127742 20231006132949.0 doi 10.3390/min11101123 sideral 127020 ART-2021-127020 eng Magdalena R. (orcid)0000-0002-7115-5902 Simulation to recover niobium and tantalum from the tin slags of the old penouta mine: A case study 2021 Demand for niobium and tantalum is increasing exponentially as these are essential ingre-dients for the manufacture of, among others, capacitors in technological devices and ferroniobium. Mine tailings rich in such elements could constitute an important source of Nb and Ta in the future and alleviate potential supply risks. This paper evaluates the possibility of recovering niobium and tantalum from the slags generated during the tin beneficiation process of mine tailings from the old Penouta mine, located in Spain. To do so, a simulation of the processes required to bene-ficiate and refine both elements is carried out. After carbothermic tin reduction, the slags are sent to a hydrometallurgical process where niobium oxide and tantalum oxide are obtained at the end. Reagents, water, and energy consumption, in addition to emissions, effluents, and product yields, are assessed. Certain factors were identified as critical, and recirculation was encouraged in the model to maximise production and minimise reagents’ use and wastes. With this simulation, considering 3000 production hours per year, the metal output from the tailings of the old mine could cover around 1% and 7.4% of the world annual Nb and Ta demand, respectively. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2020-116851RB-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/RTC-2017-6629-5 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ 2.818 2021 GEOCHEMISTRY & GEOPHYSICS 42 / 87 = 0.483 2021 Q2 T2 MINING & MINERAL PROCESSING 8 / 20 = 0.4 2021 Q2 T2 MINERALOGY 11 / 30 = 0.367 2021 Q2 T2 0.522 2021 Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology 2021 Q2 Geology 2021 Q2 3.7 2021 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Valero A. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-3330-1793 Calvo G. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-9263-7321 Alguacil F.J. López F.A. 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. 11, 10 (2021), 1123 [12 pp] Minerals (Basel) Minerals 2075-163X 1795147 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/127742/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2706258 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/127742/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:127742 articulos driver 2023-10-06-12:36:05 ARTICLE