Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements

Abstract Scandium is a critical raw material that is essential for the EU economy because of its potential application in enabling technologies such as fuel cells and lightweight materials. As there is currently no secure supply of Sc, several projects worldwide evaluate potential Sc sources. While...

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Autores principales:	Franziska Klimpel, Michael Bau, Torsten Graupner
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/81f12fc503dd4200b464eb238c890684
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:81f12fc503dd4200b464eb238c8906842021-12-02T15:54:10ZPotential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements10.1038/s41598-021-84614-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/81f12fc503dd4200b464eb238c8906842021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84614-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Scandium is a critical raw material that is essential for the EU economy because of its potential application in enabling technologies such as fuel cells and lightweight materials. As there is currently no secure supply of Sc, several projects worldwide evaluate potential Sc sources. While elsewhere in Europe emphasis is placed upon secondary resources such as red mud, we investigated the potential of industrial garnet sand and its waste products. Since Sc readily substitutes for Mg and Fe in the crystal lattice of garnet, the garnet minerals almandine and pyrope, in particular, may show high Sc concentrations. Garnet sand, after being used as an abrasive in the cutting and sandblasting industry, is recycled several times before it is finally considered waste which eventually must be disposed of. Extraction of Sc (and rare earth elements, REE) from such garnet sand may generate added value and thereby reduce disposal cost. The studied garnet sands from different mines in Australia, India and the U.S., and industrial garnet sands commercially available in Germany from different suppliers show average Sc concentrations of 93.7 mg/kg and 90.7 mg/kg, respectively, i.e. similar to red mud. Our data also show that “fresh” and recycled garnet sands yield similar Sc concentrations. Within the framework of a minimum-waste approach, it may be feasible to utilize the industrial waste-product “garnet sand” as an unconventional source of Sc and REE, that reduces disposal cost.Franziska KlimpelMichael BauTorsten GraupnerNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Franziska Klimpel Michael Bau Torsten Graupner Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements
description	Abstract Scandium is a critical raw material that is essential for the EU economy because of its potential application in enabling technologies such as fuel cells and lightweight materials. As there is currently no secure supply of Sc, several projects worldwide evaluate potential Sc sources. While elsewhere in Europe emphasis is placed upon secondary resources such as red mud, we investigated the potential of industrial garnet sand and its waste products. Since Sc readily substitutes for Mg and Fe in the crystal lattice of garnet, the garnet minerals almandine and pyrope, in particular, may show high Sc concentrations. Garnet sand, after being used as an abrasive in the cutting and sandblasting industry, is recycled several times before it is finally considered waste which eventually must be disposed of. Extraction of Sc (and rare earth elements, REE) from such garnet sand may generate added value and thereby reduce disposal cost. The studied garnet sands from different mines in Australia, India and the U.S., and industrial garnet sands commercially available in Germany from different suppliers show average Sc concentrations of 93.7 mg/kg and 90.7 mg/kg, respectively, i.e. similar to red mud. Our data also show that “fresh” and recycled garnet sands yield similar Sc concentrations. Within the framework of a minimum-waste approach, it may be feasible to utilize the industrial waste-product “garnet sand” as an unconventional source of Sc and REE, that reduces disposal cost.
format	article
author	Franziska Klimpel Michael Bau Torsten Graupner
author_facet	Franziska Klimpel Michael Bau Torsten Graupner
author_sort	Franziska Klimpel
title	Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements
title_short	Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements
title_full	Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements
title_fullStr	Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements
title_full_unstemmed	Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements
title_sort	potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/81f12fc503dd4200b464eb238c890684
work_keys_str_mv	AT franziskaklimpel potentialofgarnetsandasanunconventionalresourceofthecriticalhightechnologymetalsscandiumandrareearthelements AT michaelbau potentialofgarnetsandasanunconventionalresourceofthecriticalhightechnologymetalsscandiumandrareearthelements AT torstengraupner potentialofgarnetsandasanunconventionalresourceofthecriticalhightechnologymetalsscandiumandrareearthelements
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Potential of garnet sand as an unconventional resource of the critical high-technology metals scandium and rare earth elements

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