ION4RAW: Improving metal recovery in Cu-Pb-Zn-(Au-Ag) ore deposits through inventory of by-products and critical raw materials
Résumé
Long-term management of the mineral resource supply incorporating anthropogenic environmental impacts is crucial for sustaining human society. This is especially true for recovery of by-products and critical raw materials (CRM) whose production is often unable to respond quickly to rapid changes in consumption trends. As part of European H2020 research and innovation, the ION4RAW project aims at obtaining reliable estimates of by-products and CRM, and at developing ionometallurgy processes to improve their extraction from primary resources. Targeted metals are by-products (Te, Se, Re and Mo) and CRM (Bi, Ge, In, Co, Pt, Sb) in 5 selected CuAg-Au ore deposits through the world (Cononish Gold mine, Scotland; Cobre Las Cruces and El Valle Boinas, Spain; El Porvenir and Cerro Lindo, Peru). The final objective of this study is to determine the carrier minerals of CRM and by-products, the variability of their chemistry, their distribution and quantification, in order to improve their recovery during ore treatment processes. We currently inventory byproducts and CRM by characterizing ores and gangue, using a multi-technical approach (bulk chemistry and X-Ray diffraction, optical and scanning electron microscopic observations, µX-ray fluorescence mapping, EPMA spot analyses and laser ablation-ICP-MS). We present here the preliminary results of El Porvenir and El Valle Boinas that are two calcic skarn-related deposits defined by their garnet composition.
Domaines
Géologie appliquée
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