Electrokinetic Mining

About Electrokinetic Mining: 

• It is a novel technique which uses Electrokinetic i.e the application of a direct or alternating electric field to accelerate the migration of movable species, such as metals, water, and particles.
• Issue with present technique:
  • Currently, heavy rare earth elements (HREE) are dominantly mined from ion-adsorption rare earth deposits (IADs) discovered in South China, and the regional mining produces and supports 95% of the global demand of HREEs.
  • However, the conventional mining applies excessive usage of ammonium-salt-based leaching agents to recover HREEs from IADs, such technique exhibits low efficiency and devastating environmental impact on the local eco-system. 
• Advantages of Electrokinetic Mining
  • It reduces leaching agent usage by 80%, and energy consumption by 60%.
  • High recovery rate: Its recovery rate exceeds 95% which marks a breakthrough in sustainable mining.
  • It can simultaneously help reduce the environmental impacts and improve the recovery rate of REEs.

Q1: What is electrolysis mining?

Electrolysis uses a direct electric current to create a chemical reaction. This process is used to produce pure copper metal in the final stage of copper extraction from ores after being removed from the ground.

Source: STD

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