Author: ADMIN

New publication by ION4RAW authors Chandra Widyananda Winardhi, Jose Ricardo da Assuncao Godinho and Jens Gutzmer (HZDR). Discover the article in detail with a focus on mineral dissolution. 

Mineral dissolution is a dynamic process in which kinetics depend on the reactive surface area, orientation, and geometry of the dissolving mineral grain. Dissolution rate is, thus, not represented by a single value, but rather, by a spectrum that is affected by the reactivity of different types of surface features.

Such dissolution rate spectra are usually obtained by very detailed studies of perfectly cleaved surfaces by atomic force microscopy or in situ studies, such as flow-through experiments. This study visualizes dissolution progress by repeated X-ray computed tomography scans of a single particle. This allows studying the influence of larger particle features, such as corners and edges, at the interception of macroscopic faces of particles, as well as the influence of those macroscopic features on the dissolution rate spectra. As a suitable case study, the dissolution of a monomineralic galena (PbS) particle in ethaline is studied.

The observed changes in particle geometry are evaluated using a newly developed empirical model in order to break down the rate spectra as a function of the particle geometry. Results illustrate that dissolution rates are exponentially correlated with the distance to crystal corners and edges. The reactivity map generated from these exponential relations shows a linear trendline with the dissolution rates over the entire surface of the studied galena particle.

The empirical reactivity map developed here opens the possibility of predicting the dissolution rate of particulate materials based on computed tomography and the optimal geometrical properties of the particles that maximize the dissolution, e.g., size and shape.

Following the SIM Congress of November 2021, an issue of “Mines et Carrières” was released earlier this year named “RÉSILIENCE DE L’INDUSTRIE MINÉRALE APRÈS LA CRISE SANITAIRE” which focuses on the impact the pandemic has had on the mining industry, the weaknesses revealed, and the strengths needed going forward.

This issue indeed stresses the fact that ”The organisation of production and the markets for mineral raw materials have been disrupted by the long pandemic of Covid-19. The price of raw materials was no longer the only decisive factor. The mineral industry has had to look for solutions. Just like the administrations and the various governing bodies, they have adapted and had to learn the lessons of this new “normality”.”

Among the solutions developed, the ION4RAW project and the research it conducts has been mentioned  as a relevant innovative process allowing to extract and recover unexploited small auxiliary metals from ore and mine tailings.

To discover the full article!

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the PDAC 2022 Convention was held in Toronto, Canada and welcomed 17,445 investors, analysts, Indigenous leaders, mining executives, geologists, government officials and students.

This was an opportunity for the ION4RAW project to present its progress and the activities carried out in Europe. Flyers and the second edition of the newsletter were distributed at the European Booth during the event. It was also an opportunity for ION4RAW representatives (BRGM) present on site to answer the questions of curious geologists on the matter of European resources and predictivity activities. Reports available on the ION4RAW website were, for instance, shared.

Using the KAYO device, BRGM was able to show reports and figures from the project. Agnico-Eagle, Element08 (consortium of research on CRM in Quebec), Quebec government as well as Eramet and CGG were very enthusiastic about the work done through specifically the deliverable D2.1 “mapping of by-products potential in mineral deposits”.

To further discover the ION4RAW inventory, check out the full presentation here!

From 12-15 July 2022, the University of Bern hosted the 15th edition of the European Workshop on Laser Ablation (EWLA2022) organised in Bern, Switzerland. The event was the occasion to discuss results, novel concepts and developments in laser ablation-based techniques in the context of sustainable by-product and Critical Raw Materials (CRM) recovery as well as to stimulate interaction between academia and industry.

Lectures, talks, workshops, and poster presentations were presented on the following topics:

 Fundamental research:

• Laser-matter interaction
• Particle formation and transport phenomena
• Qualitative and quantitative element and isotope mapping (2D and 3D)
• Standardisation
• Isotope ratio analysis
• Data processing and management
• Chemical depth profiling
• Simultaneous tandem and/or multi sensor techniques

Applications:

• Earth, Geology, and Planetary Sciences
• Bio imaging & Life Sciences
• Archaeology & Cultural Heritage
• Material Sciences and Industrial Applications

Among the topics presented during the event, Catherine Lerouge, as a member of the ION4RAW project, introduced the “Inventory of by-products and critical raw materials in the El Porvenir Pb-Zn and Cerro Lindo ore deposits: laser ablation ICP-MS and electron microprobe”

The objectives of the inventory are to improve the recovery of by products and CRM during the ore treatment processes, to obtain reliable estimates of by products and CRM and to develop ionometallurgy processes. By supporting and encouraging the recovery of by-product and CRMs, we are able to improve the knowledge of target deposits as well as characterize ores by determining carrier minerals and their distribution.

To further discover the ION4RAW inventory, check out the full presentation here!