The invention includes a method for treating a spent catalyst containing at least one refractory mineral oxide, one or more metals in the form of sulfide(s) chosen from the following metals: molybdenum, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, vanadium, and carbon compounds, the method comprising: a) in a smelting furnace preparing a melt of cast iron with a layer of slag; b) introducing into the furnace said spent catalyst and placing it in contact with the slag and the melt of cast iron, while maintaining the furnace in rotation and while injecting an oxidizing gas containing oxygen, above the mixture, to cause the combustion of the carbon and/or sulfur compounds; c) extracting from the furnace by sequential castings the slag formed in step b) to recover a cast iron melt enriched with metal or metals, and recover a slag containing the components of the catalyst other than metals, with the exception of vanadium.

A hydrometallurgical method for simultaneously extracting zinc, lead, silver, iron and calcium from electric arc furnace dust (hazardous waste) produced by the steelmaking industry (steelworks), in the form of industrial products: zinc as zinc sulphate or zinc cathodes; lead and silver as a concentrate of lead and silver; iron as reduced elemental iron for return to the electric arc furnace; and, lastly, calcium as gypsum, without solid waste or liquid effluents being generated relates to the chemical nature of the electric arc furnace dust (complex oxides) changes to a sulfide complex, and eliminating the hazards associated with the generation of fugitive heavy-metal salts. In addition, the hydrometallurgical problem of low recovery of zinc and iron is solved. Consequently, hydrometallurgy is made easier and more environmentally friendly, as condensed water is used as a leachate, the condensed water being continuously regenerated by vacuum evaporation systems without generating effluents.

Adducts, superstructures, and crystalline compositions prepared from a metal halide anion non-covalently bound to the outer surface of a macrocycle and methods for gold recovery are disclosed.

A method for recovering an active metal of a lithium secondary battery according to exemplary embodiments comprises preparing a preliminary cathode active material mixture including a lithium composite oxide and a binder, forming a cathode active material mixture by removing the binder from the preliminary cathode active material mixture through a heat treatment in a fluidized bed reactor, and recovering a lithium precursor from the cathode active material mixture. Accordingly, the active metal of the lithium secondary battery can be recovered with high purity and high efficiency.

A method for heat-treating battery waste containing lithium includes: allowing an atmospheric gas containing oxygen and at least one selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor to flow in a heat treatment furnace in which the battery waste is arranged, and heating the battery waste while adjusting an oxygen partial pressure in the furnace.

A physical and chemical method is provided for de-mixing (e.g. extracting, separating, purifying and/or enriching) the metal constituents of an alloy or mixed material into different droplet or solid particle products that are highly enriched in the respective phases of the metal. The method involves for instance but is not limited to, shearing, separating and segregating metallic droplets and particles in a carrier fluid to form other droplets or particles that are each separately highly enriched in one of some, if not of all, of the constituent phases of the alloy or mixed material.

Materials and methods for precious metal recovery are disclosed. Usable leaching solutions are preferably aqueous based and include appropriate materials in sufficient quantities to solubilize and stabilize precious metal. Such materials typically include oxidant material. Some or all of the oxidant material can be, in some instances, generated in-situ. The leaching solution is typically contacted with a substrate having a target precious metal, thereby solubilizing precious metal to form a stable, pregnant solution. The precious metal can then be recovered from the pregnant solution. In some instances, components of the leaching solution can be regenerated and reused in subsequent leaching.

The present application is generally directed to separation and recovery of rare earths using biomass, liposomes, and/or other materials. In some embodiments, a composition comprising rare earths is exposed to biomass, where some of the rare earths are transferred to the biomass, e.g., via absorption. The composition may then be separated from the biomass. A solution may be exposed to the biomass thereby enriching the solution in one or more rare earths, relative to other rare earths in the biomass. The solution and the biomass may then be separated, and the rare earths recovered from the solution. In some cases, this process may be repeated with different solutions, which may result in different solutions enriched in various rare earths. Similar processes may be used to separate the rare earths from thorium and uranium. Liposomes may be used instead of and/or in addition to biomass.

Disclosed is a method and a device for retrieving, from an object A, elements G present in a matrix M, the method including at least the following steps: bringing said abject A into contact with a dense fluid Fd with a molar mass greater than 2 g mol.sup.−1 under temperature T.sub.1 and pressure P.sub.1 conditions suitable for transforming the intergranular phase and for releasing the elements G, modifying the temperature T.sub.2 and/or pressure P.sub.2 values to stop the reaction transforming the intergranular phase, and recovering the elements G separated front the matrix M.

A method for recovering metal values from a molten slag composition includes atomizing the slag with an oxygen-containing gas in a gas atomization apparatus, to produce solid slag granules. Oxygen in the atomizing gas converts metals to magnetic metal compounds, thereby magnetizing the metal-containing slag granules. These metal-containing slag granules are then magnetically separated. Larger amounts of metals may be removed by passing the molten slag through a pre-settling pan with an adjustable base, and/or discontinuing atomization where the metal content of the slag exceeds a predetermined amount. Solid slag granules produced by atomization may be charged to a recovery unit for recovery of one or more metal by-products. An apparatus for recovering metal values from molten slag includes a gas atomization apparatus, a flow control device for controlling the flow of atomizing gas, a control system, and one or more sensors to detect metal values in the slag.