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Sarah Jane White, USGS, will present "The Biogeochemistry of Indium and Germanium in Mine Wastes – Implications for Environmental Mobility and Recovery of Critical Minerals."
Sarah Jane White, USGS, will present "The Biogeochemistry of Indium and Germanium in Mine Wastes – Implications for Environmental Mobility and Recovery of Critical Minerals."
Abstract: Critical minerals are those deemed essential to economic and national security, whose supply chain is vulnerable to disruption. A major recent focus of the US Geological Survey (USGS) has been to understand how to ensure a reliable domestic supply of critical minerals in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. This includes identifying new sources of critical minerals (including mine wastes) and determining the behavior of critical minerals during ore formation, processing, and in the environment. In this talk I will describe our studies of the life cycles of two critical minerals – indium and germanium – both of which are produced as a byproduct of zinc recovery. Our research has helped to elucidate indium’s main sources to the atmosphere, aqueous sources from mining processes, and precipitation/sorption dynamics. Our studies of germanium’s concentrations, mineral hosts, and speciation in solid mine wastes has shown that redistribution of Ge to secondary mineral phases during weathering can impact mobility, bioavailability, and potential targets for Ge recovery.
The event will take place on Zoom and in person. Zoom password: 240896.
Contact: grande@eps.harvard.edu