COG3: The geology, geometallurgy and geomicrobiology of cobalt resources leading to new product streams

钴是现代社会必不可少的元素。它在金属合金、可充电电池、电子产品和高价值化学品中的应用，对低碳社会至关重要。钴在全球电子科技元素中拥有最大的市场价值（2013年为21亿美元）。钴主要是作为其他主要金属开采的副产品回收的，因此，钴本身并不是成矿系统研究的重点。为了解决这一知识差距，我们提出了一种系统的地质、地球化学和矿物学方法来了解钴在不同地质环境中一系列重要的当前和未来矿石矿物中的存在。这项研究的一个特别重点是在地壳的关键地带形成的沉积物，那里的生物活动和风化作用是一致的，钴被重新分配到创新的生物淋滤可以改变沉积物处理方式的形式。利用从自然生物系统研究中获得的新知识，先进的生物浸出技术将系统地应用于在临界带形成的一系列矿床。生物浸出对于还原的、富含硫化物的矿石也有很大的潜力，特别是复杂的硫化物和通常富含砷的矿石类型，这些类型尚未进行过重要的生物浸出试验。这个COG3提案建立在我们的催化剂资助的基础上，该资助建立了一个多研究所和多研究者联盟，拥有国际公认的地球科学专业知识，包括地质学，地球化学，矿物学，微生物学和生物处理，这些都是基于英国领先的学术机构。Herrington （NHM）、Schofield （NHM）、Johnson（班戈）、Lloyd（曼彻斯特）、patrick（曼彻斯特）、Coker（曼彻斯特）、Roberts（南安普顿）、Gadd（邓迪）、Glass（埃克塞特）、Mosselmans（钻石）和Kirk （Loughborough）在地质学、地质冶金学和地球微生物学方面拥有深厚的专业知识，适用于制定自然矿床钴的回收策略。该集团由合作伙伴支持，包括主要矿业公司嘉能可、FQML和KGHM；总部位于欧洲的中型矿业公司Oriel；一家总部位于英国的小型矿业中小企业巴西镍，一家国际认可的商业研究实验室RPC，最后是钴发展研究所，代表整个钴行业的供应链。他们都承诺参与该项目，一些人直接参与研究活动，一些人为研究和培训提供财政支持，另一些人则通过促进获取自然矿床和数据集。进一步的支持来自澳大利亚CSIRO的研究同事。具体研究将通过一系列工作包交付，这些工作包将涉及：1)自然系统中钴的地质和矿物学；2)钴的天然生物地球化学；3)钴的生物加工及新产品开发；4)通过整合研究和与代表供应链的利益相关者对话，改善钴供应链。这项研究直接解决了NERC矿产资源供应安全（SoS Minerals）倡议的目标1和目标2，其基本目标是识别钴的矿物居住和化学循环（目标1），并提供地质冶金信息，这将有助于提高当前回收率的新机会，通过地质冶金减少浪费；并彻底测试用于新型钴产品提取和下游生物工程的创新、良性生物技术（目标2）。通过pi、co - pi、合作伙伴的合作以及PDRAs和博士的发展，该计划将为国际文献提供高影响力的科学出版物，代表NERC SoS计划进行高度重要的公众宣传和教育，并将英国COG3联盟建立为研究创新的世界领导者从自然矿床中回收钴。

Cobalt is an essential element for modern world. Its use in metal alloys, rechargeable batteries, electronics and high-value chemicals make it critical for a low-carbon society. Cobalt has the largest global market value of any of the individual e-tech elements (US$2.1 billion in 2013). Cobalt is largely recovered as a by-product from the mining of other major metals and as a result, cobalt has not been the focus of study in ore-forming systems on its own. To address this knowledge gap we propose a systematic geological, geochemical and mineralogical approach to understanding the residence of cobalt in a range of important current and future ore minerals in diverse geological environments. A specific focus for this study are deposits forming in the Critical Zone of the Earth's crust where biological activity and weathering coincide and where cobalt is redistributed into forms where innovative bioleaching could change the way deposits are processed. Using new knowledge gained from the study of natural biological systems, advanced bioleaching techniques will be systematically applied to a range of deposits formed in the Critical Zone. Bioleaching also has great potential for reduced, sulfide-rich ores, particularly complex sulfide and often arsenic-rich ore-types where significant bioleaching has not yet been tested. This COG3 proposal builds on our catalyst grant which developed a multi-institute and multi-investigator consortium with internationally recognised expertise across the geosciences including geology, geochemistry, mineralogy, microbiology and bioprocessing based in leading UK academic institutes: Herrington (NHM), Schofield (NHM), Johnson (Bangor), Lloyd (Manchester), Pattrick (Manchester), Coker (Manchester), Roberts (Southampton), Gadd (Dundee), Glass (Exeter), Mosselmans (Diamond) and Kirk (Loughborough), with in-depth expertise on geology, geometallurgy and geomicrobiology applicable to developing recovery strategies for cobalt from natural deposits. This group is underpinned by the Partners including the major mining companies Glencore, FQML and KGHM; a mid-tier European-based mining company Oriel; a junior UK-based mining SME Brazilian Nickel, an internationally accredited commercial research laboratory RPC and finally the Cobalt Development Institute representing the cobalt industry throughout the supply chain. They have all pledged to engage with the project, some through direct involvement in research activities, some with financial support for research and training and others by facilitating access to natural deposits and datasets. Further support comes from research colleagues at CSIRO in Australia. Specific research will be delivered through a series of work packages which will address: 1) Geology and mineralogy of cobalt in natural systems; 2) Natural biogeochemistry of cobalt; 3) Bioprocessing of cobalt and development of new products; 4) Improving the cobalt supply chain through integrated studies and dialogue with stakeholders representing the supply chain. This research directly addresses the NERC Security of Supply of Mineral Resources (SoS Minerals) initiative Goals 1 & 2 with a fundamental aim to recognise the mineral residence and chemical cycle of cobalt (Goal 1) and provide geometallurgical information that will facilitate new opportunities for improvements to current recovery, minimising waste through geometallurgy; and thoroughly testing innovative, benign bioleach technologies for the extraction and downstream bioengineering of novel cobalt products (Goal 2). Through the collaboration of the PIs, Co-Pis, Partners and the development of PDRAs and PhDs, the program will produce high impact scientific publications for the international literature, highly significant public outreach and education on behalf of the NERC SoS programme and establish the UK COG3 consortium as a world leader in research into innovative cobalt recovery from natural mineral deposits.