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Sarker SK, Pownceby MI, Bruckard W, Haque N, Bhuiyan M, Pramanik BK. Unlocking the potential of sulphide tailings: A comprehensive characterization study for critical mineral recovery. Chemosphere 2023; 328:138582. [PMID: 37023909 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Sulphide tailings are a major environmental concern due to acid mine drainage and heavy metal leaching, with costly treatments that lack economic benefits. Reprocessing these wastes for resource recovery can address pollution while creating economic opportunities. This study aimed to evaluate the potential for critical mineral recovery by characterizing sulphide tailings from a Zn-Cu-Pb mining site. Advanced analytical tools, such as electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-based energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), were utilized to determine the physical, geochemical, and mineralogical properties of the tailings. The results showed that the tailings were fine-grained (∼50 wt% below 63 μm) and composed of Si (∼17 wt%), Ba (∼13 wt%), and Al, Fe, and Mn (∼6 wt%). Of these, Mn, a critical mineral, was analyzed for recovery potential, and it was found to be largely contained in rhodochrosite (MnCO3) mineral. The metallurgical balance revealed that ∼93 wt% of Mn was distributed in -150 + 10 μm size fractions containing 75% of the total mass. Additionally, the mineral liberation analysis indicated that Mn-grains were primarily liberated below 106 μm size, suggesting the need for light grinding of above 106 μm size to liberate the locked Mn minerals. This study demonstrates the potential of sulphide tailings as a source for critical minerals, rather than being a burden, and highlights the benefits of reprocessing them for a resource recovery to address both environmental and economic concerns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuronjit Kumar Sarker
- Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University, VIC, 3001, Australia
| | - Mark I Pownceby
- CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton South, Melbourne, VIC 3169, Australia
| | - Warren Bruckard
- CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton South, Melbourne, VIC 3169, Australia
| | - Nawshad Haque
- CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton South, Melbourne, VIC 3169, Australia
| | - Muhammed Bhuiyan
- Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University, VIC, 3001, Australia
| | - Biplob Kumar Pramanik
- Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University, VIC, 3001, Australia.
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Verdugo L, Zhang L, Saito K, Bruckard W, Menacho J, Hoadley A. Flotation behavior of the most common electrode materials in lithium ion batteries. Sep Purif Technol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2022.121885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
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Sarker SK, Haque N, Bruckard W, Bhuiyan M, Pramanik BK. Development of a geospatial database of tailing storage facilities in Australia using satellite images. Chemosphere 2022; 303:135139. [PMID: 35636610 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Tailings storage facilities (TSFs) are the main source of pollution from mining operations. However, TSFs are increasingly being considered as the potential secondary sources of some critical minerals. Recovering the critical minerals from TSFs is important due to both environmental and economic implications. Yet, identification of the potential TSFs is the major challenge in this venture due to the lack of publicly available database of TSFs. The objective of this study was to identify the TSFs and document their status in the form of a database for Australia. Visual inspection and interpretation of satellite images in Google Earth were used to identify the TSFs in 6 states and the publicly available database of TSFs for Western Australia (WA) was validated in this study to incorporate into a national-level database. This study has identified 331 active and 759 inactive TSFs in Australia. Among the sites, 42 active and 56 inactive mine sites with TSFs were found within 2 km of urban centres in the studied states. Coal and gold were the major commodities of 27% of active mine sites with the TSFs and 38% of inactive mine sites with TSFs, respectively. Approximately 16% of active mine sites with TSFs and 28% of inactive mine sites with TSFs were found to process copper as a major commodity. Considering the companionability matrix, many of these TSFs could be explored for the possible recovery of critical minerals (e.g. rare earth elements, cobalt). This study has developed a national-level database of TSFs for Australia for the first time, and it could be used for a number of applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuronjit Kumar Sarker
- Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University, VIC, 3001, Australia; Water: Effective Technologies and Tools (WETT) Research Centre, RMIT University, Australia
| | - Nawshad Haque
- CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton South, Melbourne, VIC, 3169, Australia
| | - Warren Bruckard
- CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton South, Melbourne, VIC, 3169, Australia
| | - Muhammed Bhuiyan
- Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University, VIC, 3001, Australia; Water: Effective Technologies and Tools (WETT) Research Centre, RMIT University, Australia
| | - Biplob Kumar Pramanik
- Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University, VIC, 3001, Australia; Water: Effective Technologies and Tools (WETT) Research Centre, RMIT University, Australia.
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Boxall NJ, Cheng KY, Bruckard W, Kaksonen AH. Application of indirect non-contact bioleaching for extracting metals from waste lithium-ion batteries. J Hazard Mater 2018; 360:504-511. [PMID: 30144769 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2018] [Revised: 07/26/2018] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Applying biohydrometallurgy for metal extraction and recovery from mixed and polymetallic wastes such as electronic waste is limited due to microbial inhibition at low pulp densities and substrate (iron and sulfur) limitation. Here, we investigated the application of indirect non-contact bioleaching with biogenic ferric iron and sulfuric acid to extract metals from lithium-ion battery (LIB) waste. Results showed that although a single leach stage at ambient temperature only facilitated low leach yields (<10%), leach yields for all metals improved with multiple sequential leach stages (4 × 1 h). Biogenic ferric leaching augmented with 100 mM H2SO4 further enabled the highest leach yields (53.2% cobalt, 60.0% lithium, 48.7% nickel, 81.8% manganese, 74.4% copper). The proposed use of bioreagents is a viable and a more environmentally benign alternative to traditional mineral processing, which could be further improved by appropriate pre-treatment of the LIB waste.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi J Boxall
- CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag No. 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia.
| | - Ka Yu Cheng
- CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag No. 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia
| | - Warren Bruckard
- CSIRO Mineral Resources, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, Victoria 3169, Australia
| | - Anna H Kaksonen
- CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag No. 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia; School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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Boxall NJ, Adamek N, Cheng KY, Haque N, Bruckard W, Kaksonen AH. Multistage leaching of metals from spent lithium ion battery waste using electrochemically generated acidic lixiviant. Waste Manag 2018; 74:435-445. [PMID: 29317159 DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2017.12.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Revised: 12/21/2017] [Accepted: 12/29/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Lithium ion battery (LIB) waste contains significant valuable resources that could be recovered and reused to manufacture new products. This study aimed to develop an alternative process for extracting metals from LIB waste using acidic solutions generated by electrolysis for leaching. Results showed that solutions generated by electrolysis of 0.5 M NaCl at 8 V with graphite or mixed metal oxide (MMO) electrodes were weakly acidic and leach yields obtained under single stage (batch) leaching were poor (<10%). This was due to the highly acid-consuming nature of the battery waste. Multistage leaching with the graphite electrolyte solution improved leach yields overall, but the electrodes corroded over time. Though yields obtained with both electrolyte leach solutions were low when compared to the 4 M HCl control, there still remains potential to optimise the conditions for the generation of the acidic anolyte solution and the solubilisation of valuable metals from the LIB waste. A preliminary value proposition indicated that the process has the potential to be economically feasible if leach yields can be improved, especially based on the value of recoverable cobalt and lithium.
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Affiliation(s)
- N J Boxall
- CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia.
| | - N Adamek
- CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia; University of Western Australia, Australia
| | - K Y Cheng
- CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia; School of Engineering and Information Technology, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
| | - N Haque
- CSIRO Mineral Resources, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, Victoria 3169, Australia
| | - W Bruckard
- CSIRO Mineral Resources, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, Victoria 3169, Australia
| | - A H Kaksonen
- CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia; School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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Sherman H, Nguyen AV, Bruckard W. An Analysis of Bubble Deformation by a Sphere Relevant to the Measurements of Bubble-Particle Contact Interaction and Detachment Forces. Langmuir 2016; 32:12022-12030. [PMID: 27779873 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b02985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Atomic force microscopy makes it possible to measure the interacting forces between individual colloidal particles and air bubbles, which can provide a measure of the particle hydrophobicity. To indicate the level of hydrophobicity of the particle, the contact angle can be calculated, assuming that no interfacial deformation occurs with the bubble retaining a spherical profile. Our experimental results obtained using a modified sphere tensiometry apparatus to detach submillimeter spherical particles show that deformation of the bubble interface does occur during particle detachment. We also develop a theoretical model to describe the equilibrium shape of the bubble meniscus at any given particle position, based on the minimization of the free energy of the system. The developed model allows us to analyze high-speed video captured during detachment. In the system model deformation of the bubble profile is accounted for by the incorporation of a Lagrange multiplier into both the Young-Laplace equation and the force balance. The solution of the bubble profile matched to the high-speed video allows us to accurately calculate the contact angle and determine the total force balance as a function of the contact point of the bubble on the particle surface.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Sherman
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - A V Nguyen
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - W Bruckard
- CSIRO Minerals Resources, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, VIC 3169, Australia
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