GEO-CM: Biogeochemical Processes Affecting Critical Mineral Hosts in Mine Tailings and Weathered Ore Zones

GEO-CM：影响尾矿和风化矿带中关键矿物的生物地球化学过程

• 批准号: 2327617
• 负责人: Jeffrey Catalano
• 金额: $ 35万
• 依托单位: Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-09-01 至 2027-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2327617&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GEO; CM; Biogeochemical; Processes; Affecting

New domestic resources of critical minerals are needed to support a sustainable economy. Rare earth elements are necessary for magnets in electric motors and wind turbines while platinum group elements are essential for catalytic converters on vehicles and for advanced chemical processing, but both resources are primarily obtained from foreign sources. Mine waste rocks represent promising hosts for rare earth elements, enabling reuse of materials already removed from the ground. Similarly, zones of ore rocks exposed at Earth’s surface and materials washed into nearby streams represent potential new sources of platinum group elements. The availability of critical minerals in these resource types, and the ability to extract them, are uncertain because these materials have been weathered by the action of sun, wind, and rain. This project will investigate how weathering affects critical minerals in mine wastes and exposed ore zones at three different locations in the United States. The new insight gained will improve the economic competitiveness of the U.S. and enhance national security by evaluating new domestic critical mineral resources through collaboration with industry and government partners. The project will also aid in the development of a domestic scientific workforce by training graduate and undergraduate students in critical minerals, an area of urgent national need. Further, it will encourage high school students from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in science.The primary research focus of the project is the characterization of materials from distinct critical mineral resources at Earth’s surface. Study of waste materials from the Pea Ridge mine in Missouri will determine how rare earth elements mobilize and redistribute during weathering of iron oxide-apatite tailings, including from acid generated by sulfide mineral oxidation. At the Mountain Pass mine in California, investigation of tailings will show how these same elements transform during weathering of carbonatite ore waste materials. Evaluation of weathered ore zones in the Stillwater Complex in Montana will assess how platinum group elements transform and potentially accumulate in iron oxide minerals. The project will employ advanced microanalytical characterization tools as well as X-ray techniques at synchrotron lightsources to characterize the critical mineral occurrences in these mine tailings and weathered ore zones. This research will improve our understanding of the formation of novel, domestic critical mineral resources and support increased sustainability of resource extraction in the United States.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

需要新的国内关键矿物资源来支持可持续经济，稀土元素是电动机和风力涡轮机中的磁体所必需的，而铂族元素则是车辆催化转换器和先进化学加工所必需的，但这两种资源都是主要获得的。矿山废石是稀土元素的有希望的宿主，可以重新利用已经从地下开采的材料，同样，暴露在地球表面的矿石区域和冲入附近溪流的材料也代表了铂族元素的潜在新来源。这些资源类型中关键矿物的可用性以及提取它们的能力是不确定的，因为这些材料已经受到阳光、风和雨水的作用而风化。该项目将研究风化如何影响矿山废物和暴露的关键矿物。通过与行业和政府合作伙伴合作评估新的国内关键矿产资源，获得的新见解将提高美国的经济竞争力并增强国家安全。通过培训毕业生培养国内科学劳动力此外，它将鼓励来自不同背景的高中生从事科学事业。该项目的主要研究重点是来自不同关键矿物资源的材料的表征。对密苏里州豌豆岭矿的废料的研究将确定稀土元素在氧化铁磷灰石尾矿（包括加利福尼亚州帕斯山矿氧化产生的酸）的风化过程中如何流动和重新分布。对尾矿的调查将显示这些相同元素在碳酸岩矿石废料风化过程中如何变化。对蒙大拿州斯蒂尔沃特综合体风化矿石区的评估将评估铂族元素如何变化以及在氧化铁矿物中的潜在积累。这项研究将提高我们对新型国内关键矿物形成的认识。资源并支持提高美国资源开采的可持续性。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。