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Advanced Sorbent Structure Recovery of REEs, Precious Metals and Other Valuable Metals from Geothermal Waters and Its Associated Technoeconomics

Published by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Department of Energy | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 12:59 AM | Dataset Last Updated: June 13, 2018 at 05:59 PM
This work evaluates, develops and demonstrates flexible, scalable mineral extraction technology for geothermal brines based upon solid phase sorbent materials with a specific focus upon rare earth elements (REEs). The selected organic and inorganic sorbent materials demonstrated high performance for collection of trace REEs, precious and valuable metals beyond commercially available sorbents. This report details the organic and inorganic sorbent uptake, performance, and collection efficiency results for La, Eu, Ho, Ag, Cu and Zn, as well as the characterization of these select sorbent materials. The report also contains estimated costs from an in-depth techno-economic analysis of a scaled up separation process. The estimated financial payback period for installing this equipment varies between 3.3 to 5.7 years depending on the brine flow rate of the geothermal resource.

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