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Resource and production technologies for scandium
Published in Natalia Yakovleva, Edmund Nickless, Routledge Handbook of the Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development, 2022
Table 15.2 shows the discovered scandium-containing minerals, their year of discovery, and their Sc2O3 contents (Mellini et al., 1982; Bianchi et al., 1988; Bernhard, 1998; Orlandi, 1998; Gramaccioli et al., 2000; Anthony et al., 2001; Raade et al., 2002). The major minerals containing scandium are “Thortveitite” which is found in Norway, Madagascar, and Mozambique, and “Kolbeckite” which is found in Utah, USA. Recently, some scandium-containing minerals have been discovered, but they are not allocated to commercial smelting because these minerals are rare and their production volumes are significantly small.
Subduction erosion: contributions of footwall and hanging wall to serpentinite mélange; field, geochemical and radiochronological evidence from the Eocene HP-LT belt of New Caledonia
Published in Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2021
The occurrence of low-temperature mineral exsolution (thortveitite, yttrialite and xenotime) at the boundary of the inherited magmatic core and the metamorphic zircon rims of some eclogites (sample #3007) allowed Spandler, Hermann, and Rubatto (2004) to suggest the occurrence of seafloor alteration before eclogite-facies metamorphism and thus a PTB protolith, i.e. originated from the lower plate of the subduction system. However, magmatic zircons cores at 55 Ma (Spandler, Hermann, Arculus, et al., 2004) younger than PTB and, above all, unusual whole-rock composition compared with PTB (MORB-type oceanic crust of the lower plate), i.e. negative Nb–Ta anomalies (Figure 7f), slightly U-shaped REE patterns and a prominent positive Eu anomaly (Figure 10) suggest a different interpretation. Supra-subduction dykes with a similar REE pattern and positive Eu anomaly are not unusual in the Peridotite Nappe; they have been emplaced at ca 55–53 Ma (Figure 10) and were interpreted as slab melts derived from gabbro cumulates (Cluzel et al., 2006). These dykes may display evidence of (hydrothermal) alteration (see above), which could account for the low-temperature alteration of magmatic zircon cores. Thus, at variance with the interpretation of Spandler, Hermann, and Rubatto (2004), these rocks could belong to the upper plate as well.
Selective Extraction of Sc(III) over Y(III) and Fe(III) with a Deep Eutectic Solvent Composed of N-Lauroylsarcosine and Tri-n-octylphosphine Oxide
Published in Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, 2021
Marina Matsumoto, Takahiro Ito, Shintaro Kanemaru, Yoshinari Baba, Kazuhiro Sugamoto
The rare earth elements (REEs) consist of 17 elements, including the 15 lanthanides, scandium (Sc), and yttrium (Y). REEs are attracting attention and high interest in applying them in various fields. Scandium, an element with an atomic number 21 and atomic weight 44.9, is classified as a rare earth along with yttrium and lanthanides. It is a unique element with the smallest ion radius and the highest electronegativity among the rare earths.[1,2] It is used as an Al–Sc alloy in the aerospace industry for large-scale applications,[3–5] and in large-scale factories and stadiums, it is used as light sources for metal-halide lamps [ScI3].[6,7] In recent years, it has been used in electrolytes for solid-oxide fuel cells. The use of scandia-stabilized zirconia [(ZrO2)m(Sc2O3)n] is drawing attention.[8] As scandium could be replaced by low-cost rare earths such as yttrium and cerium, research and development on scandium has been delayed; however, the development of new applications has increased the significance of recovering scandium.[1,9] Scandium is an expensive metal, though it is not a rare metal in terms of resources. However, high-grade scandium minerals such as thortveitite [(Y,Sc)2Si2O7] and kolveckite [(ScPO4.2H2O)] have low production and are not targeted for commercial smelting.[10] Scandium is rarely present in ordinary rare earth minerals, and scandium is only slightly separated and recovered as a byproduct of uranium and tungsten smelting.[9–12] Scandium is contained in oxide minerals such as ilmenite ore, bauxite, and laterite. It is recovered as a by-product when manufacturing titanium oxide (TiO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), etc., from these low-grade scandium-containing minerals.[12,13]