Investigations on the separation of metal-bearing values from secondary sources in the production of value-added products

加拿大采矿业在2018年为该国的国内生产总值贡献了970亿美元（Mining.ca-2019）。2018年矿产出口价值1050亿加元，占加拿大国内出口的19%。加拿大是全球15种矿物和金属产量最高的五个国家之一。它在石墨、铟和铂族金属中排名第三。与当前提案相关的石墨（C）的一个应用领域是生产电动汽车电池中的阳极材料，其也使用大量的镍-钴用于阴极组合物（比矿石中的Ni等级高得多的等级）。然而，根据最近的产量统计，加拿大的镍钴产量下降。2018年，加拿大失去了镍钴的前五名位置。目前提案中重点关注的元素C，Ni和Co都在对加拿大经济至关重要的战略材料清单中。2019年，加拿大政府宣布了一项计划，制定一项战略，以重建此类关键元素的国内供应。 在矿物和金属产品越来越多地用于各种用途的同时，从二次来源回收这些产品的必要性也越来越重要。回收是采矿/冶金工业可持续性的一个关键部分，其中环境质量非常重要。传统上，由于工艺损失，许多采矿场的尾矿区构成可回收矿物的主要二次来源。尾矿区含镍钴矿物的可回收潜力巨大，经济价值超过100亿美元，有助于恢复加拿大在前五名国家中的地位。拟议研究计划的长期目标是通过开发从二次来源（即尾矿和废锂离子电池的储存区域）回收镍钴的新工艺，为未来国内镍钴供应的安全做出重大贡献。短期目标是开发涉及在这两个领域使用设备和新试剂系统的分离方法。计划的四个子项目中有两个将侧重于水力旋流器机制的新用途，用于从废电池中的镍钴颗粒和清除剂尾渣中分离石墨。其他子项目将侧重于基本的表面化学研究及其应用，包括本提案中描述的新型絮凝、磁性和选择性浮选分离技术。所获得的结果和结论将为中试和工厂调查以及开发源自本研究的新流程奠定基础。该计划将为9名高素质人员提供培训，其中2名为博士。学生，2 MASc，和5名本科生的实验策略，数据分析和建模技能，使加拿大矿业所需的贡献。

The Canadian mining industry contributed $97 billion to the nation's Gross Domestic Product in 2018 (Mining.ca-2019). Mineral exports valued at $105 billion in 2018 accounted for 19% of Canada's domestic exports. Canada ranks among the top five countries in the global production of 15 minerals and metals. It is third in graphite, indium and platinum group metals. One application area for graphite (C) as it relates to the current proposal is in the production of anode material in the electric-car batteries, which also use a significant amount of nickel-cobalt for cathode composition (at much higher grades than the Ni grades in ores). According to recent production statistics, however, Ni-Co production declined in Canada. In 2018, Canada lost the top-five ranking position for Ni-Co. The elements C, Ni and Co focused on as part of the current proposal are in the list of strategic materials critical to the economy of Canada. In 2019, the Canadian government announced a plan to develop a strategy to rebuild the domestic supply of such critical elements. In parallel with the increased use of mineral and metal products for various applications, the need for their recovery from secondary sources has increasingly become important. Recycling is a crucial part of sustainability in mining/metallurgical industries, where environmental quality is very important. Traditionally, tailing areas of numerous mining sites constitute the main secondary sources of recoverable minerals due to process losses. There is a tremendous potential for recoverable Ni-Co bearing minerals in tailing areas, amounting to an economic value exceeding $10 billion, which can help restore Canada's rank among the top five countries. The long-term objective of the proposed research program is to significantly contribute to the security of future domestic supply of Ni-Co through the development of novel processes for their recovery from secondary sources, namely, storage areas of tails and spent lithium-ion batteries. The short-term objective is to develop separation methods involving the use of the equipment and new reagent systems in these two areas. Two of the four subprojects planned will focus on a novel use of hydrocyclone mechanism for the separation of graphite from Ni-Co bearing particles in spent batteries and from scavenger tails. The other subprojects will focus on fundamental surface chemical investigations and their applications involving novel flocculation, magnetic and selective flotation separation techniques described in this proposal. The results and conclusions obtained will be a basis for pilot and plant investigations as well as the development of new flowsheets originating from this research. The proposed program will provide training for a total of 9 highly qualified personnel, with 2 Ph.D. students, 2 MASc, and 5 undergraduate students for experimental strategies, data analysis and modelling skills to make needed contributions to the Canadian mining industry.