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The extraction of useful minerals or geological materials from the Earth’s crust, most typically from various sources, is crucial to a country’s development and progress. Mineral-rich countries use these resources to transform their economies and propel them toward long-term prosperity. There is an urgent need for the world to increase mineral expl...
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Context 1
... also can recover trace concentrations and this is a process that starts with leaching ( Figure 2). After leaching, the separation and recovery steps are essential in reclaiming the desired metal(s) since the leaching step is neither perfect nor selective, allowing various contaminants to be available in the solution [47]. ...
Citations
... The precision separation of critical metals from complex mixtures is of both environmental and economic significance [1][2][3]. Recently, there has been a historic investment and effort in developing novel sustainable technologies to separate and purify these highly valued critical metals [4]. Gold, for example, is an extremely valuable commodity (value in May 2023: $ 64 811.00 per kg) and has significant economic relevance [5]. ...
Critical metals of environmental and economic relevance can be found within complex mixtures, such as mine tailings, electronic waste and wastewater, at trace amounts. Specifically, gold is a critical metal that carries desired redox active properties in various applications, including modern electronics, medicine and chemical catalysis. Here we report the structuring of sub-micron Fe-BTC/PpPDA crystallites into larger 250 μm or 500 μm granules for continuous packed bed experiments for the precision separation of gold. The Structured Fe-BTC/PpPDA is highly crystalline and porous with a BET surface area of 750 m2 g−1. Further, the hybrid nanocomposite material maintains its selectivity for gold ions over common inorganic interferents. The structuring approach reported prevents excessive pressure drop and ensures stability over time and operation in a packed bed column. Further, we demonstrate that the Structured Fe-BTC/PpPDA can concentrate at least 42 wt% of gold under a dynamic continuous flow operation. These findings highlight the potential of Structured Fe-BTC/PpPDA for practical applications in industry, particularly in the selective capture of gold from complex mixtures.
