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Research Progress and Prospect of Red Mud Resource Utilization
CHEN Jian;WANG Yongping;ZHAO Hongliang;XIE Mingzhuang;LIU Fengqin;Red mud is a strongly alkaline industrial solid waste generated during the production of alumina. It is characterized by large volumes, high storage risks, and a complex composition. As the world's largest producer of alumina, China generates over 100 million tons of red mud annually, with a cumulative stockpile exceeding 1.6 billion tons. A significant portion of this red mud cannot be effectively utilized and is left in open-air piles, which can lead to soil salinization, groundwater contamination, and ecological security issues. Consequently, the resource recovery of red mud has become an urgent challenge for the green and sustainable development of the aluminum industry. This paper systematically reviews the physicochemical properties, environmental hazards, and classification characteristics of red mud, with a focus on summarizing research progress in four major areas: recovery of valuable elements, preparation of construction materials, development of functional materials, and environmental remediation applications. It analyzes the advantages, disadvantages, and applicability of iron extraction processes such as physical separation, pyrometallurgical recovery, and hydrometallurgical leaching, as well as synergistic extraction technologies for multiple elements including aluminum, titanium, scandium, gallium, and other elements. It also elaborates on the current status of red mud applications in the construction materials sector, including cement, concrete, sintered bricks, and roadbed materials; introduces research achievements in the development of high-valueadded products such as red mud-based ceramic aggregates, adsorbents, and catalysts; and summarizes the application potential of red mud in environmental remediation scenarios such as flocculant preparation, mine backfilling, and soil improvement. Currently, the resource utilization of red mud still faces challenges such as high alkalinity, high energy consumption, difficult separation, and low economic returns. Future research should focus on low-cost dealkalization, hierarchical recovery of valuable components, synergistic utilization of multiple solid wastes, and technological breakthroughs for high-value-added applications. Process energy consumption should be reduced through low-carbon technologies such as biomass reduction and the use of green electricity. Through technological innovation, policy incentives, and industrial collaboration, red mud should be transformed from "red solid waste" into "green resources", thereby contributing to the sustainable development of the aluminum industry.
Rubidium: A Review of Resource Profiles, Occurrence, Extraction and Separation Technologies
XIE Yu;RAN Wei;SONG Yinbo;HAN Zhengwei;Rubidium(Rb), as a rare alkali metal with significant strategic value, exhibits irreplaceable application potential in high-tech fields due to its unique physical and chemical properties. Its low melting point, high electrical and thermal conductivity, and excellent photoelectric effects make it a core component in high-end manufacturing fields such as solid-state lasers, atomic clocks, thermoelectric engines, and perovskite photovoltaics. It also plays an important role in the preparation of specialty glasses, chemical catalytic reactions, and pharmaceutical research and development. With the rapid development of industries such as communications, aerospace, new energy, and new materials, global demand for rubidium resources continues to rise. Developed countries like the United States and Japan have included it in their critical mineral lists, and China has also gradually begun to pay attention to the strategic reserve and development of rubidium resources to ensure the security of high-end industrial chains and supply chains. However, current rubidium resource development still faces many challenges, and related basic research and process optimization are urgently needed to be deepened. Therefore, systematically sorting out the occurrence characteristics of rubidium resources, extraction processes, and separation purification technologies is of great significance for promoting their green and efficient use. Rubidium resources are widely distributed in nature but often exist in associated forms, lacking independent deposits. This characteristic makes enrichment difficult. In solid minerals, rubidium mainly exists in mica, feldspar, cesium pyroxenite, and clay minerals, often entering the mineral lattice through substitutional replacement of potassium ions to form stable crystal structures. In liquid resources, brine from salt lakes, water from oil and gas fields, and geothermal waters all contain a certain amount of rubidium, although the concentration is low. However, due to the vast total resource volume and relatively low extraction costs, it has become an important direction for future rubidium resource development. In addition, industrial solid waste also contains rubidium, and the recycling of these resources not only improves resource utilization but also reduces environmental pollution, in line with the concept of green development. The occurrence mechanisms of rubidium in different carriers vary, and their crystal structures and element coexistence relationships directly affect the selection and efficiency of subsequent extraction processes. Current rubidium resource extraction processes mainly revolve around destroying the carrier mineral structure and releasing rubidium ions, with mainstream technologies including acid leaching, alkali leaching, roasting, and combined treatment methods. Acid leaching achieves efficient extraction of rubidium by eroding the lattice of rubidium silicate minerals with acidic solutions, suitable for the treatment of mica and clay minerals; alkali leaching uses alkaline systems to destroy the structure of refractory minerals, often used for the extraction of rubidium from feldspar-type minerals; roasting converts rubidium into soluble salts by adding agents under high temperature conditions, followed by water leaching for separation; combined treatment methods combine the advantages of multiple processes to further improve the extraction efficiency of rubidium. However, existing extraction processes generally suffer from problems such as large reagent consumption, serious co-leaching of impurity ions, and high pressure on tailings treatment. How to reduce energy consumption and environmental costs while ensuring extraction efficiency has become the core direction of process optimization. The separation and purification of rubidium is a key link in the preparation of high-purity rubidium products. Existing technologies mainly include crystallization, precipitation, solvent extraction, adsorption, and electrochemical methods. Crystallization and precipitation, as traditional technologies, although simple in operation principles, have limitations such as low separation efficiency and complicated processes, and are mostly used for the refining of high-purity products; solvent extraction, with its advantages of large processing capacity and high selectivity, is widely used in industrial production, and the development of new extractants and extraction systems continues to improve its separation effect; adsorption shows outstanding performance in enriching low-concentration rubidium resources, and the preparation and modification of new adsorbent materials effectively enhance their selectivity and adsorption capacity for rubidium; electrochemical methods, as green environmental technologies, achieve the directional separation and enrichment of rubidium through electric field action. Although they have not yet been industrialized, they have broad development prospects. Different separation and purification technologies have different applicable scenarios and need to be reasonably selected and combined according to factors such as the concentration of rubidium solutions and the composition of impurities. Overall, rubidium resource development still faces challenges such as low efficiency in mineral pretreatment, poor selectivity of extraction processes, high costs of separation and purification, and insufficient comprehensive utilization of tailings. Future research should focus on high-grade rubidium concentrate pre-enrichment technology, improve raw material quality through mineral processing means; optimize low-consumption and high-efficiency leaching systems to reduce impurity dissolution and reagent consumption; strengthen the research and development of industrialized technology for brine rubidium extraction to fully tap the potential of liquid resources; promote the high-value utilization of tailings to achieve green development throughout the resource process. In addition, it is necessary to further improve the strategic reserve system for rubidium resources, formulate scientific resource development plans, and respond to the growing market demand, alleviate China's dependence on imported high-purity rubidium resources, and provide security for national strategic key metal resources.
Research Progress on Treatment and Resource Utilization of Magnesium Slag
LI Xiaofeng;GONG Xueqiang;LIU Yan;Magnesium and its alloys have irreplaceable application value and strategic importance in automobile lightweighting, aerospace, electronics, and biomedicine. As the world's largest producer of primary magnesium, China produced 1.026 million tons of primary magnesium in 2024, accounting for 91.6% of the global total. At present, the dominant magnesium smelting process is still the Pidgeon process. However, the Pidgeon process is associated with severe solid waste issues: 5 to 6 tons of magnesium reduction slag are generated per ton of metallic magnesium produced, and the cumulative stock of magnesium reduction slag has reached tens of millions of tons. Currently, except for a small fraction used in the cement industry, most magnesium slag is disposed of by stockpiling and landfilling, which not only occupies land resources but also causes a series of environmental problems, such as dust pollution and soil compaction, seriously restricting the green and sustainable development of the magnesium industry. Based on the physicochemical properties of magnesium slag, this paper systematically analyzes its modification methods including quenching, grinding, chemical activation, and carbonation. The advantages and limitations of magnesium slag applications in building materials(such as cementitious materials, novel glass, cement clinker) and functional materials(such as desulfurizers, porous ceramics, ceramsite proppants and catalysts) are reviewed. Firstly, based on the hydration and carbonation characteristics of active components in magnesium slag, quenching can effectively inhibit the transformation of β-Ca2 SiO4 to γ-Ca2 SiO4 and retain highly active crystal phases, although it has high energy consumption. Mechanical grinding can increase lattice defects and specific surface area, with a significantly improved modification effect but high energy consumption. Chemical activation has high efficiency but involves high activator costs and may introduce new components. Carbonation activation can utilize the carbonation reactivity of γ-Ca2 SiO4 to achieve carbon dioxide sequestration while preparing highperformance building materials. In view of the above limitations, a multi-technology collaborative modification process can be developed to improve modification efficiency while reducing energy consumption, thereby establishing a low-cost and green modification system. Secondly, for the application of magnesium slag in building materials, although magnesium slag can be used as a cementitious component, mineral admixture, or raw material in cement, mortar, glass, and wall materials, its high magnesium oxide content causes volume expansion during hydration, which threatens the long-term stability of buildings and limits its large-scale utilization. The long-term durability evaluation system for magnesium slag-based building materials should be improved, and their long-term performance(such as carbonation resistance, corrosion resistance, and volume stability) should be strictly monitored to ensure compliance with environmental and safety standards. Finally, in the field of functional materials, the alkaline components and specific elements in magnesium slag show unique application value in desulfurizers, porous ceramics, catalyst supports, and silicon-potassium fertilizers. As an industrial solid waste used for desulfurization, magnesium slag presents obvious economic benefits compared with commercial desulfurizers, but it still suffers from low desulfurization efficiency. Although the preparation of silicon-potassium fertilizer from magnesium slag can effectively improve soil fertility, attention must be paid to the long-term accumulation risk of heavy metals. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a full-chain environmental safety assessment system covering the soil-crop system to provide a scientific basis for the safe and efficient utilization of magnesium slag.
Research Progress on Titanium Extraction Technologies from Vanadium-Titanium Magnetite in Panxi Region
HUANG Jiaxu;WANG Shixing;YANG Yangjun;LONG Panzhong;JIANG Rong;ZHU Fuxing;Based on the resource characteristics and occurrence states of vanadium-titanium magnetite in the Panxi region, this paper systematically sorts out and reviews the research progress of titanium resource extraction technologies in three core fields, namely the practical application of ilmenite concentrate raw materials, the comprehensive development and utilization of titanium extraction from high-titanium blast furnace slag, and the preparation of titanium-containing raw materials through the non-blast furnace smelting process of vanadiumtitanium magnetite concentrate. At the same time, it also conducts in-depth and detailed analysis on the advantages and disadvantages of different titanium extraction processes. The research results clearly show that in the field of ilmenite concentrate raw material application, mainstream technologies such as sulfate process for titanium dioxide production and titanium slag preparation have gradually become mature, and their process stability and industrial adaptability have been verified through long-term practice. However, the hydrochloric acid process for titanium dioxide production and the preparation technology of upgraded titanium slag(synthetic rutile) are currently still restricted by key technical bottlenecks and faces many obstacles in large-scale industrial promotion. In terms of titanium extraction technologies from high-titanium blast furnace slag, most processes are still in the stage of laboratory research and development or pilot-scale testing, and have not yet been industrialized. Among them, the "high-temperature carbonization followed by low-temperature selective chlorination for TiCl4 production" technology has been identified as the core breakthrough direction in this field in the future due to its significant industrialization potential. In addition, the technology of preparing titanium raw materials through non-blast furnace smelting of vanadium-titanium magnetite concentrate is highly consistent with the green development trend strongly advocated by the current iron and steel industry. It can not only improve resource utilization efficiency but also reduce the environmental load during the production process, thus showing a broad application prospect.
Research Progress in the Low-temperature Electrolysis of Aluminum Based on Aluminum Chloride
ZHENG Yong;WANG Qian;LI Ling;WANG Kai;WANG Zhen;ZHOU Zhongyuan;WANG Peng;Aluminum is an important light metal with excellent physical and chemical properties, which has been widely used in the industry, daily life and scientific fields. Until now, the production of aluminum has been mainly conducted by electrolysis of cryolite-alumina molten salts at high temperatures around the world. This process has higher temperature and energy consumption, and emits a large amount of carbon dioxide. From the perspective of sustainable development and dual-carbon strategy, it is necessary to reform the traditional method of aluminum production. Consequently, promoting the electrolysis of aluminum under low temperatures is one of the important ways to solve the above problems. Motived by this aim, numerous scientists have made systematic exploration of aluminum electrolysis using aluminum chloride as raw material at low temperatures, and significant progress has been achieved over the past decades. Under this background, the research progress of low-temperature aluminum electrolysis in recent years is reviewed from the aspect of inorganic and organic molten salts based on aluminum chloride. Herein, the low-temperature inorganic molten salts include NaCl-AlCl3, NaCl-KCl-AlCl3, LiCl-KCl-AlCl3 and LiCl-KCl-NaCl-AlCl3 systems. These molten salts are usually prepared by mixing alkali metal chlorides with aluminum chloride, which consist of chloroaluminate anions with melting points around 100 ℃. The structure of anion can be regulated by the molar ratio of alkali metal chlorides and aluminum chloride. When the molar fraction of aluminum chloride is higher than 0.5, the molten salts are Lewis acidic with [Al2 Cl7]~-and [Al3 Cl10]~-anions. Therefore, the electrolytic preparation of aluminum can be achieved at low temperature by direct current electrolysis method. The low-temperature organic molten salts include those synthesized by aluminum chloride with ionic liquids, amines or other organic compounds. The electrolysis of aluminum can be conducted below 100 ℃, even around room temperature in these organic molten salts. Among these systems, imidazolium chloroaluminate ionic liquids are the most extensively studied systems owing to their superior electrochemical properties and structural tunability. Besides, scientists have developed many other organic molten salts based on the mixture of aluminum chloride with amines, dimethyl sulfone or alkylpyridine, and significant progress has also been achieved. The anions of these low-temperature molten salts are generally chloroaluminate ions, which play an important role in the reduction and oxidation processes. Different from many other chloroaluminate salts, the cations are formed by the coordination of Al3+ and organic compounds. For example, the cation is confirmed as [AlCl2· n Amide]+ in the molten salt based on the mixture of amide and aluminum chloride. Although these salts have different cations, the corresponding mechanism of aluminum electrolysis is similar. Moreover, the electrodeposition of aluminum in these systems mostly follows a three-dimensional instantaneous nucleation/growth model. The average size of aluminum deposits ranges from micro to nano scale. It should be noted that these organic compounds are less sensitive to moisture than many ionic liquids, facilitating the preparation of electrolytes and electrolytic operation. In general, the electrolytic preparation of aluminum can be conducted at low temperatures in the molten salts based on aluminum chloride, where the experimental temperature and energy consumption are lower than those in the high-temperature molten salts. Aluminum and its alloys can be obtained in solid state with different crystal sizes and morphology by adjusting the chemical composition and structure of these molten salts, enriching the variety of aluminum products. Thus, this technology can be applied in the electrolysis, electroplating, electrorefining of aluminum and its alloys. Compared with the inorganic molten salts applied in low-temperature aluminum electrolysis, the organic molten salts have lower melting points and energy consumption, while their chemical stability and electrical conductivity are relatively weak. It is hoped that this article can provide some reference for the development and application of low-temperature aluminum electrolysis in the future.
Recent Development in Nickel and Cobalt Recovery Technologies from Laterite
LIU Da-xing (Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy , Beijing 100044, China)Laterite deposits and relevant metallurgical processes were introduced in this paper The recent deve lopment of hydrometallurgy processes for laterite and its impact on nickel and cobalt industry were reviewed
Principles and Technologies for Remediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil
ZHANG Yi-shuo;ZHOU Zhong-kui;YANG Shun-jing;LI Rui;LI Long-xiang;LI Jing-yu;FAN Xiao-lei;Heavy metal pollution can lead to changes in ecological structure, function, and physicochemical properties of soil, greatly reduce crop yields, harm ecological environment and human health, and has become one of the major global environmental pollutants in the world.In order to repair soil heavy metal pollution, several soil remediation technologies have been developed.The principles, advantages and disadvantages, applicability and technical feasibility of various remediation technologies were discussed.The combined remediation technologies should be the key research direction of concern for solving soil heavy metal pollution problem in the future.
Status and Development of Gold Extraction from Refractory Gold Ore
SUN Liu-gen;YUAN Chao-xin;WANG Yun;SUN Yan-wen;CHANG Yao-chao;XU Xiao-hui;DU Qi-ping;LIU Yong-tao;Beijing General Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy;Processing mechanism,latest research and application status of refractory gold concentrate by cyanidation and non-cyanidation were briefly introduced.Advantages and disadvantages of each method were analyzed.The development direction of processing refractory gold ore was proposed.
Study on De-Arsenic from Dust of Flash Smelting Furnace
LIANG Yong1,LI Liang-xing1,LIAO Chun-fa1,SHI Yu-chen2(1.School of Material and Chemical Engineering,Jiangxi University of Science & Technology,Ganzhou,Jiangxi 341000,China;2.China Railway Resources Group Co.,Ltd,Beijing 100039,China)The de-arsenic from the dust of copper flash smelting furnace applying the pyrometallurgical method is studied.The effect of temperature,roasting time and coke additive on de-arsenic is investigated using the orthogonal experiment.The results indicate that de-arsenic rate is above 80% and the recovery of copper is above 95% under the conditions of 1 100 ℃ roasting temperature,1 h roasting time and 12% coke additive.
Research Status and Prospect of Vanadium Extraction from Stone Coal in China
ZHANG Yi-min;BAO Shen-xu;LIU Tao;HUANG Jing;CHEN Tie-jun;The research on and latest development of vanadium beneficiation from stone coal,vanadium extraction techniques(including roasting,leaching,treatment of leaching solution)and synthesis utilization of vanadium extraction tailings and wastewater were reviewed.The development of vanadium extraction from stone coal was prospected.
Principles and Technologies for Remediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil
ZHANG Yi-shuo;ZHOU Zhong-kui;YANG Shun-jing;LI Rui;LI Long-xiang;LI Jing-yu;FAN Xiao-lei;Heavy metal pollution can lead to changes in ecological structure, function, and physicochemical properties of soil, greatly reduce crop yields, harm ecological environment and human health, and has become one of the major global environmental pollutants in the world.In order to repair soil heavy metal pollution, several soil remediation technologies have been developed.The principles, advantages and disadvantages, applicability and technical feasibility of various remediation technologies were discussed.The combined remediation technologies should be the key research direction of concern for solving soil heavy metal pollution problem in the future.
Review on Recycling Technology of Retired LiFePO4 Batteries
WANG Meng;ZHANG Jia-liang;CHEN Yong-qiang;WANG Cheng-yan;In recent years, the new energy vehicles and energy storage fields develop rapidly in China.The usage of lithium iron phosphate battery rises sharply.In the future, a large number of retired lithium iron phosphate batteries will be generated, the recycling of which will not only alleviate the problem of lithium resource shortage in China but also reduce the environmental pollution caused by fluorinated electrolyte.The research on recycling of retired lithium iron phosphate batteries in recent years was reviewed, including lithium battery pretreatment, repair technologies for spent lithium iron phosphate cathode material, hydrometallurgical recovery, selective lithium extraction method, and recovery of lithium extraction tailing, etc.The latest research results of each technology were summarized.The advantages and disadvantages of each process were analyzed from the aspects of economics of the process, recovery rate and environmental impact and other aspects.The future development direction of recycling technology of retired lithium iron phosphate batteries was prospected.
Research Progress in Recycling Technology of Cathode Materials for Spent Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries
WU De-you;LIU Zhi-qiang;RAO Shuai;ZHANG Kui-fang;Guangdong Research Institute of Rare Metal;With rapid development of new energy vehicles,a large number of waste batteries will be generated after retirement of LiFePO4 power batteries.It will pollute environment and waste metal resources if they are not disposed of in time.Recycling technology progress of spent LiFePO4 cathode materials in recent years was introduced,including hydrometallurgical recovery of valuable metals,repair and regeneration of spent LiFePO4 and decomposition and resynthesis of LiFePO4,etc.Advantages and disadvantages of different recycling methods were pointed out.Development direction of spent LiFePO4 batteries recycling technology was prospected.
Carbon Emission Accounting Method and Strategy Analysis under the Background of Double Carbon: Taking Copper and Aluminum Industry as an Example
WANG Wei;WU Jing-jing;GE Ya-ping;LI Qi-ke;As a major carbon emitter in the non-ferrous metals industry, its task of carbon reduction and emission reduction is of great significance.On the basis of expounding the methods and steps of carbon emission accounting, combined with copper and aluminum industries, taking copper smelting enterprises A and electrolytic aluminum plants B as examples, the carbon emissions of copper and aluminum enterprises were calculated respectively.The results show that annual carbon emission of copper smelting enterprises A is 162 kt, and annual carbon emission of electrolytic aluminum enterprises B is 4 140.7 kt.Under the dual carbon strategic goal(carbon peak and carbon neutralization),carbon reduction and emission reduction strategies such as new energy industry upgrading and capacity structure transfer in the field of copper and aluminum are put forward.
Development Status and Trend of Flue Gas Desulfuration in China
LIANG Dong-dong;LI Da-jiang;GUO Chi-hao;SUN Liu-gen;CHANG Yao-chao;HUANG Hai-hui;Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy;Application,research development,and principle and characteristics of flue gas desulfurization technology were summarized.New desulfurization technologies already put forward were described.The desulphurization technology development in China was prospected.The development of desulfurization technologies feasible for industrial production in China was put forwarded.
