Hasil untuk "Mineral industries. Metal trade"

Shichun Xu, Zhengxia He, R. Long

Juan Liu, Xuwen Luo, Yuqing Sun et al.

Thallium (Tl) is a typical toxic metal, which poses a great threat to human health through drinking water and the food chain (biomagnification). China has rich Tl-bearing mineral resources, which have been extensively explored and utilized, leading to release of large amounts of Tl into the environment. However, research on Tl pollution and removal techniques is relatively limited, because Tl has not been listed within the scope of environmental monitoring in China for several decades. This paper reviewed Tl pollution in wastewater arising from various industries in China, as well as the latest available methods for treating Tl-containing industrial wastewater, in order to give an outlook on effective technologies for controlling Tl pollution. Conventional physical and chemical treatment technologies are efficient at removing trace amounts of Tl, but it proved to be difficult to achieve the stringent environmental standard (≤0.1-5 μg/L) cost-effectively. Adsorption by using newly developed nanomaterials, and metal oxide modified polymer materials and microbial fuel cells are highly promising and expected to become next-generation technologies for remediation of Tl pollution. With the potential for greater Tl contamination in the environment under accelerated growth of industrialization, researches based on lab-scale implementation of such promising treatment technologies should be further expanded to pilot and industrial scale, ensuring environmental protection and the safety of drinking water for sustainable development. Comprehensive insights into experiences of Tl pollution in China and in-depth perspectives on new frontier technologies of Tl removal from wastewaters will also benefit other nations/regions worldwide, which are susceptible to high exposure to Tl likewise.

I. Kosakivska, L. Babenko, K. O. Romanenko et al.

Heavy metals (HMs) are among the main environmental pollutants that can enter the soil, water bodies, and the atmosphere as a result of natural processes (weathering of rocks, volcanic activity), and also as a result of human activities (mining, metallurgical and chemical industries, transport, application of mineral fertilizers). Plants counteract the HMs stresses through morphological and physiological adaptations, which are imparted through well‐coordinated molecular mechanisms. New approaches, which include transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics analyses, have opened the paths to understand such complex networks. This review sheds light on molecular mechanisms included in plant adaptive and defense responses during metal stress. It is focused on the entry of HMs into plants, its transport and accumulation, effects on the main physiological processes, gene expressions included in plant adaptive and defense responses during HM stress. Analysis of new data allowed the authors to conclude that the most important mechanism of HM tolerance is extracellular and intracellular HM sequestration. Organic anions (malate, oxalate, etc.) provide extracellular sequestration of HM ions. Intracellular HM sequestration depends not only on a direct binding mechanism with different polymers (pectin, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, etc.) or organic anions but also on the action of cellular receptors and transmembrane transporters. We focused on the functioning chloroplasts, mitochondria, and the Golgi complex under HM stress. The currently known molecular mechanisms of plant tolerance to the toxic effects of HMs are analyzed.

Andrew L. Gulley

While previous resource conflicts have often been linked to fuel minerals such as oil, future resource conflict may revolve around nonfuel minerals that enable strategic emerging technologies. During a 2010 diplomatic dispute, China reportedly blocked exports of rare earth elements to Japan, thereby leveraging China’s near-monopoly to threaten Japanese manufacturers of advanced technologies including batteries and permanent magnets. Although this caused significant concern for manufacturers outside China, China’s control over other critical minerals has yet to be studied comprehensively. Besides rare earth elements, perhaps no mineral has received more attention for its supply risks than cobalt. Here Chinese control is estimated for each cobalt material at each stage of the cobalt supply chain from 2000 through 2022. The results show that from mining, to refining, consumption, recycling, stocks, and trade, China dominates the cobalt materials that feed lithium-ion battery cathode production. Specifically, the results show that in 2022 Chinese firms had control over 62% of cobalt mine materials primarily used for cobalt chemical refining, 95% control of refined commercial-grade cobalt chemicals, 92% control of battery-grade tricobalt tetroxide, 85% control of battery-grade cobalt sulfate, and 91% control of nickel–cobalt-manganese cathode precursor materials. China’s monopoly over cobalt battery materials may imply a serious supply risk to non-Chinese battery producing and consuming industries—especially given rising geopolitical tensions and the reemergence of critical mineral export restrictions including gallium for semiconductors, germanium for solar panels, graphite for lithium-ion batteries, and (again) rare earth elements.

N. Danyliuk, J. Tomaszewska, T. Tatarchuk

Abstract Halloysite is a natural tubular mineral with unique properties. It can be used in a various fields of industries. The aim of current review is to describe the structural properties and methods of halloysite surface modification, what led to the extension of its application. The achievements of scientists over the last 10 years indicate that halloysite is a promising material for drug delivery, as polymer filler, as matrix for photocatalysts and adsorbents for environmental and biomedical applications. Particular attention is drawn to the magnetic nanocomposites of halloysite. The composites halloysite/metal oxides are excellent adsorbents and due to their magnetic properties can be easily separated from the treated solutions by using of external magnetic field. Magnetically controlled adsorbents can be synthesized by metal oxides incorporation into the halloysite structure due to the presence of aluminol and siloxane surface groups. Such composite systems have a high adsorption capacity and can be used for effective water purification from inorganic and organic pollutants. In addition, major problems and future prospects for halloysite composites using have been identified. This review provides the latest findings from researchers, which sheds light on future halloysite studies.

H. Hofmann, M. Schleper, C. Blome

A. Mahmoud, P. Cézac, A. Hoadley et al.

P. D'hugues, S. Bourg, Y. Ménard

The world’s population is constantly growing, the global standard of living is increasing, urbanisation is developing on all continents and both the digital transformation and the necessary energy transition are underway. These different “societal phenomena” have in common that they exponentially increase the need for raw materials (metals and other minerals). For example, the demand for certain strategic metals for manufacturing batteries required for electric mobility and the energy transition is expected to explode. According to the recent raw material score board (2021) from the European commission, the lithium demand will increase by a factor of 20 in 2030; an increase by 5 is expected for cobalt. Projections for copper use show that consumption in the next 25 years will be higher than the total cumulative consumption since the Copper Age (during the Neolithic). To meet these supply challenges whilst respecting the major sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations, it is necessary to improve the resource efficiency, meaning using the Earth’s limited resources in a sustainable manner whilst minimising impacts on the environment: delivering greater value with less input. In other words, R&D action must help to improve the environmental and societal efficiency of extractive activities, to optimise the use of metals and materials throughout their life cycle by reducing losses, and finally to set up recycling processes as part of a circular economy. The shift from a linear to a circular economy is imperative to ensure that the economic growth is not only based on the use of natural resources. In Europe, the “circular economy package” (http:// data. europa. eu/ eli/ dir/ 2018/ 851/ oj) and, in France, the “circular economy roadmap” (FREC) (https:// www. ecolo giquesolid aire. gouv. fr/ feuil lerouteecono miecircu lairefrec) support this transition. In order to reduce the pressure on natural resources, and in particular the production of metals and materials from primary deposits (mines and quarries), many secondary resources or resources derived from recycling have been identified and integrated into supply chains (mining waste or tailing, waste and scraps from the industry and in particular the metallurgy industry, end-of-life products). However, it will be impossible to answer the needs from this secondary supply because of the demand growth, the inevitable losses of materials at all stages of their life cycle and the length of time they remain locked in the anthroposphere (Labbé 2016). From a technical and scientific point of view, there are many commonalities in the issues related to the valorisation of these different mineral raw materials. Whether primary (mine), secondary (tailing and industrial waste and scraps) or end of life products (urban mines), these resources are all complex, multielement solids requiring a reduction in particle size (powdering), separation to concentrate the recoverable fractions and finally extractive metallurgy (for metals) to ensure their recovery and reuse. Correctly characterising complex polymetallic objects, limiting energy and water consumption and inputs, minimising the production of secondary waste (liquid effluents or solid residues), adding economic value to by-products and reducing emissions into the environment are major common challenges to overcome in order to ensure an efficient treatment of all these different mineral resources, throughout their life cycle. The objective of this paper is not only to show the common challenges faced by ore and waste treatment technologies but also to highlight some specific innovation needs associated with each resources depending of their origin (primary secondary end of life).

B. Semak, S. Semiv

Poland and Ukraine and to substantiate on its basis the priority areas of further mutually beneficial cooperation built on the principles of complementarity and strategic partnership. The authors of the article applied a comprehensive approach to the analysis of bilateral trade relations between Poland and Ukraine, in particular, the Trade Complementarity Index (CI) and the Revealed Comparative Advantage Index (RCA) were used in the analysis. The statistical data of the State Statistics Service (Ukraine), WTO, Ministerstwo rozwoju i tekhnologii (Poland) and Główny Urząd Statystyczny (Poland) were the sources for the calculations. The trends in the development of bilateral trade relations between Poland and Ukraine were analyzed on the basis of statistical information. The main prerequisites that form the basis of mutually beneficial Polish-Ukrainian economic cooperation have been identified. It is proposed to use a complex methodical approach in the process of analyzing the complementarity of bilateral relations, in particular through the use of the complementarity index and the index of revealed comparative advantages. The dynamics and product structure of export-import trade between Poland and Ukraine are analyzed. The main differences between the structure of Polish imports to Ukraine and Ukrainian exports to Poland have been revealed. A conclusion was made about the high level of optimality and balance of bilateral relations, the existence of mutual dependence both in terms of imports and exports. The conducted analysis proved the fact that trade between Poland and Ukraine is symmetrical and equal, which makes trade relations mutually attractive. Indicators of revealed comparative advantages within the framework of bilateral cooperationbetween Poland and Ukraine were calculated. Calculations showed that Ukraine has the highest comparative advantages in foreign trade in such goods as ferrous metals, ores, slag and ashes, fats and oils of vegetable or animal origin, furniture, wood and wood products, edible fruits and nuts. Instead, Poland achieves the highest level of comparative advantages in the supply to the Ukrainian market of ground transport means (except railways), plastics and polymer materials, nuclear reactors, boilers and machines, fertilizers, mineral fuels, products of oil distillation, printing products, rubber and rubber products, electric machines and equipment. The economic, organizational and institutional components of the perspectivemodel and priorities for the development of bilateral Polish-Ukrainian trade relations in the conditions of сurrent global challenges are substantiated. The most important strategic priorities for the development of foreign trade relations between Poland and Ukraine in the near future are proposed, namely: creation of a system for monitoring the complementarity of bilateral foreign trade relations between Poland and Ukraine; implementation and comprehensive support of interstate agreements on the development of mutually beneficial trade in complementary goods, including on a barter basis; supporting the development of complementary exports and imports in the sectors of small and medium-sized business, smallscale production, in particular on the basis of production cooperation; support of complementary foreign trade relations not only at the level of industries, but also of individual regions of Poland and Ukraine, in particular within the framework of cross-border cooperation; further improvement of the system of consulting support for exporters in Poland and Ukraine, assistance in entering foreign markets and in the process of searching foreign partners. It was concluded that the development of complementary trade relations should be transformed into joint projects of Polish-Ukrainian production cooperation with the aim of joint production and supply of competitive products and services to the domestic and global markets.

R. Pepper, S. Couperthwaite, G. Millar

Red mud represents an environmental and economic liability for the alumina industry in the form of wasted raw material. Although some leaching studies have been performed, there are deficiencies in the current literature regarding the amounts of metals extracted relative to each other, and minimal information regarding silicon contamination of extracts. There is also limited knowledge of extraction efficiencies of different acids (particularly in the case of phosphoric acid) under the same experimental conditions. This study focused on the leaching behaviour of the four most extractable elements present within red mud (iron, titanium, aluminium and silicon). By varying the experimental conditions, acid concentration, and type of acid, a comprehensive dataset of leaching trends was obtained. This allowed for direct comparison of leaching efficiency for the four elements under the same conditions, which was difficult previously due to the variation of experimental conditions and red mud composition between studies. The patterns in recoveries were explained in terms of the reactivities of the mineral phases within red mud and the interaction between the different acids and the reaction surfaces. Out of the four acids studied (nitric, hydrochloric, sulfuric, and phosphoric) phosphoric and hydrochloric acids produced some of the best recoveries for iron (76–78%) and titanium (23–24%), and phosphoric acid also produced the highest recoveries for silicon (49%) and aluminium (50%). The differences observed between the acid types and reaction conditions revealed potential for development of element selective extraction methods. Additionally, explaining leaching behaviour in terms of the mineral phases present allowed easier prediction of expected leaching trends for these four elements, which made this study applicable to red muds with a wide variety of compositions.

A. Estrada, P. Garber, A. Chaudhary

As a consequence of recent human activities. populations of approximately 75% of the world’s primates are in decline, and more than 60% of species (n = 512) are threatened with extinction. Major anthropogenic pressures on primate persistence include the widespread loss and degradation of natural habitats caused by the expansion of industrial agriculture, pastureland for cattle, logging, mining, and fossil fuel extraction. This is the result of growing global market demands for agricultural and nonagricultural commodities. Here, we profile the effects of international trade of forest-risk agricultural and nonagricultural commodities, namely soybean, oil palm, natural rubber, beef, forestry products, fossil fuels, metals, minerals, and gemstones on habitat conversion in the Neotropics, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. Total estimated forest loss for these regions between 2001 and 2017 was ca 179 million ha. The average percent of commodity-driven permanent deforestation for the period 2001–2015 was highest in Southeast Asia (47%) followed by the Neotropics (26%), South Asia (26%), and Africa (7%). Commodities exports increased significantly between 2000 and 2016 in all primate range regions leading to the widespread conversion of forested land to agricultural fields and an increase in natural resource extraction. In 2016, US $1.1 trillion of natural-resource commodities were traded by countries in primate range regions. The Neotropics accounted for 41% of the total value of these exports, Southeast Asia for 27%, Africa 21%, and South Asia 11%. Major commodity exporters in 2016 were Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Africa, countries of high primate diversity and endemism. Among the top 10 importers were China, the US, Japan, and Switzerland. Primate range countries lag far behind importer nations in food security and gross domestic product per capita, suggesting that trade and commodity-driven land-use have done little to generate wealth and well-being in primate habitat countries. Modeling of land-use and projected extinction of primate species by 2050 and 2100 under a business as usual scenario for 61 primate range countries indicate that each country is expected to see a significant increase in the number of species threatened with extinction. To mitigate this impending crisis, we advocate the “greening” of trade, a global shift toward a low-meat diet, reduced consumption of oil seed, diminished use of tropical timber, fossil fuels, metals, minerals, and gemstones from the tropics, accompanied by a stronger and sustained global resolve to regulate and reverse the negative impacts of growing unsustainable global demands and commodity trade on income inequality, and the destruction of primates and their habitats.

P. Christmann

L. Kukin, E. Okolelova, O. Kukina et al.

An innovative method for the differentiated processing of the phosphogypsum chemical production is proposed. It consists in the simultaneous paving materials production in the form of paving slabs and a concentrate of non-radioactive rare earth metals. Russia currently does not perform large-scale mining of rare-earth metals; its share in the world market is a little over 1%. Today, China is the undisputed world leader in rare earth metals trading. Therefore, production of these necessary for high-tech industries elements of phosphogypsum waste allows the most important current tasks solution, the problem of import phaseout. The experimental studies have shown that the profitability index of the proposed innovative technology production will be more than 50%, which suggests its high economic efficiency. All manufacturers using new technologies and materials in their activities are concerned about the risks. In the studied case, the technology is so low-cost and highly profitable that the impact of risks is almost completely leveled. The technology developed by the authors is based on the formation of the regulation and self-organization principles in the phosphoric acid and mineral fertilizers production. This scientific research contributes to the efficiency improvement of the corporate mechanism used in the innovative technology for phosphogypsum waste processing.

C. Ribeiro, F. B. Scheufele, F. Espinoza-Quiñones et al.

Xue Xu, Shengqiang Yang

M. Reuter, A. Schaik, J. Gediga

S. Sanchez-Segado, Terence Makanyire, L. Escudero-Castejón et al.

In nature, the commonly occurring reactive metal oxides of titanium, chromium, aluminium, and vanadium often chemically combine with the transition metal oxides such as iron oxides and form complex minerals. Physico-chemical separation of transition metal oxides from the remaining reactive metal oxides is therefore an important step in the purification of reactive oxide constituents. Each purification step has quite a high energy requirement at present. Current practice in industry yields sulphate and neutralized chloride waste from titanium dioxide enrichment, red mud from bauxite refining, slag and leach residues from vanadium extraction and chromite ore process residue (COPR) from chromate processes. In this review article, a novel alkali-based oxidative roasting and aqueous leaching for the extraction of mineral oxides is explained in the context of the original work of Le Chatelier in 1850, which was unsuccessful in the industrialization of bauxite processing for alumina extraction. However, much later in the 19th century the alkali-based oxidative mineral roasting was successfully developed for industrial scale manufacturing of chromate chemicals, which yields COPR. The crystal chemistry of mineral oxides, namely alumina, titanium dioxide, and chromium oxide in naturally occurring minerals is briefly reviewed in the context of chemical extraction, which is then developed as a model for developing thermodynamic chemical equilibrium principles for analyzing the physical separation and enrichment of such reactive metal oxides by forming water-soluble and water-insoluble alkali complexes. The involvement of the alkali roasting chemistry of non-magnetic titaniferous mineral waste is also reported in the initial separation of rare-earth oxide mixtures for subsequent separation of individual oxides. The paper concludes with a generic approach to process chemistry which minimizes waste generation and therefore helps in reducing the overall process and energy costs. Examples of recovering alkali from high pH solution using carbon dioxide are also demonstrated.

Peter Klimek, M. Obersteiner, S. Thurner

Price volatility of critical resources can largely be understood through the topology of their trade networks. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the role of strongly interconnected markets in causing systemic instability has been increasingly acknowledged. Trade networks of commodities are susceptible to cascades of supply shocks that increase systemic trade risks and pose a threat to geopolitical stability. We show that supply risk, scarcity, and price volatility of nonfuel mineral resources are intricately connected with the structure of the worldwide trade networks spanned by these resources. At the global level, we demonstrate that the scarcity of a resource is closely related to the susceptibility of the trade network with respect to cascading shocks. At the regional level, we find that, to some extent, region-specific price volatility and supply risk can be understood by centrality measures that capture systemic trade risk. The resources associated with the highest systemic trade risk indicators are often those that are produced as by-products of major metals. We identify significant strategic shortcomings in the management of systemic trade risk, in particular in the European Union.

W. M. Morrison, Rachel Tang

Z. Kalix, L. Fraser, R. Rawson