Extraction of Minerals Using Supercritical Fluid Technology

本项目探讨了利用超临界流体（SCF）技术从矿石中提取矿物的可行性。超临界流体由于其独特的溶剂化特性，在有机物质的提取、分离和提纯中得到了广泛的应用。相比之下，很少有报道描述SCF处理无机矿物的工作。本研究的目的是对超临界流体选择性提取含矿物矿石样品进行“概念验证”实验。测试所需的岩心样品将由矿业公司提供。如果成功，SCF技术有可能应用于就地采矿和地上矿物加工。

The project investigates the feasibility of extracting mineral species from ores using supercritical fluid (SCF) technology. Because of their unique solvating properties, supercritical fluids have been extensively applied to the extraction, separation, and purification of organic materials. In contrast, very little work has been reported describing SCF processing of inorganic mineral species. The object of this investigation is to perform "proof-of-concept" experiments for selective extraction of mineral-containing ore samples with supercritical fluids. The core samples required for the tests will be supplied by the mining companies. If successful, the SCF technology has potential for application to both in situ mining and above-ground mineral processing.