Hydrometallurgy ＆ Mining

1. Gallium in Bayer mother liquor Gallium is a rare metal that plays an important role in the semiconductor industry. The demand for metal gallium has increased year by year. However, the source of metal gallium is scarce, and its products are mainly from by-products of the aluminum industry. Bauxite usually contains 0.002-0.008% of metal gallium. In the process of producing alumina by Bayer process, about 70% of the metal gallium in bauxite is leached with alumina, and about 30% remains in red mud. With the circulation of the Bayer mother liquor, the concentration of metal gallium in the Bayer mother liquor can be accumulated to 100-300 ppm.

In 2019, the total lithium production capacity of Qinghai Salt Lake is expected to reach 110,000 tons. According to the "Qinghai 100 billion lithium battery industry development plan", by 2020, Qinghai plans to produce more than 78 billion yuan of lithium battery industry, and by 2025 it will reach more than 180 billion yuan.