A novel approach to separation of waste printed circuit boards using dimethyl sulfoxide

Waste printed circuit boards are complex heterogeneous mixture consisting of organic material, metal and glass fiber, therefore, it is quite difficult for the recovery of valuable materials from waste printed circuit boards. In this study, waste printed circuit boards without electronic components (known as bare boards) are submerged into dimethyl sulfoxide solvent at 170 °C using refluxing process. Metallographic microscope shows that waste printed circuit boards produce the delamination after treated with dimethyl sulfoxide solvent for 15 min. When waste printed circuit boards are treated with dimethyl sulfoxide solvent for 30 min, the separation of waste printed circuit boards is complete to obtain metals and glass fibers. Moreover, the used dimethyl sulfoxide solvent is vaporized by the rotary decompression which obtains regenerative dimethyl sulfoxide and solid residues. Comparing two Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies, it is found that the regenerative dimethyl sulfoxide is the same as original dimethyl sulfoxide. Thermal analyses combined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy show that the solid residues are bromine epoxy resins. These findings suggest that this innovative technology offers an environmental friendly process with no pollution and high efficiency for separating valuable materials from waste printed circuit boards.     

A new approach to precious metals recovery from brown coals: Correlation of recovery efficacy with the mechanism of metal-humic interactions

The presence of gold and platinum group elements (PGE) in low-rank brown coals around the world has promoted interest in the industrial exploitation of this alternative source of precious metals. However, due to low efficacy of the methods traditionally used for the processing of mineral ores, there exists a high demand for new strategies of precious metal recovery from refractory carbonaceous materials that could significantly increase the economic potential of gold- and PGE-bearing organic resources. Here we discuss the possibility of gold and PGE recovery from alkaline extracts of brown coals using the difference in colloidal stability of bulk organic matter and its fractions enriched with precious metals. This approach enables one to avoid complete oxidation or combustion of brown coals prior to gold recovery, to minimize organic content in gold concentrate, and to obtain a valuable by-product - humic extracts. Using gold-bearing brown coals from several deposits located in the South Far East of Russia, we show that up to 95% of gold can be transferred to alkaline extracts of humic acids (HA) and up to 85% of this gold can be recovered by centrifugation at pH 4.0-6.0, when only 5-15% of HA precipitated simultaneously. We have shown that the high efficacy of gold recovery can be attributed to the occurrence of fine-dispersed elemental gold particles stabilized by HA, which differ significantly in colloidal stability from the bulk organic matter and, thus, can be separated by centrifugation.     

辽河油田稠油中贵金属分布和赋存状态研究

以辽河油田稠油为研究对象,通过原子吸收光谱、实沸点蒸馏等手段,研究了辽河油田稠油中Au、Ag、Pt和Pb等贵金属在不同馏分中的分布特征.结果表明,经过实沸点蒸馏后,贵金属不同沸程温度的原油馏分中含量和分布存在很大差异,Au、Ag、Pt、Pd主要集中在渣油馏分中,在沸点》508℃的渣油馏分中Au、Ag、Pt、Pd的比例分别是93.4%、76.9%、73.4%和68.0%;采用选择性萃取的方法对金在稠油中的存在形态的初步研究发现,金在稠油中主要以有机配合物和少量无机配合物形式存在.     

大兴安岭北段贵金属有色金属区域成矿地质特征及找矿方法

大兴安岭北段是我国重要的金、铜、铅、锌等多金属成矿区。该地区长期把与中生代构造岩浆作用有关的矽卡岩型、热液型及斑岩型矿床作为找矿主攻目标,而近年来对古生代斑岩型、海相火山热液型等多金属矿矿床找矿取得很大进展,因此对成矿特点及规律有待于进一步认识研究。该区处于特殊的半干旱草原山地、森林沼泽景观区,对不同景观区采用有效的综合物化探方法技术,是本区能否取得预期找矿成果的关键。     

低熔点亲铜元素(LMCE)熔体超常富集贵金属的机制及其识别标志

低熔点亲铜元素(LMCE)As、Sb、Bi、Hg、Pb、Se、Te、Tl、Sn等,均具有亲铜性、低熔点、半金属的特性,在成矿过程中可以形成LMCE熔体,并对Au、Ag、PGE等贵金属的高效富集沉淀起到一种重要的桥梁作用。作者对前人研究资料与LMCE热力学相图进行了分析,并结合浅成低温热液型、造山型、卡林-类卡林型、碱性-偏碱性侵入岩型金矿床的研究成果,探讨了LMCE熔体形成、类型及其对Au、Ag、PGE等贵金属富集成矿的机理,并提出了LMCE熔体参与成矿的矿物组合与结构特征标志。LMCE熔体可以在岩浆过程、(岩浆)热液过程及变质过程中形成,是贵金属矿床重要的成矿机制之一。LMCE熔体中存在大量原子团簇,团簇间的聚集生长会使熔体难以达到相平衡,形成许多非平衡矿物组合,如包含LMCE的自然元素、金属互化物及含LMCE的多相矿物。Au在LMCE熔体中也可以团簇存在,金团簇聚集形成球状或片状,并形成巨富的金矿体。LMCE熔体形成的矿物常以浑圆状、近浑圆状、不规则状的单个或群体组合的乳滴、珠滴、气泡的微粒包体产在硫化物、硒化物、碲化物、氧化物和硅酸盐矿物内或沿矿物裂隙线形排列,这些LMCE微粒包体是熔体扰动导致熔-熔或熔-液间发生乳化所致,流体沸腾是引起熔体扰动的主要机制。LMCE熔体不能快速淬火结晶,通常在低温下缓慢冷却达到相平衡,形成复杂的矿物组合,该特点即使在微米到纳米级的矿物微粒中也显著存在。熔体-流体包裹体是LMCE熔体参与成矿作用最为直接的证据。固溶体分解结构、熔体退火结构、矿物-熔体二面角结构、溶解-再沉淀结构等也是LMCE熔体参与成矿的标志性结构。

     

A review of non-conventional metals extracting technologies from ore and waste

In recent years several kinds of gas phase methods/techniques, utilizing organic ligands, have been developed to recover metals from low grade ore or slag, for the removal of heavy metals from industrial waste, as well as solution purification. These methods include, extraction of metals in fluidized bed reactors using organic chelating compounds such as the SERVO process, and metal extraction by supercritical fluid extraction with CO₂ (SFC), followed by a potential method to recycle the metal and regenerate the ligand. These methods are hydrogen reduction, electrochemical separation and acid stripping. This review looks at the extraction of metals by organic ligands, and a brief introduction to the advantages and disadvantages of these two techniques (SERVO and SFC) is presented. A comparison of metal extraction using the two techniques is presented; some conventional methods are discussed, as well as the problems they present. Selected results of the extraction of iron by a gasified ligand in a fluidized reactor are shown to illustrate the potential application and success of this approach. Kinetic models governing such gas–solid state reactions are discussed, and possible ways to recycle the ligand(s) and recover metals in their pure (reduced) state highlighted. Finally, some ideas and suggestions for improvements in the research that had been carried out to date, as well as further future developments deserving attention, are suggested in the conclusion.     

Cenozoic metallogeny of Greece and potential for precious,critical and rare metals exploration

The Cenozoic metallogeny in Greece includes numerous major and minor hydrothermal mineral deposits, associated with the closure of the Western Tethyan Ocean and the collision with the Eurasian continental plate in the Aegean Sea, which started in the Cretaceous and is still ongoing. Mineral deposits formed in four main periods: Oligocene (33–25 Ma), early Miocene (22–19 Ma), middle to late Miocene (14–7 Ma), and Pliocene-Pleistocene (3–1.5 Ma). These metallogenic periods occurred in response to slab-rollback and migration of post-collisional calc-alkaline to shoshonitic magmatism in a back-arc extensional regime from the Rhodopes through the Cyclades, and to arc-related magmatism along the active south Aegean volcanic arc. Invasion of asthenospheric melts into the lower crust occurred due to slab retreat, and were responsible for partial melting of metasomatized lithosphere and lower crustal cumulates. These geodynamic events took place during the collapse of the Hellenic orogen along large detachment faults, which exhumed extensive metamorphic core complexes in mainly two regions, the Rhodopes and the Cyclades. The detachment faults and supra-detachment basins controlled magma emplacement, fluid circulation, and mineralization.The most significant mineralization styles comprise porphyry, epithermal, carbonate-replacement, reduced intrusion-related gold, intrusion-related Mo-W and polymetallic veins. Porphyry and epithermal deposits are commonly associated with extensive hydrothermal alteration halos, whereas in other cases alteration is of restricted development and mainly structurally controlled. Porphyry deposits include Cu-Au-, Cu-Mo-Au-Re, Mo-Re, and Mo-W variants. Epithermal deposits include mostly high- and intermediate-sulfidation (HS and IS) types hosted in volcanic rocks, although sedimentary and metamorphic rock hosted mineralized veins, breccias, and disseminations are also present. The main metal associations are Cu-Au-Ag-Te and Pb-Zn-Au-Ag-Te in HS and IS epithermal deposits, respectively. Major carbonate-replacement deposits in the Kassandra and Lavrion mining districts are rich in Au and Ag, and together with reduced intrusion-related gold systems played a critical role in ancient economies. Finally hundreds of polymetallic veins hosted by metamorphic rocks in the Rhodopes and Cyclades significantly add to the metal endowment of Greece.     

Adsorptive removal of eight heavy metals from aqueous solution by unmodified and modified agricultural waste: tangerine peel

Analysis was carried out using tangerine peel aiming its use as a potential adsorbent of eight heavy metal ions (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) from aqueous solution. This agricultural waste was tested both in its untreated and also chemically modified form. Based on Fourier transformation infrared spectra, a comparison of biosorbent structure before and after chemical treatment was made. Batch adsorption tests were conducted at different pH and mass of sorbent to examine the influence on the effectiveness of simultaneous removal of tested ions. Kinetic studies were conducted at optimum pH 5.0 and sorbent dosage 300 mg. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model best fit the experimental data with high correlation coefficients (r² > 0.9997). By optimizing listed parameters, high removal efficiencies (> 89%) were achieved. According to the results obtained in this study, the remediation of water polluted with heavy metals could be done using modified tangerine peel as an agricultural waste material.     

Humic acids in brown coals from the southern Russian Far East: General characteristics and interactions with precious metals

Brown coals with high Au and PGE concentrations from six deposits in the southern Russian Far East were analyzed for elemental composition, acid-base properties, and the molecular-size distribution of humic acids (HA). The ash contents of the coals were determined to be negatively correlated with their Au concentrations, and the content of “organic Au” (which is chemically bound to humic substances, HS) reaches 95%. The most probable mode of Au occurrence in the brown coals is submicrometer-sized particles of elemental gold stabilized by HA. Quantum-mechanical calculations of interactions between Au(0) clusters with model HS fragments confirm that HS could be originally strongly chemically adsorbed on the surface of elemental gold particles. Different stability of colloids during centrifuging of alkali extracts of the gold-bearing brown coals was proved to be likely responsible for the selective separation of free HA and those bound with gold particles, and this can be used to develop a technology for gold recovery from coals without decomposing their organic matrix.     

Geochemical aspects of molybdenum and precious metals distribution in the Sar Cheshmeh porphyry copper deposit, Iran

Constraints on hypogene distribution of Mo and precious metals (Au and Ag) in the Sar Cheshmeh porphyry copper deposit indicated that much of the metals tend to be concentrated within the Cu-rich potassic core as well as with strongly phyllic alteration. The gradual increase in metal concentrations from weak potassic alteration to strong potassic and phyllic alteration zones is observed that could be related to cumulative effects of the early to the late stages of alteration and mineralization which is increased vein density and metal deposition. Comparison between inter-element relationships in hypogene ore types indicated that precious metals and Cu positively correlate over a wide range of values, indicating a spatial and temporal association of precious metals with Cu sulfides. In contrast, the sympathetic relationship of Mo with Cu and precious metals is only present in low-grade ores which are deposited in weak potassic alteration zone. This suggests contemporaneous deposition of minor Mo with Cu and precious metals during the early stage of mineralization. In the transitional stages of mineralization, significant portion of Mo deposition occurred independent of Cu and precious metals which is supported by negative correlation between Mo and Cu (also with precious metals) in silicified ores. In the late stage of mineralization, where the highest values of the metals had occurred with sericitization, differences in the distribution of the metals and inter-element relationships are significant that could be attributed to the heterogeneous distribution of Mo, Cu, and precious metals during the evolution of the porphyry system. The hypogene metal arrangement indicated that ores with the highest values of Cu and precious metals are not essentially enriched in Mo.     

The role of gold,silver, and lead nanoparticles in the formation of deposits of precious metals

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

Assessment of the physicochemical parameters and heavy metals toxicity of leachates from municipal solid waste open dumpsite

Heavy metals and physicochemical characteristics of the different sites of the municipal solid waste dumpsite at Olusosun Landfill, Lagos, Nigeria, were investigated. The dormant site of the landfill has the potential of being a source of immediate environmental risk compared to the active and abandoned site, with the active site exhibiting tendency to be a likely source of Pb, Cd and Zn pollution. Zn was the most abundant metal in the area (0.264–0.947 mg/L) while Cd concentration was the lowest (0.001–0.022 mg/L). Pb, Cd, Zn were from anthropogenic sources and correlated significantly with chemical oxygen demand and oil and grease. Cu and Cr were more abundant in the dormant site and are attached to the solids as indicated by their significant correlation with TS and SS. The physicochemical characteristic of the leachate from the landfill indicate that they were more alkaline in nature, with TA range of 2354 to 7946 mg/L while the chemical oxygen demand values was also high 518.14 to 725.01 mg/L. The comparative analysis of the dormant site with other dormant site reveal a moderate concentration of the parameters measured but could contaminate the neighboring groundwater if not checked.     

Evaluation of outsourcing companies of waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling

An increasing number of companies have focused on reducing the amount of waste properly or gaining value from used products. Facilitating the reverse flow of used products from consumers to manufacturers is a difficult and expensive process depending on the product and transportation type and distance. Another alternative is to outsource these activities. Outsourcing management helps companies for better using of time, energy, labor, technology, capital, resources etc. Moreover, working with wrong partners effects manufacturers’ financial and operational situations. In order to get the best services, manufacturers usually invite several outsourcing companies for providing their tenders and then select the best offer. In this stage, using mathematical decision making techniques may help decision makers to get realistic results. In this paper the proposed methodology integrates two multi-criteria decision methods for ranking alternatives. This methodology is applied to a mid-sized firm operating in the field of electrical and electronic equipment. The results indicate that the most important criterion is cost for determining the best alternative. Besides, as it can be seen from the results, the best alternative for the manufacturer is the second alternative. These results propose a guideline for manufacturers for selecting the best alternative. From the results it can easily be seen that this approach shows its potential advantage in selecting suitable alternative due to its sound logic and easily programmable computation procedure.     

Simulating experiment on the enrichment of precious metals in Lower Cambrian black shale series of Hunan and Guizhou provinces

Adsorption experiments were made at room temperature and neutral pH value on different types of min-erals associated with the Lower Cambrian black shale series polymetallic layers in Hunan and Guizhou provinces on nanometer-sized Pt colloids and PtCl42--bearing ionic solutions with an attempt to constrain the relationship between the different types of minerals in the polymetallic layers and the enrichment of platinum group elements (PGEs). Experimental results showed that the different types of minerals show strong selectivity to the adsorption of nano-meter-sized Pt colloids and PtCl42--bearing ionic solutions. Metallic sulfides, organic matter and clay minerals are the strong adsorbents of PGEs, while quartz, albite, muscovite and other silicate minerals show a week adsorbility to both of them. This phenomenon is well consistent with the geological fact that metallic sulfides, organic matter and clay minerals in the polymetallic layers of the black shale series are the major carrier minerals of PGEs, giving a thorough explanation to the mechanism of enrichment of previous metal elements. Adsorption may be a principal mechanism of enrichment of precious metal elements under lower temperature conditions. The presence of the aforementioned strong adsorbents is the good geochemical barriers for the enrichment of PGEs.     

新庄孜矿塌陷区煤矸石中重金属迁移对覆土影响

针对淮南新庄孜矿覆土造地中煤矸石填充带来的重金属元素迁移污染进行了研究。结果表明:煤矸石中有毒元素Pb、As、Cd、Hg向覆土有一定迁移,且距离煤矸石越近的土壤中重金属含量明显增高;虽然覆土中重金属含量均超过淮南土壤的均值,但是该土壤中Pb、As和Cd含量均符合国家二级标准;其中土壤中Hg含量分别符合国家一级标准和二级标准。须对覆土中重金属元素进行跟踪研究。     

Testing the ability of bentonite-amended natural zeolite (clinoptinolite) to remove heavy metals from liquid waste

 The design of environmentally sound liquid waste containment structures has become a crucial task in engineering applications due to ever increasing groundwater contamination from such sites. Construction of such structures usually requires a bottom liner of low hydraulic conductivity as part of the design. In order to reduce the hazards associated with liquid wastes including landfill leachate, bentonite-amended natural zeolite is proposed as an alternative to conventional earthen liners. Among many contaminants associated with liquid wastes, heavy metals are the most dangerous ones. This paper deals with determining the ability of natural zeolite to remove heavy metals from aqueous waste. For this purpose, crushed natural zeolite (clinoptinolite) is amended with commercial powdered bentonite to yield a soil mixture low in permeability and high in ion-exchange capacity. Leachate from a conventional landfill is used as the percolation fluid. Concentrations of certain heavy metals in the effluent fluid percolated through the bentonite-zeolite mixture are compared with that of initial leachate. The conclusion is reached that certain metals are efficiently removed from the influent solution by the soil matrix whereas some ions do not show significant reduction in concentration. This is attributed to high hydraulic conductivity of the bentonite-zeolite mixture.