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

2018年，加拿大采矿业为该国国内生产总值(Mining.ca-2019)贡献了970亿美元。2018年价值1050亿美元的矿产出口占加拿大国内出口的19%。在全球15种矿物和金属的产量中，加拿大位列前五名。它在石墨、铟和铂族金属中排名第三。与当前提议相关的石墨(C)的一个应用领域是生产电动汽车电池的负极材料，该电池也使用大量的镍钴作为正极成分(其品位远远高于矿石中的镍品位)。然而，根据最近的产量统计数据，加拿大的镍钴产量有所下降。2018年，加拿大失去了Ni-Co的前五名位置。作为当前提案的一部分，C、Ni和Co元素被列入对加拿大经济至关重要的战略材料清单。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。随着矿物和金属产品越来越多地用于各种用途，从二次来源回收这些产品的必要性也变得越来越重要。在环境质量非常重要的采矿/冶金工业中，回收是可持续发展的重要组成部分。传统上，由于工艺损失，众多矿场的尾矿区是可回收矿物的主要二次来源。在尾矿区开采含镍钴矿物的潜力巨大，经济价值超过100亿美元，这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回收镍-钴的新工艺，即尾矿和废锂离子电池的储存区，为未来国内镍钴供应的安全做出重大贡献。短期目标是开发在这两个领域使用设备和新试剂系统的分离方法。在计划的四个子项目中，有两个将侧重于水力旋流机制的新用途，以从废电池和清道夫尾部中的含镍钴颗粒中分离出石墨。其他子项目将侧重于基础表面化学研究及其应用，涉及本提案中所述的新型絮凝、磁性和选择性浮选分离技术。所获得的结果和结论将作为中试和工厂调查的基础，以及根据这项研究开发新的工艺流程。该计划将为9名高素质人才提供培训，其中包括2名博士生、2名硕士研究生和5名本科生，学习实验策略、数据分析和建模技能，为加拿大采矿业做出必要贡献。

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.