A new and prospective resource for scandium: Evidence from the geochemistry of deep-sea sediment in the western North Pacific Ocean
A new and prospective resource for scandium: Evidence from the geochemistry of deep-sea sediment in the western North Pacific Ocean
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DOI：
10.1016/j.oregeorev.2018.09.001
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发表时间：
2018-11
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
K. Yasukawa;J. Ohta;K. Mimura;E. Tanaka;Y. Takaya;Y. Usui;K. Fujinaga;S. Machida;T. Nozaki;K. Iijima;Kentaro Nakamura;Y. Kato
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文献类型：
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作者：
K. Yasukawa;J. Ohta;K. Mimura;E. Tanaka;Y. Takaya;Y. Usui;K. Fujinaga;S. Machida;T. Nozaki;K. Iijima;Kentaro Nakamura;Y. Kato
钪是最先进的绿色技术中的关键元素。然而，由于它的稀缺性，它也非常昂贵。最近，在北太平洋西部发现了一些深海沉积物，其中含有大量现代工业所必需的稀土元素，其Sc的含量与陆上矿山相当。一个简单的浸出实验表明，使用稀酸，这些沉积物中生物磷酸钙颗粒中高达70%的Sc可以在5 分钟内被回收。在现有岩心样品的基础上，我们提出了沿东经153°30‘到154°00’E之间的东西向断面开采Sc的有前景的靶区，大约在北纬21°58‘，仅1 Km2的沉积物就可能产生目前全球Sc年消耗量的3.3-6.6倍。由于这些沉积物除Sc外，在商业数量上含有异常高的工业重要重稀土元素，因此它们可能是这些关键金属长期提取的生产性来源。
Scandium is a critical element in state-of-the-art, green technologies. However, it is also extremely expensive due to its scarcity. Recently, some deep-sea sediments that contain significant amounts of rare-earth elements that are indispensable to modern industries have been discovered in the western North Pacific Ocean, and the concentration of Sc in these sediments is comparable with that of land-based mines. A simple leaching experiment has demonstrated that up to 70% of Sc in these sediments, contained within biogenic calcium phosphate particles, can be recovered in 5 min, using dilute acids. On the basis of available core samples, we propose that a promising target area to mine Sc is along a west–east transect between longitudes 153°30′ E and 154°00′ E, at an approximate latitude of 21°58′ N. Depending on the depth of the most enriched sediment layer, just 1 km2of the sediment could potentially yield 3.3–6.6 times the current global annual consumption of Sc. Because these sediments contain an unusually high concentration, at commercial quantities, of industrially important, heavy rare-earth elements, apart from Sc, they could be a productive source for the long-term extraction of these critical metals.