화학공학소재연구정보센터
홈 로그인 로그아웃 연락처 사이트맵
Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol.89, 47-57, September, 2020
DOI10.1016/j.jiec.2020.06.010  Export Citation
Removal and potential recovery of rare earth elements from mine water
A. Royer-Lavallée, C.M. Neculita†, and L. Coudert
  • Research Institute on Mines and Environment (RIME), University of Québec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), Canada
E-mail:
Recovery of rare earth elements (REE) from acid mine drainage (AMD) could be an alternative to their conventional mining, given that REE are relatively highly concentrated in AMD. Their pre-concentration, through AMD active or passive treatment, and further recovery seem promising from both an economic and environmental point of view. This review thoroughly discusses sorption and precipitation as main processes for REE removal from synthetic and real mine water. Nanofiltration and bioaccumulation are also presented as pre-concentration steps prior to the treatment. Promising sorbents especially include biosorbents, but the scientific literature on this topic remains sparse. Even fewer studies cover precipitation as a technique for REE removal from mine water, but its high removal efficiency justifies further research. Large-scale experiments for REE recovery from active or passive AMD remediation systems have already been conducted and this emerging practice has shown economic benefits. Further research is needed to test the performance of these systems.
Keywords:Rare earth elements;Removal;Recovery;Mine water;Adsorption;Precipitation
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