The role of microscopy in the Circular Economy

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The role of

Microscopy

in a

Circular Economy

Prof. Dr. Ir. Eric Pirard

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Zeiss – Day of Microscopy, May 16th ₂₀₁₈

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Z e is s – D a y o f M ic ro sc o p y , M a y 1 6 th 2 0 1 8

Resource

… Extraction

T A K E

Lifetime

months

Product

M A K E

Waste

End-of-Life…

DISPOSE

BIC Generation

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TAKE

MAKE

R³CYCLE

NEXT Generation

GEO-RESOURCES Exploration/Evaluation GEO-RESOURCES Exploration/Evaluation Mines EXTRACTION & CONCENTRATION Fragmentation/Sorting EXTRACTION & CONCENTRATION Fragmentation/Sorting Urban Mines ECO-RESOURCES Collection/Storage ECO-RESOURCES Collection/Storage PRODUCTION Materials/Design PRODUCTION Materials/Design

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Future products will not only be optimized with regard to their

functionality

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I

II

III

IV

I. FEED

II. OPTIMIZE

III. SLOW DOWN

IV. CLOSE

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More Metals for e-Mobility

• _{Perspective 2030*}

o Based on 30% market share of new cars

o Based on Li-ion MNC Battery Technology • _{NMC : Li (Ni}

0,5Mn0,2Co0,3)O2

* Glencore, 2017

Co

+ 400%

Ni

+ 56%

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In

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A sa re l M e d e t (B G )

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In search for Copper

• _{Increasingly difficult}

o Lower grades (< 0,1% Cu) o More disseminated

o More complex mineralogy

Rio Tinto @ Escondida (CL)

1 Mt/day

0,4 % Cu

Cu

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_•

Multispectral Reflected Light Microscopy

o AMCO - Automated Mineral Characterization of Ores

In search for Copper

UPM Politecnica de Madrid Université de Liège TSL Labs First Quantum (CLC) KGHM

True colour reflected light microscopy of a copper ore (Neves Corvo, PT)

50µm

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In search for Copper

• _{Web-based Platform}

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In search for Copper

• _{High Speed EDX Mapping}

o ZEISS Mineralogic (Sigma300 FEG SEM – 2 x 30mm² Brüker EDX)

Cu S

Fe

Sn O

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In search for Copper

• _{Towards Automated Mineralogy}

o Mineral Species Identification Protocol

• _{From simple thresholds to multivariate classifications}

Mixels

Berrier et al. 1997; Rasband and Bright 1995;

Tinkham and Ghent 2005; Tovey and Krinsley 1991; Tovey et al. 1992a

Chrysocolla

(

Cu

,Al)

₂

H

₂

Si

₂

O

₅

(OH)

₄

.nH

₂

O

Malachite

Cu

₂

(CO

3

)(OH)

2

Cuprite

Cu

₂

O

Tenorite

Cu

O

Chalcopyrite

Cu

FeS

₂

Bornite

Cu

₅

FeS

₄

Chalcocite

Cu

₂

S

Covellite

Cu

S

Enargite

Cu

₃

AsS

4

Tennantite

Cu

₆

[

Cu

₄

(Fe,Zn)

₂

]As

₄

S

₁₃

Chrysocolla

(

Cu

,Al)

₂

H

₂

Si

₂

O

₅

(OH)

₄

.nH

₂

O

Malachite

Cu

₂

(CO

3

)(OH)

2

Cuprite

Cu

₂

O

Tenorite

Cu

O

Chalcopyrite

Cu

FeS

₂

Bornite

Cu

₅

FeS

₄

Chalcocite

Cu

₂

S

Covellite

Cu

S

Enargite

Cu

₃

AsS

4

Tennantite

Cu

₆

[

Cu

₄

(Fe,Zn)

₂

]As

₄

S

₁₃

Image of a pyrite-pyrrhotite intergrowth with a grid of 96 EDX probes

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In search for Copper

• _{Prognostic Mineralogy}

o Quantitative Analysis • _{Modal mineralogy} • _{Porosity and fractures} • _{Crystal / Grain size} • _{Grain shape}

• _{Mineral connexity}

• _{Process Oriented Indices}

PROCESS ORIENTED MINERALOGICAL MAPPING

PROGNOSTIC MINERALOGY

Chalcopyrite

Stannite

Sphalerite

Pyrite

Quartz

Al-Si

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In search for Cobalt

• _{DR Congo 53 % world production}

o > 50 % world reserves

• _{Alternative resources ?}

o Laterites

o Polymetallic Nodules

• _{Renewed exploration (GSR 2017)}

World mine production of cobalt (USGS)

Co

(GSR (BE) Patania, 2017

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In search for Cobalt

• _{Understanding poor recoveries during leaching of Co ores from DR Congo}

o Heterogenite HCoO

2

o Co in Fe-Mn oxides, clay minerals, etc.

Santoro et al., 2018, Mineralogical reconciliation of cobalt recovery from the acid leaching of oxide ores from five

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Efficient processing of critical metals

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Particle Tracking

• _{Microscopical Monitoring of plant performance}

o Metal Deportment o Material Balance o Liberation

25 Mt/yr ►

200 µm Recleaner Concentrate 75-150µm fraction

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Particle Tracking

• _{Quantitative Microscopy}

o Predictive Indices    × = i i i i V L N S θ θ θ _αβ αβ) 2 ( ) ( Breakability  × = θ θ _α π α ( ,0) 2 ) 0 , ( i i N d B Floatability Abrasivity Leachability

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Recovering Critical Metals from Waste

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Urban Mining

Cu

Au

Co

Li

• _{Metal grades}

o Better than laterite ?

O 35 % Si 21 % Al 11 % Fe 6 % Ni 1,2 % Ga 27 ppm Pb 15 ppm Smartphone with Battery Polymers 19,2 % Glass 19,4 % Cu 10,7 % Co 8,4 % Ni 1,2 % Li 0,8 % Nd 1935 ppm Ag 868 ppm Au 95 ppm

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Urban Mining

• _{Metal tonnages}

o Competing with a mine?

1,01 g/t

15 Mt/an

Eldoradogold @ Kisladag (TK)

109 _{cellphones (!) needed to equal one year production of a standard gold mine}

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Urban Mining

• _{Waste Electric Electronic Equipments (WEEE)}

o ~= 10 kg/pers.yr

• _{GB White Goods} • _{RS Fridges}

• _{LMP Discharge Lamps} • _{TVM Screens}

• _{AUT Small Devices, Computers, Cellphones,…} • _{DF Smoke Detectors}

• _{Batteries (BAT)}

o ~= 1kg/pers.yr

• _{End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV)}

o ~= 15 kg/pers.yr

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Urban Mining

• _{Shredding and dismantling}

o Real size testing of a specific car model!

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Urban Mining

• _{Developing Smart Sorting Technologies}

o PICK IT ® - Multisensor Smart Sorting

• _{3D imaging} • _XRT

• _LIBS

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In search for metals in urban mines

• _{General knowledge}

o Main components and metal uses

Battery

Printed Circuit Board Assembly

Cu, Ag, Au, Nd, Ga, Dy, Ta, W, Ti, Cr, Nb, Sb, Zn, Ni

Screen

In, Sn, REE

Casing

Al, Mg, Ni, Plastics…

Speakers

Nd, Dy

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In search for metals in urban mines

• _{Unknown specific « mineralogy »}

o Unexpected alloys and material assemblages

ZEISS AxioImager M2m (obj. 5x)

10 x 45 images stitched with ZEN 2 core

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In search for metals in urban mines

• _{Unknown specific « mineralogy »}

Ta

_Ta

Au

Mo

Cu

Ni

Sn

W

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In search for metals in urban mines

• _{Unknown specific « mineralogy »}

Au

Si-Sn

Pb

Fe-Ni-Co

Mo

Ag

Sn

Al-Sr-Si-O

Ag

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C

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s!

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The ultimate microscopy technique

• _{Ultrafast sample preparation and scanning}

o Going down from several hours to a few minutes

• _{3D particle imaging and tracking}

o Full 3D geometry and composition of particles

• _{Fully automated identification of minerals / phases}

o Extensive training sets

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