New green method for gold recovery developed

As Mining.com writes, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a new technique that can safely recover valuable metals contained in electronic waste and low-grade ores using significantly less energy and chemicals than traditional methods. In an article published in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering, scientists point out that gold used in the electronics industry accounts for 8% of the total demand for the metal and that 90% of the gold used in the electronics industry ends up in American landfills each year lands.

To solve this problem, researchers have developed the first precious metal extraction and separation process based entirely on the inherent energy of electrochemical liquid-liquid extraction (e-LLE). The process uses a reduction-oxidation reaction to selectively extract gold and platinum group metal ions from a liquid containing dissolved electronic waste.

An economic analysis of the new approach showed that the cost of the new method is two orders of magnitude lower than current industrial processes.
"The societal value of this work lies in the ability to produce green gold quickly and in a single step, significantly improving transparency and trust in conflict-free recycled precious metals," explained Stephen Cotty, postdoctoral researcher and first author of the paper.

According to the team, among the many advantages of the new process is that it can be operated continuously and sustainably and is extremely selective in the recovery of precious metals. "We can extract gold and platinum group metals from the stream, but also separate other metals such as silver, nickel, copper and other less valuable metals to significantly increase the purity, which is difficult to do with other methods," said Su.
The researchers also noted that they are working on perfecting this method by improving the technical design and selection of solvents.

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