The growing global demand for lithium, driven by its pivotal role in battery production, highlights the need for alternative technologies to recover this metal from low-grade and anthropogenic raw materials. This study investigates lithium extraction from aluminosilicate tailings of rare-metal production by sulfate roasting with concentrated sulfuric acid, followed by aqueous and hydrochloric acid leaching. Mineralogical analysis confirmed lithium mainly in muscovite and biotite (isomorphic substitutions) and partly as spodumene within the aluminosilicate matrix. The optimal parameters of thermochemical treatment were determined as 300 °C for 1 h at a liquid-to-solid ratio of 1:6. Subsequent aqueous leaching (90 °C, 1 h, L/S = 6:1) achieved a lithium recovery of 82.3%, while HCl proved less effective. Using response surface methodology (RSM) and a central composite design (CCD), a regression model was developed predicting up to 93.4% lithium extraction at 90 °C, a liquid-to-solid ratio of 10:1, and a leaching duration of 75 min. The calculated values showed good agreement with experimental data obtained at 90 °C, L/S = 10:1, and 30 min leaching, yielding 91.92% lithium recovery. These results confirm the efficiency of the proposed thermochemical approach and provide a scientific foundation for its further development and industrial scale-up.

Lithium is the most important raw material for the production of modern electronics and electric vehicles. Today, it is impossible to imagine any mobile device without lithium batteries. The role of lithium in the global economy is only growing. The production of electric vehicles and batteries contributes to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Nevertheless, end-of-life lithium-ion batteries pose a danger to the ecosystem. The article presents technological developments in the field of lithium extraction. The main sources of lithium are pegmatites, continental and geothermal brines, as well as clays, seawater and industrial brines. The main commercial lithium product is lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), which is obtained mainly from the mining, extraction and processing of spodumene ores and saltlake, oilfield brines. The effective role of lithium in addressing important issues such as pollution, climate change and the increasing depletion of natural resources used to produce lithium-ion batteries for these electric vehicles is also discussed.

Recovery of scandium from chloride-bearing process liquors formed during titanium–magnesium production remains constrained by trace-level metal content and chemically aggressive solution matrices. Within the present study, the retention behaviour of Sc³⁺ species in strongly acidic chloride media was examined through batch-mode interaction with gel-type sulfonated cation exchangers, namely KU-2-8, Lewatit SP112H, Purosorb SAC140H, and Purolite C-150H. Quantitative evaluation of sorption efficiency was performed by calculating equilibrium uptake (q_e), phase distribution factor (K_d), and percentage recovery (R). Under identical liquid–solid ratios, the Lewatit SP112H matrix exhibited superior affinity toward dissolved scandium, achieving q_e = 179.82 mg/g and K_d = 172.41 mL/g. Equilibrium fitting procedures revealed that scandium uptake by Purosorb SAC140H conforms to monolayer-type retention described by the Langmuir formalism (R² = 0.9786), whereas sorption on Lewatit SP112H proceeds over energetically non-uniform sites and is more adequately represented by Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich approximations. The observed retention characteristics establish a selection framework for ion-exchange media applicable to scandium concentration from acidic chloride hydrometallurgical streams.

This study examines the sorption of scandium from hydrochloric acid (chloride) solutions using cation exchange resins: Purolite C-150H⁺ and Purosorb SAC140H⁺. The resins were compared based on their sorption performance, including extraction efficiency, static exchange capacity, and selectivity in the presence of accompanying elements (Al and Ti). Optimal sorption conditions—pH, solid-to-liquid phase ratio, and temperature—were determined experimentally.The results show that scandium sorption on Purolite C-150H⁺ follows the Langmuir isotherm (R² = 0.9269), indicating monolayer adsorption on a homogeneous surface. In contrast, sorption on Purosorb SAC140H⁺ is better described by heterogeneous adsorption models: Freundlich (R² = 0.433) and Dubinin–Radushkevich (R² = 0.647) isotherms.

This paper examines a three-stage countercurrent hydrochloric acid leaching of phosphogypsum to enhance the recovery of rare earth elements while simultaneously producing a technologically valuable gypsum product. The phosphogypsum under study has a ΣREE content of 340.53 g/t and consists primarily of CaSO4·2H2O dihydrate with minor silicate and phosphate impurities. The countercurrent leaching process is shown to ensure efficient reagent distribution and profound destruction of the gypsum matrix. At a solid: liquid ratio of 1:10, the overall recovery of rare earth elements reaches 88%, while at a solid: liquid ratio of 1:4, it is 82.4%, accompanied by a threefold increase in the ΣREE concentration in the productive solutions. X-ray phase analysis of the residue confirmed that complete removal of calcium sulfate from the solid phase is achieved at a solid-liquid ratio of 1:10, while at a solid-liquid ratio of 1:4, some sulfate phases are retained. The precipitate that forms during cooling of the solution is represented by CaSO4·2H2O and is successfully converted by heat treatment (165°C, 4 h) into the hemihydrate form CaSO4·0.5H2O. The strength of the obtained material (5.1 MPa) corresponds to that of G5 gypsum binder. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of three-stage countercurrent leaching and confirm the possibility of comprehensive processing of phosphogypsum, which ensures the production of productive solutions suitable for further sorption or extraction enrichment of rare earth elements, as well as a gypsum residue that meets the requirements of the construction industry.

Processing of apatite raw materials is associated with the formation of multi-tonnage waste - phosphogypsum. The content of rare-earth metals in such waste reaches 1 %, which allows us to consider it a man-made source of rare-earth metals and their compounds. Until now there are neither processing enterprises nor effective technological processes for phosphogypsum processing. It is rational to use a method involving the extraction of valuable components and the overall reduction of phosphogypsum volumes. One such method can be the sorption extraction of REM after leaching of phosphogypsum with hydrochloric acid. In this work the results of sorption by sulphocationites are presented: Purosorb SAC 140 (in H- and Na-forms); Purolite C150 (in H- and Na-forms) and Puromet MTC 1600 (in H- and Na-forms).