This invention relates to a process for obtaining lead (Pb) and/or tin (Sn) from a lead- and/or tin-based material using a deep eutectic solvent.

Disclosed herein is a method for extracting precious metals from supported catalysts. The precious metal in one embodiment is rhodium. The supported catalyst may be from equipment, such as a used catalytic converter. The method is carried out at low temperature, and does not require harsh conditions, such as the use of a strong acid. The method involves contacting the catalytic material with a polar molecule and a reactive gas.

Compositions and methods for treating waste water produced by copper mining operations are described herein. Slag from steel making operations and other industrial waste materials that include alkali metal and/or alkaline earth elements have been found to both raise pH of the waste water and also reduce arsenic content. Following such treatment the spent slag or industrial waste can be utilized as a source of valuable metals or incorporated into stabilized building materials.

A method for producing metal zinc by liquid/liquid extraction, comprising leaching of a zinc-bearing solid raw material containing antimony with a slightly acid aqueous solution, at a pH value maintained above 3 and less than or equal to 5, with formation of a suspension, drawing-off from the suspension of an aqueous phase containing zinc in solution to be subject to the extraction, additional leaching of the remaining suspension with an acid aqueous solution, at a pH value maintained below 3.5 and greater than or equal to 1, with formation of a pulp, introduction of a neutralizing agent in this pulp with coprecipitation of antimony and other impurities and separation from this neutralized pulp of a zinc-bearing aqueous solution which is recycled to the step for leaching the zinc-bearing solid raw material.

Cathode material from exhausted lithium ion batteries are dissolved in a solution for extracting the useful elements Co (cobalt), Ni (nickel), Al (Aluminum) and Mn (manganese) to produce active cathode materials for new batteries. The solution includes compounds of desirable materials such as cobalt, nickel, aluminum and manganese dissolved as compounds from the exhausted cathode material of spent cells. Depending on a desired proportion, or ratio, of the desired materials, raw materials are added to the solution to achieve the desired ratio of the commingled compounds for the recycled cathode material for new cells. The desired materials precipitate out of solution without extensive heating or separation of the desired materials into individual compounds or elements. The resulting active cathode material has the predetermined ratio for use in new cells, and avoids high heat typically required to separate the useful elements because the desired materials remain commingled in solution.

A defective engine block recycling method in a continuous casting line includes inserting a bore pin into an engine block mold, fitting a real liner to an outer circumferential surface of the bore pin, and injecting molten aluminum into the engine block mold to cast an engine block body. If an abnormality is generated in the engine block mold or the molten aluminum and if a defect is expected to generate in the engine block body, a defective engine block unit is produced by fitting a dummy liner, which is made of a material identical with or similar to a material of the engine block body, to the bore pin. The defective engine block unit thus produced is directly melted and recycled.

The invention concerns a process for the separation of cobalt from lithium present in a charge comprising lithium-ion batteries or related products, comprising the steps of: smelting the charge using a bath furnace equipped with a submerged air-fed plasma torch for injecting plasma gas into the melt; defining and maintaining a bath redox potential where cobalt is reduced to the metallic state and reporting to an alloy phase, and whereby lithium is oxidized as Li.sub.2O and reporting to the slag phase; decanting and separating the phases. It is characterized in that the reduction and oxidizing steps are performed simultaneously. A suitably low cobalt concentration is obtained in the slag.

This invention relates to the field of recycling non-ferrous metals (for example, aluminium and alloys thereof, magnesium and zinc). The claimed device comprises: a frame with a dross compression head; an ingot mold for collecting metal compressed from the dross; a dross pot mounted on said ingot mold; at least one through opening with a connection means for supplying a vacuum, said opening being situated in the bottom part of the dross pot and/or in the ingot mold; and a seal, situated in the gap between the dross pot and the ingot mold; furthermore, one or several through drainage openings are provided in the bottom part of the dross pot. The device may comprise a seal between the dross compression head and the dross pot. The head may be provided with one or several ribs. The dross pot may be provided with one or several ribs. The head may be hollow and provided with two or more air-cooling connecting pipes. The device may comprise a cover, sealingly mounted on a rod of a hydraulic cylinder of a device for compressing hot dross such as to be capable of sliding along the rod, said cover sealingly conforming to the edges of the dross pot. The device may comprise a cover, sealingly mounted on a rod of a hydraulic cylinder of a dross press such as to be capable of sliding along the rod with the aid of pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders (1 to 4 in total), said cover sealingly conforming to the edges of the dross pot. The device may comprise a cover, sealingly mounted on a rod of a hydraulic cylinder of a dross press such as to be capable of sliding along the rod, said cover sealingly conforming to the edges of the dross pot, and at least one through opening with a connection means for supplying an inert gas. The device may comprise one or several dross pot vibrators and/or head vibrators, or magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pumps, for moving the metal toward the one or several drainage openings in the bottom part of the dross pot. The claimed method for recovering a non-ferrous metal from hot dross, preferably aluminium, aluminium alloy, magnesium or zinc dross, comprises the following steps/operations: (a) removing dross to the dross pot of the above-mentioned device; (b) collecting a non-ferrous metal, which is drained through at least one through opening in the bottom part of the dross pot; (c) mechanically compressing the dross by the application of force to the dross between a compression head and the dross pot in order to recover a non-ferrous metal from the dross, enable the migration of the non-ferrous metal in the direction of the surface boundary of the compressed dross, the formation of an outer layer of non-ferrous metal, which encapsulates an inner oxide

A recycling process that facilitates separation of materials from metallic substrates by cryogenically cooling the recyclable items to induce embrittlement of the metals. Embrittled metals may be shattered more efficiently and with a higher yield of materials bound to the metallic substrates. Metal embrittlement may be induced by mixing the source stream with liquid nitrogen, and cooling the stream to approximately minus 200° F. Multiple recovery stages may be employed to maximize the yield of the target materials. Embodiments may enable recovery of platinum group metals (PGMs) from catalytic converters with metallic foil substrates. Yield of PGMs may be enhanced by employing a primary recovery stage and a secondary recovery stage, by cryogenically cooling input materials for each stage, by mixing the pulverized material in secondary recovery with an aqueous solution to dissipate attractive charges, and by wet screening the pulverized material slurry to obtain the PGM particles.

The invention relates to a process for producing a lithium-containing solution from a lithium-containing raw-material solution, by: a) precipitating a first part of magnesium and calcium from the lithium-containing raw-material solution, b) extracting a second part of calcium and magnesium from the lithium-containing solution by liquid-liquid extraction, a resultant product being a lithium-containing solution. The invention also relates to equipment for producing a lithium-containing solution from a lithium-containing raw-material solution, including a precipitation unit to remove a first part of magnesium and calcium and an extraction unit to receive the lithium-containing raw-material solution and to remove therefrom a second part of calcium and magnesium by liquid-liquid extraction, and control unit to control the operation of the precipitation unit.