118216 20230914083710.0 doi 10.3390/geosciences12050214 sideral 129613 ART-2022-129613 eng Magdalena, R. (orcid)0000-0002-7115-5902 The Energy Cost of Extracting Critical Raw Materials from Tailings: The Case of Coltan 2022 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Niobium and tantalum are mainly produced from columbite–tantalite ores, and 60% of their production is nowadays located in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The concentration of supply, the scarcity, the wide range of use in all electronic devices, and the expected future demand boosted by the clean and digital transition means that Nb and Ta have high supply risks. In this context, extraction from rich Ta and Nb tailings from abandoned mines could partly offset such risks. This study analyzes the energy cost that the reprocessing of both elements from tailings would have. To that end, we simulate with HSC Chemistry software the different processes needed to beneficiate and refine both metals from zinc tailings as a function of Nb and Ta concentration. At current energy and metal prices, tantalum recovery from rich Ta-Nb tailings would be cost-effective if ore-handling costs were allocated to a paying metal. By way of contrast, niobium recovery would not be favored unless market prices increase. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2020-116851RB-I00 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ 0.66 2022 Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) 2022 Q2 5.2 2022 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Calvo Sevillano, G. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-9263-7321 Valero Delgado, A. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-3330-1793 4013 205 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Didácticas Específicas Área Didáctica Ciencias Exper. 5004 590 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ingeniería Mecánica Área Máquinas y Motores Térmi. 12, 5 (2022), 214 [15 pp] Geosciences (Basel) Geosciences (Switzerland) 2076-3263 3618213 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/118216/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2667718 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/118216/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:118216 articulos driver 2023-09-13-14:34:19 ARTICLE