IMPROVING TECHNOLOGIES FOR EXTRACTING NON-FERROUS METALS BASED ON A COMPARISON OF PYROMETALLURGICAL AND HYDROMETALLURGICAL METHODS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19705670Keywords:
non-ferrous metals, pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, metal extraction technology, bioleaching, electrowinning, electrochemical separation, sustainable metallurgy, copper extraction, rare earth elementsAbstract
The rapid expansion of modern industries — including electronics, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems — has significantly increased global demand for non-ferrous metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc, and rare earth elements. As high-quality ore reserves continue to decline, the metallurgical sector faces the urgent challenge of developing more efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible extraction technologies. This article presents a systematic comparative analysis of two dominant metal extraction approaches: pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Pyrometallurgical methods, which operate at temperatures exceeding 1,000 °C, offer high industrial throughput and suitability for complex sulfide ores, but are associated with substantial energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrometallurgical methods, based on aqueous chemical processing at near-ambient temperatures, provide superior metal selectivity and significantly lower carbon footprints, yet generate chemical effluents that require careful management. Through critical evaluation of the technical, economic, and environmental parameters of both approaches, this study identifies key directions for technological improvement, including the integration of hybrid pyrometallurgical–hydrometallurgical processes, the application of bioleaching and electrochemical separation, advanced ore pre-sorting technologies, and closed-loop reagent recovery systems. The findings demonstrate that the future of non-ferrous metal extraction lies not in choosing one method over the other, but in their intelligent, application-specific combination to maximize efficiency, metal recovery, and environmental sustainability.
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