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Volume 13
Issue 24
10.3390/su132414000
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Article

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

by
Giuseppina Balassone
1,2,*,
Carla Manfredi
3,
Ermanno Vasca
4,*,
Mariacristina Bianco
4,
Maria Boni
1,5,
Aldo Di Nunzio
3,
Francesco Lombardo
3,
Rosaria Mozzillo
3,
Antonio Marino
6,
Angela Mormone
2,
Guido Mura
6,
Marco Trifuoggi
3 and
Nicola Mondillo
1,5
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e delle Risorse, Federico II University, 80126 Naples, Italy
2
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, 80124 Naples, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Chimica “P. Corradini”, Federico II Università, 80126 Naples, Italy
4
Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia “A. Zambelli”, Università degli studi di Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
5
Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
6
Miniera di Silius, Genna Tres Montis, Silius, 09040 Cagliari, Italy
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 14000; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414000
Submission received: 12 November 2021 / Revised: 9 December 2021 / Accepted: 13 December 2021 / Published: 18 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Manufacturing Based on Sustainability Goals and Circular Economy)
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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% K2CO3 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 CO2 produced as K2CO3 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 REE extraction; waste materials recycling; alkaline leaching; Silius mine; Sardinia (Italy); circular economy

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MDPI and ACS Style

Balassone, G.; Manfredi, C.; Vasca, E.; Bianco, M.; Boni, M.; Di Nunzio, A.; Lombardo, F.; Mozzillo, R.; Marino, A.; Mormone, A.; et al. Recycling REEs from the Waste Products of Silius Mine (SE Sardinia, Italy): A Preliminary Study. Sustainability 2021, 13, 14000. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414000

AMA Style

Balassone G, Manfredi C, Vasca E, Bianco M, Boni M, Di Nunzio A, Lombardo F, Mozzillo R, Marino A, Mormone A, et al. Recycling REEs from the Waste Products of Silius Mine (SE Sardinia, Italy): A Preliminary Study. Sustainability. 2021; 13(24):14000. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414000

Chicago/Turabian Style

Balassone, Giuseppina, Carla Manfredi, Ermanno Vasca, Mariacristina Bianco, Maria Boni, Aldo Di Nunzio, Francesco Lombardo, Rosaria Mozzillo, Antonio Marino, Angela Mormone, and et al. 2021. "Recycling REEs from the Waste Products of Silius Mine (SE Sardinia, Italy): A Preliminary Study" Sustainability 13, no. 24: 14000. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414000

APA Style

Balassone, G., Manfredi, C., Vasca, E., Bianco, M., Boni, M., Di Nunzio, A., Lombardo, F., Mozzillo, R., Marino, A., Mormone, A., Mura, G., Trifuoggi, M., & Mondillo, N. (2021). Recycling REEs from the Waste Products of Silius Mine (SE Sardinia, Italy): A Preliminary Study. Sustainability, 13(24), 14000. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414000

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