title: A geological reconnaissance of electrical and electronic waste as a source for rare earth metals.
abstract: The mining of material resources requires knowledge about geogenic and anthropogenic deposits, in particular on the location of the deposits with the comparatively highest concentration of raw materials. In this study, we develop a framework that allows the establishment of analogies between geological and anthropogenic processes. These analogies were applied to three selected products containing rare earth elements (REE) in order to identify the most concentrated deposits in the anthropogenic cycle. The three identified anthropogenic deposits were characterised according to criteria such as "host rock", "REE mineralisation" and "age of mineralisation", i.e. regarding their "geological" setting. The results of this characterisation demonstrated that anthropogenic deposits have both a higher concentration of REE and a longer mine life than the evaluated geogenic deposit (Mount Weld, Australia). The results were further evaluated by comparison with the geological knowledge category of the United Nations Framework Classification for Fossil Energy and Mineral Reserves and Resources 2009 (UNFC-2009) to determine the confidence level in the deposit quantities. The application of our approach to the three selected cases shows a potential for recovery of REE in anthropogenic deposits; however, further exploration of both potential and limitations is required.
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Technology and Society Lab, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland; Centre for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering & the Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. Electronic address: Sandra.Mueller@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sandra R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Technology and Society Lab, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland. Electronic address: Patrick.Waeger@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Patrick A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Wäger
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Technology and Society Lab, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland. Electronic address: Rolf.Widmer@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Widmer
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering & the Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. Electronic address: idw@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ian D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D059029:Electronic Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D008674:Metals, Rare Earth / Q000032:analysis*; D008906:Mining / Q000379:methods*; D059027:Recycling / Q000379:methods*; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*; D014904:Western Australia
chemical_list: D008674:Metals, Rare Earth
keywords: Anthropogenic deposit; Geogenic deposit; Geological classification; Rare earth element; Resource classification; Waste electrical and electronic equipment