• Resources Recycling
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.12-18
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• 2023

In 2018, the demand for silver (referred to as Ag) in the electrical and electronics sector was 249 million tons. The demand stood at 81 million tons in the solar module production sector. Currently, due to the rapid increase in solar module installation, the demand for silver is increasing drastically in Korea. However, Korea's natural metal resources and reserves are insufficient in comparison to their consumption, and the domestic silver ore self-sufficiency rate was as low as 2.2% as of 2021. This implies that a recycling technology is necessary to recover valuable metal resources contained in the waste plating solution generated in the metal industry. Therefore, this study compared and analyzed, the results of the impact evaluation through life cycle assessment according to an improvement in the process of recovery of valuable metals in the waste plating solution. The process improvement resulted in reducing GWP (Global Warming Potential) and ADP(Abiotic Depletion Potential) by 50% and 67%, respectively. The GWP of electricity and industrial water was reduced by 98% and 93%, respectively, which significantly contributed to the minimization of energy and water consumption. Thus, the improvement in recycling technology has a high potential to reduce chemical and energy use and improve resource productivity in the urban mining industry.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.16 no.3 s.77
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• pp.3-11
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• 2007

Presently, most of gold is smelted from gold concentrates and anode slimes. Anode slimes are by-products of nonferrous smelters such as lead and copper. In addition, gold is recovered from waste dental and medical materials, waste gold coating solution, and waste printed circuit boards (waste PCBs). The smelting method of gold from gold concentrates and various wastes containing high concentration of gold is largely divided into chlorination, cyanidation, and amalgamation methods. For the anode slimes, electrolysis method is usually used, which largely consists of roasting, high temperature melting and electrolysis processes. Also, various wastes containing low concentration of gold are mainly treated by pyrometallursical processes. In the paper, current status on gold smelting technology is reviewed, and a novel process for gold smelting which is researched in the recent is briefly introduced.