from Tailings: The Case of Coltan

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