Recovering rare elements from coal mine drainage can help reduce pressure on nature and generate profits. Ohio State University reports.
Rare earth metals such as indium and yttrium are an important component of electronic devices, gadgets and computers. Some experts are concerned that classical reserves of these substances in the earth’s crust are likely to be exhausted soon, and therefore scientists are looking for ways to extract them from alternative sources. They are found in the wastewater of coal mines.
Currently, coal mine waste is treated using active treatment systems that use chemicals or passive treatment systems that often depend on bacterial activity or local geochemistry.
According to the study, passive approaches tend to require fewer resources and are more environmentally friendly. As a result, the authors of the study used a number of alkaline industrial byproducts for water treatment, such as sludge from water treatment plants.
As a result, the scientists were able to extract a number of rare earth metals that are in demand in the industry, including terbium, neodymium and europium. The cost of metals obtained so far cannot be compared with the price of those extracted by the classical method, but in the future the authors hope to improve their technology and reduce the price.