Recycling REEs from the Waste Products of Silius Mine (SE Sardinia, Italy): A Preliminary Study

Giuseppina Balassone, Carla Manfredi, Ermanno Vasca, Mariacristina Bianco, Maria Boni, Aldo Di Nunzio, Francesco Lombardo, Rosaria Mozzillo, Antonio Marino, Angela Mormone, Guido Mura, Marco Trifuoggi and Nicola Mondillo
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Giuseppina Balassone: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e delle Risorse, Federico II University, 80126 Naples, Italy
Carla Manfredi: Dipartimento di Chimica “P. Corradini”, Federico II Università, 80126 Naples, Italy
Ermanno Vasca: Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia “A. Zambelli”, Università degli studi di Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Mariacristina Bianco: Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia “A. Zambelli”, Università degli studi di Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Maria Boni: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e delle Risorse, Federico II University, 80126 Naples, Italy
Aldo Di Nunzio: Dipartimento di Chimica “P. Corradini”, Federico II Università, 80126 Naples, Italy
Francesco Lombardo: Dipartimento di Chimica “P. Corradini”, Federico II Università, 80126 Naples, Italy
Rosaria Mozzillo: Dipartimento di Chimica “P. Corradini”, Federico II Università, 80126 Naples, Italy
Antonio Marino: Miniera di Silius, Genna Tres Montis, Silius, 09040 Cagliari, Italy
Angela Mormone: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, 80124 Naples, Italy
Guido Mura: Miniera di Silius, Genna Tres Montis, Silius, 09040 Cagliari, Italy
Marco Trifuoggi: Dipartimento di Chimica “P. Corradini”, Federico II Università, 80126 Naples, Italy
Nicola Mondillo: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e delle Risorse, Federico II University, 80126 Naples, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-18

Abstract: The present research represents an approach toward the recycling of extractive waste inspired by circular economy and sustainability that is developed in accordance with Goal 12 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. A new procedure for the recovery of REEs from fluorite–barite–galena ores with calcite gangue from the Silius mine (Sardinia, Italy) is presented. The considered samples are waste materials of Silius mineralization, collected in the old processing plant of Assemini (near Cagliari). In this orebody, REE minerals consist of prevailing synchysite (a REE-bearing fluorocarbonate) and subordinate xenotime-Y (a Y-bearing phosphate). REE fluorocarbonates are extracted using 50% K 2 CO 3 as the leaching solution, at 100 °C. Using a solution (mL)/sample (g) ratio of 25, about 10% of the total REE content of the considered sample is extracted within 1 h. At the laboratory scale, such alkaline leaching of REE from the waste materials allows the recovery of the CO 2 produced as K 2 CO 3 from concentrated KOH, in accordance with a circular flow. Further work is ongoing to scale up the process into a pilot plant, to prove that the method developed within this research can be economically feasible, socially suitable, and environmentally respectful.

Keywords: REE extraction; waste materials recycling; alkaline leaching; Silius mine; Sardinia (Italy); circular economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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