Industrial-scale application of electrokinetics heralding a new era of sustainable mining

Abstract

A rapidly developing supply crisis for rare-earth elements (REEs) is unfolding as global demand continues to surge. We present successful implementations of an electrokinetic-mining (EKM) technique on an industrial-scale mining site with a capacity of 5000 tons, which overcomes upscaling challenges including electrode reliability, flow leakage, and mining efficiency, resulting in an outstanding 95% REE recovery rate with notably diminished environmental impacts. The findings establish a groundbreaking sustainable mining paradigm.